Krista Thompson has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. Thompson is the Mary Jane Crowe Professor of Art History and affiliated faculty member in the department of Black Studies and the department of performance studies in the School of Communication.
She researches and teaches modern and contemporary art and visual culture of the African diaspora and the Caribbean, with an emphasis on photography and lens-based practices.
She is the author of “An Eye for the Tropics” (Duke University Press, 2006), “Developing Blackness” (The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, 2008) and “Shine: The Visual Economy of Light in African Diasporic Aesthetic Practice” (Duke University Press, 2015).
When announcing this year’s new members, Academy President David W. Oxtoby said, “With the election of these members, the academy is honoring excellence, innovation and leadership and recognizing a broad array of stellar accomplishments. We hope every new member celebrates this achievement and joins our work advancing the common good.”
The academy was founded in 1780 by John Adams, James Bowdoin and others who believed the new republic should honor exceptionally accomplished individuals and engage them in advancing the public good.