Dr. Preminda Susana Jacob
Associate Professor · Tenured
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
She/Her/Hers/Herself
About
I serve as Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and as Associate Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA. I joined the Department of Visual Arts in 1995 and the Dean’s Office in 2019. My service to the university includes a term (2015-2018) as Chair of the Department of Visual Arts. I earned my BA from Stella Maris College, Chennai, India, my MA in Art Criticism from Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, Vadodara, India, a second MA in Art History from Binghamton University, and my PhD in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles.Research interests
Preminda Jacob's areas of teaching and research focus on modern and contemporary art history and theory, the visual culture of Indian films, and public art and urbanism. Her work documents and theorizes ephemeral art forms that animate the everyday, public spaces of post-colonial cities in South Asia. Dr. Jacob has published numerous articles, book chapters and a book, Celluloid Deities: The Visual Culture of Cinema and Politics in South India (Lexington Books, Rowman and Littlefield, 2009 and Orient Blackswan, India 2010) www.celluloiddeities.com. She received a J. Paul Getty Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the History of Art and the Humanities and a Rockefeller Humanities Fellowship to support her research for this book.Teaching interests
I teach courses in broad survey courses in modern and contemporary art with an emphasis on global arts, the impact of colonialism, and post-colonial discourse. I also teach specialized courses that I have developed, in the history and theory of the art museum and on public art and urbanism. More recently I have been offering a course in my area of research specialization on the representation of the city in the popular arts associated with entertainment cinema in South Asia. Courses I have developed include:ART 216
Studies in Visual Culture (Prehistory through the 1750s)
A broad survey of the history of world art that focuses on five to eight specific, momentous periods to gain an in-depth understanding of how art objects and visual culture both shape and represent societies and their histories. The selection of focal points are determined by a particular organizing principle adopted that semester including belief systems, patronage, or technology.
ART 318
Visual Culture of City and Cinema in South Asia
South Asian cities are loci of culture, commerce, religion, politics, crime and poverty. This course introduces students to urbanism in contemporary South Asia from two perspectives: through the influential lens of Indian entertainment or ‘Bollywood’ cinema and through an examination of visual cultural forms, derived from the cinema, that pervade urban public spaces in South Asia.
ART 319
Space and Place in Public Art and Urbanism
Investigations of the spatial, social and political impact of public art in urban locations, from ephemeral actions to monumental sculpture, are conducted through reviewing theories of space and place as well as through practical experience, whereby teams of students collaborate with Baltimore community leaders to propose and execute public art projects.
ART 428
History & Theory of the Art Museum
Recognizing that the art museum is a key arbiter of culture in modern societies, students learn to integrate historical and theoretical knowledge about the art museum with the practice of proposing and designing an innovative model exhibition. Seminar discussions focus on the changing political and cultural histories, philosophies and practices that have dynamically molded the art museum since its inception. The practical component challenges students to apply theories of museum resource management, in other words, the mechanisms that “frame” the object or “stage” the show.
Education
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Ph D, Art History: Contemporary South Asian Art
— University of California Los Angeles (1994) Film and Political Advertisements of South India: Urban Spectacle, Popular Culture, Third World Industry
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MA, Art History
— Binghamton University (1988) Micro Landscapes in Suburbia
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MA, Art Criticism
— Maharaja Sayaji Rao University (1981) The Contemporary Art Scene in South India
- BA, Fine Arts & Art History — Stella Maris College (1979)