In Athens, Berlin, Madrid, Marrakech, Rome, and Spannocchia
Cristina Basili (visiting faculty): Madrid
Lecturer in Contemporary Philosophy at the Complutense University of Madrid, Basili’s research focuses on the question of power in twentieth-century thought. In Madrid she will lecture on Simone Weil’s critique of violence, based on her writings on the Spanish Civil War.
Howard Caygill (core faculty): Berlin
Considered one of the most important European philosophers of our time (recent publication: Force and Understanding. Writings on Philosophy and Resistance, Bloomsbury, 2021), Caygill will give seminars on Berlin seen through the lens of its Past and Future, the Romantic ideal, and Walter Benjamin’s childhood.
Mel Edwards (visiting faculty): Spannocchia
A pioneer in the history of contemporary African American art, Edwards is the first African American sculptor to have had a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He received an honorary doctorate from IDSVA in 2022.
Jason Hoelscher (post-doc fellow): Spannocchia
Gallery Director and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Art at GSU, Hoelscher graduated from IDSVA. His dissertation, published as Art as Information Ecology (Duke University Press, 2021), was nominated for the ASA “Outstanding Monograph” award in 2022.
Ilham Ibnou Zahir (visiting faculty): Marrakech
Ibnou Zahir received her PhD at Goldsmiths’ College, with a dissertation on the relationship between ancient philosophy and the art of healing. Currently, she explores the concept of the giver of knowledge/wisdom through the intertwined subjects of theology, history, architecture, and craftsmanship.
Dejan Lukić (core faculty): Madrid, Marrakech, Athens
Trained as an anthropologist (PhD, Columbia University), Lukić’s research encompasses continental philosophy, science and religion, art, and ecology. He is currently writing a multi-volume manuscript titled Deranged Vivarium: Variations on Coexistence.
Franca Marini (visiting faculty): Siena
Italian international artist, Marini is currently engaged in creating site-specific installations and video art, after many years of experience in the visual arts. Her work has been shown in Europe, The United States, Central America, and Palestine.
Silvia Mazzini (core faculty): Berlin, Athens
Philosopher and theatre author (PhD, Humboldt University), Mazzini published on Arts and Politics in Pasolini, Bloch and Vattimo, on tragic and comic thought and community theatre and is writing on the Philosophy of Poverty.
Simonetta Moro (core faculty): Rome, Spannocchia, Florence, Siena
Visual artist and scholar, IDSVA Director, Moro’s artwork has been exhibited internationally. Recent Publications: Mapping Paradigms in Modern and Contemporary Art: Poetic Cartography (Routledge, 2021) and The Vattimo Dictionary (Edinburgh University Press, 2023).
Neni Panourgiá (visiting faculty): Athens
Anthropologist and Affiliated Faculty at the Program in Hellenic Studies at Columbia University, Panourgiá has published on anthropology, ethnography, critical theory, art and architecture, critical medical studies, and politics. Recent publication: Leros. The Grammar of Confinement (2020).
Nina Papazoglou (visiting faculty): Athens
Papazoglou studied Cultural History at Goldsmiths’ College (PhD). Her research is centered on the non-autonomous character of contemporary artistic values and the way these inform economic and cultural capital and the context of art history.
George Smith (core faculty): Madrid, Marrakech, Spannocchia, Athens
Founder of IDSVA in 2006, Professor Smith writes on literature, visual arts, visual culture, psychoanalytic theory, and philosophy of education. He is the author of The Artist-Philosopher and New Philosophy (Routledge 2018) and The Artist-Philosopher and Poetic Hermeneutics (Routledge 2021).
Elina Staikou (visiting faculty): Athens
Associate Lecturer in Modern Liberal Arts at Winchester University, UK, Staikou is the author of Deconstruction at Home: Metaphors of Travel and Writing and of articles on contemporary philosophy, literature, and biomedicine.
Shara Wasserman (visiting faculty): Rome
Art historian and curator of contemporary art, Wasserman is the director of the Temple Rome Gallery of Art at Temple University in Rome, where she is also a faculty member. Wasserman has curated numerous international exhibitions in public and institutional spaces.
Andreas Weber (visiting faculty): Berlin
Biologist, philosopher, and non-fiction writer, Weber teaches ecophilosophy at the Berlin University of the Arts and is adjunct professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Recent publications: Enlivenment. Toward a Poetics of the Anthropocene (MIT, 2019) and Sharing Life. An Ecopolitics of Reciprocity (2020).
