Getty and the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) are pleased to announce the 2023 recipients of the Getty/ACLS Postdoctoral Fellowships in the History of Art. This program is made possible by a major grant from Getty.

Getty/ACLS Postdoctoral Fellowships support innovative scholarship by recent PhDs that will make substantial and original contributions to the understanding of art and its history. A distinguished committee of diverse senior scholars with wide-ranging expertise selected this year’s 10 fellows for their capacity to expand the field of art history and explore previously understudied regions of the world.

“Getty has always supported art historians who strive for a discipline that is more international and inclusive,” said Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty Foundation. “We believe early-career support is not only meaningful for the fellows but infuses the field with new perspectives and ideas that keep the discipline fresh and relevant.”

“ACLS is proud to partner with Getty to provide critical support for emerging scholars at a time when humanistic study has become the target of politicians and public figures with a dismally narrow view of higher education,” said ACLS President Joy Connolly. “We are pleased to recognize this extraordinary group of fellows, whose work sheds light on how humans make meaning through images and design, from the collective politics of residential architecture in Haiti to the impact of photography on revolution in modern Iran.”

The 2023 Getty/ACLS Postdoctoral Fellows and research topics from SAH are:

• Irene Brisson, Assistant Professor, Louisiana State University
  Kreyòl Architectures: Design in Dialogue in Haitian House Building

• Jessica Varner, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Southern California
  Chemical Desires: When the Chemical Industry Met Modern Design (1870-1970)

Read more about the award and the fellows here.

Irene Brisson initially joined SAH in 2019.  She has received a Graduate Student Fellowship to attend the 2020 Virtual conference and a Roseann S. Berry Fellowship to attend the 2021 Virtual conference, where she served as a speaker at both conferences.  

Jessica Varner initially joined SAH in 2015.  She served as a Session Chair at the 2017 Annual conference, and has served on the SAH Graduate Student Advisory Committee and as a SAH Data Project Stakeholder.