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  • © 2021

Socially Engaged Art History and Beyond

Alternative Approaches to the Theory and Practice of Art History

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Seeks to broaden understanding of art historical praxis to look beyond academic publication towards alternative approaches

  • Includes contributions from individuals who play various roles in the art world, including university professors, museum or gallery curators, and arts organizers

  • Addresses the theoretical frameworks from which engaged practices emerge, as well as exploring the practicalities of art history through specific case studies

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Table of contents (23 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiv
  2. Introduction

    • Azar Rejaie
    Pages 1-8

About this book

What is socially engaged art history? Art history is typically understood as a discipline in which academics produce scholarship for consumption by other academics. Today however, an increasing number of art historians are seeking to broaden their understanding of art historical praxis and look beyond the academy and towards socially engaged art history. This is the first book-length study to focus on these growing and significant trends. It presents various arguments for the social, pedagogical, and scholarly benefits of alternative, community-engaged, public-facing, applied, and socially engaged art history. The international line up of contributors includes academics, museum and gallery curators as well as arts workers. The first two sections of the book look at socially engaged art history from theoretical, pedagogical, and contextual perspectives. The concluding part offers a range of provocative case studies that highlight the varied and rigorous work that is being done in this area and provide a variety of inspiring models. Taken together the chapters in this book provide much-needed disciplinary recognition to socially engaged art history, while also serving as a springboard to further theoretical and practical work.


Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Culture, Media, and Performance, California University of Pennsylvania, California, USA

    Cindy Persinger

  • Department of Arts & Communication, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, USA

    Azar Rejaie

About the editors

Cindy Persinger is Associate Professor of Art History in the Department of Communication, Design, and Culture at California University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Azar Rejaie is Associate Professor of Art History in and Chair of the Department of Arts and Communication at the University of Houston Downtown, USA.


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Socially Engaged Art History and Beyond

  • Book Subtitle: Alternative Approaches to the Theory and Practice of Art History

  • Editors: Cindy Persinger, Azar Rejaie

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43609-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-43608-7Published: 05 February 2021

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-43611-7Published: 05 February 2022

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-43609-4Published: 04 February 2021

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIV, 288

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations, 20 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Arts

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access