Keith Bresnahan

I am a scholar of design history and theory, whose research and teaching focuses on histories of the built environment (architecture, urbanism, interior design) and of visual communication (graphic design, illustration, typography). I hold a PhD in Social and Political Thought from York University; my other degrees are in Theory & Criticism (Western) and Art History (Calgary).

My research focuses on three key areas: histories of emotion and sensation in the built environment; ruins, destruction, and reconstruction in urban space; and visual symbols/pictographic language. I am currently completing a book on emotion and the remaking of Paris after the 1871 Commune, and co-editing a volume on architecture and the history of emotions. Other ongoing projects include a study of architectural destruction from antiquity to the present, a study of symbols and pictographs in the post-WWII era, and the first historical survey of graphic design in Canada.

I am the co-founder and chair of the Design Studies Caucus of the Universities Art Association of Canada (UAAC); I also sit on the boards of the UAAC and Ornamentum magazine.

* Please note that I am on sabbatical during the 2024-25 academic year and am not accepting new graduate supervisions at this time