Dr. Jonathan Wallis PhD
Program Head, Professor of Art History and Humanities, Creative & Critical Studies
- Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Jonathan Wallis is professor of Art History and Humanities, Chair of Creative & Critical Studies, and program head for Visionary Academic Honors. He served as the Penny and Bob Fox Distinguished Professor from 2015–2018. Wallis is also a recipient of the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (2013). As an art historian, Wallis focuses on the intersection of ethics, socially engaged art and critical pedagogy, and surrealism and fantasy art. His essays appear in multiple venues, including Art and the Public Sphere, Journal of Curatorial Studies, Papers of Surrealism, and Woman’s Art Journal, as well as anthologies on museum studies and pedagogical practice. He has written widely on the post-Surrealist work of Salvador Dalí, curated exhibitions on a variety of modern and contemporary art subjects and served as guest editor for a special double-issue of Art and the Public Sphere on ethics (Intellect Press). As a curator, Wallis has presented exhibitions on local and international contemporary artists. He holds a PhD and MA in the history of art from Tyler School of Art, Temple University, and a BA from the University of New Hampshire.
As a fiction author, Wallis has published novels and short stories under the pen name, Jonathan Nevair. His character-driven space operas and spy-fi thrillers have been nominated for, and won, multiple awards. To Spy a Star is the 2024 National Fantasy Fan Federation Laureate Award (Neffy) winner for Best Novel and Stellar Instinct placed 2nd in the 2024 Valorious Awards. Jati's Wager (Wind Tide Book 2) was the 2022 Indie Ink Awards runner-up for the category, Writing the Future We Need: Non-Binary Representation. His short fiction is published in sci-fi journals, including Simultaneous Times and Eldritch Science.
