Jonathan Wallis, PhD
Program Head, Visionary Honors Program; Professor, Art History & Humanities, Creative & Critical Studies
- Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Jonathan Wallis is professor of Art History and Humanities and program head for Visionary Academic Honors. He served as the Penny and Bob Fox Distinguished Professor from 2015–2018. As an art historian, Wallis focuses on the intersection of ethics, socially engaged art and critical pedagogy. 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 and served as guest editor for a special double-issue of Art and the Public Sphere on ethics (Intellect Press).
As a fiction author, Wallis has published novels and short stories under the pen name, Jonathan Nevair. His novels have been nominated for multiple writing awards. Most notably, Jati’s Wager received runner-up in the 2022 Indie Ink Awards in the category "Writing the Future We Need: Nonbinary Representation." Stellar Instinct, a standalone thriller, is nominated for a 2023 National Fantasy Fan Federation Laureate Award. As a curator, he has presented exhibitions on local and international contemporary artists. He holds a PhD and MA in the history of art from Temple University, and a BA from the University of New Hampshire. Wallis is also a recipient of the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching (2013).
