Valeria Iacovelli
PhD Candidate, Contemporary Art History and Theory , Art History and Archaeology
Education
M.A., Visual Art Studies, Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (IUAV)
Research Expertise
Critical Theory
Digital Art History
Environmental Art
Global Modernism
Photography
The Americas
Valeria Iacovelli is a PhD candidate studying global histories of art and photography with Prof. Joshua Shannon. Her research looks primarily at the role of photography in constructing or, conversely, contrasting the hegemonic and anthropocentric narratives underpinning the processes of industrialization and (de-) colonization. Her current dissertation project, “Climate Change Photography: Planetary Visions and Social Documentary after 1990,” applies an ecocritical and postcolonial perspective to the study of the relation between human beings and the environment in contemporary photography.
Before joining the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Valeria held curatorial positions in London (AUGUSTart Gallery) and Venice, Italy (Palazzo Bembo/Venice Biennale of Art and Architecture; Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa) and collaborated on research and exhibitions projects at London Metropolitan Archives/City of London, Mall Galleries, Architecture for Humanity.
Valeria received a BA in Political Economy from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, and holds two master's degrees, in Philosophy and Visual Arts, from the University College of London (UCL) and the Institute of Architecture in Venice (IUAV), Italy.
In 2023-2024, Valeria will collaborate with the Department of Photographs of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., as a University of Maryland Museum Fellow.