Affiliated Departments & Programs
Austin Porter's classes explore American art, politics and culture. His primary research interest is American art and visual culture between the 1930s and 1950s. He also teaches courses on postwar contemporary art that examine the expanding international art scene. His other research and teaching interests include race and modernism, museums, and the history of photography. In the spring of 2019, Austin received the Junior Faculty Trustee Teaching Excellence Award.
Prior to his career in academia, Austin worked in advertising and later as a designer in an art museum, where he assisted with the creation of exhibitions and publications. Before arriving at Kenyon, Austin held fellowships with the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the American Council of Learned Societies and the Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation. He has taught classes on the history of art and photography at Boston University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Art Institute of Boston and the Kansas City Art Institute. His current research examines the relationship between American artists and the U.S. government during World War II.
Areas of Expertise
American Art and Visual Culture, Art and Government, Modern and Contemporary Art
Education
2013 — Doctor of Philosophy from Boston University
2007 — Master of Arts from University of Kansas
2002 — Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kansas State Univ
Courses Recently Taught
This course examines visual culture in the United States from the late nineteenth century to the present day. We will analyze a variety of cultural artifacts, including fine art, film, commercial design, advertising, and popular culture. Major topics considered include the relationship between high and low culture, the role of mass media in American society, and the persistence of folk traditions in everyday life. We will also address how museums and public monuments and memorials define national identity. Other major issues include the evolving representation of race, class, gender, and war. Finally, we will examine American visual culture in an international context. This course is cross-listed in Art History and counts toward an intermediate course in the art history major. This counts toward the culture and society requirement for the major. No prerequisite.
This course is the same as ARHS 227D. This course must be taken as ARHS 227D to count toward the fine arts diversification requirement. This course addresses art produced in North America between colonialization and 1900. Students will examine the development of art within a broad social context by exploring the relationship between visual culture and race, gender and class. Specific topics will include genre and landscape painting, prints and photography, and the influence of European art academies. We will also address the relationship between art and slavery, war and industrialization. This counts toward the politics, culture and society requirement for the American studies major. Prerequisite: ARHS 111 or AMST 108.
This course surveys Western art and architecture from the Renaissance to the present. Framing the study of art history within a social context, this course provides students with the tools for understanding style and interpreting meaning in individual works of art. Although this is a lecture format, discussion is encouraged. This counts toward the 100-level course requirement and Europe and Americas place requirements for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every semester.
This course is the same as AMST 227D. This course must be taken as ARHS 227D to count towards the fine arts diversification requirement. This course addresses art produced in North America between colonialization and 1900. Students examine the development of art within a broad social context by exploring the relationship between visual culture and race, gender and class. Specific topics include genre and landscape painting, prints and photography, and the influence of European art academies. We also address the relationship between art and slavery, war and industrialization. This counts towards the Europe and Americas place and the after 1800 time requirements for the art history major. Prerequisite: ARHS 111 or AMST 108.
This course examines the visual representation of race between the early modern era and the present. We consider how factors including indigenous material culture, slavery, immigration, migration, war and political activism have shaped visual culture and modern art. In addition to traditional forms of fine art, such as painting, sculpture, photography and prints, students also consider cartoons, advertising, film and other forms of mass media. We also address the relationship between race and museums, monuments and memorials. This counts toward the Europe and Americas place and the after 1800 time requirement for the major. Prerequisite: ARHS 111 or AMST 108.
Beginning with abstract expressionism, this course critically addresses the development of high modernism in New York after World War II. Students analyze the importance of American art criticism during the 1950s before tracing the resistance to associated ideologies as seen in the global emergence of pop art, minimalism, conceptual art and feminist art. This counts toward the Europe and Americas place and the after 1800 time requirements for the major. Prerequisite: ARHS 111.
Beginning with Postmodernism, this course examines the primary themes of the expanding contemporary art scene since the late 20th century. Issues and movements addressed include installation art, neo-Expressionism, graffiti art, conceptual art and theory, performance and video art, the AIDS crisis and identity politics, and the globalized art market. The relationship between art and social issues is emphasized. As we address a fairly short period of time, this course combines a chronological and thematic approach. This counts toward the Europe and Americas place and the after 1800 time requirements for the major. Prerequisite: ARHS 111.
Required of all senior majors and recommended for senior minors, this course serves as a capstone to the study of art history. Students study the foundations of the discipline, explore the variety of methodological approaches employed by art historians, and assess current theoretical issues in the field. Senior standing. Offered every fall semester.
Honors is for students with demonstrated ability to work on a research project under the supervision of a faculty member. Students undertaking an honors thesis must have had at least one (and preferably two) intermediate or advanced courses at Kenyon in the topic area. Endorsement of the project by the proposed thesis advisor is mandatory before submitting an application for honors. Previous completion of a research paper in art history (preferably in the area of honors specialization) is essential. Meeting the minimum GPA does not automatically qualify a student for honors. Typically, if a student has written an exceptionally well-researched and well-written art history paper, and meets the other criteria for acceptance into honors, a professor might suggest that the student undertake a related topic as an honors thesis. Alternately, students can discuss pursuing an honors thesis with their academic advisor and a potential thesis advisor. The project must be supervised by an art history professor who agrees and is available to serve as the honors thesis advisor and whose interests and expertise coincide with the proposed project. In either case, the student then works closely with the thesis advisor to develop a project proposal to be submitted to the art history faculty. Departmental approval must be obtained during the spring semester preceding work on the thesis. A minimum 3.33 cumulative grade-point average and a minimum 3.5 GPA in the major are required. Permission of instructor and department chair are required.
Honors is for students with demonstrated ability to work on a research project under the supervision of a faculty member. Students undertaking an honors thesis must have had at least one (and preferably two) intermediate or advanced courses at Kenyon in the topic area. Endorsement of the project by the proposed thesis advisor is mandatory before submitting an application for honors. Previous completion of a research paper in art history (preferably in the area of honors specialization) is essential. Meeting the minimum GPA does not automatically qualify a student for honors. Typically, if a student has written an exceptionally well-researched and well-written art history paper, and meets the other criteria for acceptance into honors, a professor might suggest that the student undertake a related topic as an honors thesis. Alternately, students can discuss pursuing an honors thesis with their academic advisor and a potential thesis advisor. The project must be supervised by an art history professor who agrees and is available to serve as the honors thesis advisor and whose interests and expertise coincide with the proposed project. In either case, the student then works closely with the thesis advisor to develop a project proposal to be submitted to the art history faculty. Departmental approval must be obtained during the spring semester preceding work on the thesis. A minimum 3.33 cumulative grade-point average and a minimum 3.5 GPA in the major are required. Permission of instructor and department chair are required.