Dell Upton, a UCLA professor of art history, has been named a fellow by the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). Fellows are individuals who have distinguished themselves by a lifetime of significant contributions to the field, which may include scholarship, service to SAH or stewardship of the built environment.
Upton was recognized by SAH as "a pioneer in the field of vernacular architecture who transformed architectural history by expanding our sense of the sites that deserve attention and introducing sophisticated interpretive strategies that helped those sites speak. An inspiring teacher, he has directed the dissertations of 30 scholars. His publications have garnered many awards, notably the Alice Davis Hitchcock Award for his book, 'Holy Things and Profane,' and the Spiro Kostof Award for 'Another City. " He was also cited for serving SAH as a local conference chair, a member of the board and organizer of a "remarkable study tour of Civil Rights memorials and African American urban landscapes in the South."
Upton studies the history of architecture, cities and material culture. He teaches courses on American and world architecture and urbanism, art and architectural history theories and methods, material culture and cross-cultural spatial formation in the post-colonial world. His books and articles treat subjects ranging from pre-revolutionary American architecture to critiques of New Urbanism and heritage tourism. Upton served as a consultant and chief catalogue essayist for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 2000 exhibition 'Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825-1861.' He has just completed a study of civil rights and black history monuments and urban politics in the U.S. South. He is currently working on a world history of architecture.
