The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences welcomes Jane'a Johnson as a visiting assistant professor in history and theory of art. Johnson, who received her Ph.D. from Brown University in modern culture and media, has held curatorial roles at the Museum of Modern Art and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum and served as artistic director at Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam (FOAM). Previously, she was an assistant professor of theory and history of art and design and of history, philosophy, and the social sciences at RISD.

Tell us about your research interests

Broadly, my research focuses on the role art and artists play in repair. Think: lost histories, environmental damage, the aftermath of war, and social inequality. More specifically, I think about the ways that artists of African descent globally do this across medium in the modern and contemporary period. Sometimes they’re focused directly on issues like colonialism, forced migration, or slavery. Other times, it’s simply self-fashioning and self-expression in a world shaped by those forces.

I also study the restitution of objects and material culture with respect to the African diaspora. Ideas and objects aren’t static—they circulate and have second lives. They end up in places totally different than where they started. It’s those second lives and the ethical quandaries they sometimes create that I find fascinating am always looking to solve! 

Those two areas of study feed into each other, and they are both united by thinking about the positive ways we can engage with the circumstances of the modern world.

What brought you to The Cooper Union?

I love working with artists and makers. It’s my calling. I was an assistant professor at RISD, and I’ve had a parallel career working as a curator and artistic director in museums. The Cooper Union has a reputation for attracting students who are active in their own education, who want to learn about the world, and who want to make a difference. To me, the best part of education is that you can’t predict what will happen, it’s co-creating in real time. What better place to co-create than here?

What aspects of teaching are you most excited about in the coming academic year at Cooper?

I’m excited to get creative with assignments. Cooper students are known to be hands-on, problem-solvers, and creative. They are doers! What else can we do alongside the traditional research paper that generates new knowledge, new ways of thinking, and gives students more insight into their own practice? We’re very fortunate at Cooper to be near some of the most expansive museum collections in the entire world, and also some smaller cultural gems that are collecting in totally different ways. I intend to make good use of that proximity.