About

Dr. Alice Twemlow is Professor by Special Appointment in the Wim Crouwel Chair of the History, Theory & Sociology of Graphic Design & Visual Culture in the Faculty of Humanities at University of Amsterdam and a Research Professor/Reader at the Royal Academy of Art The Hague (KABK).

Before moving to Amsterdam, Twemlow was based in New York where she co-founded and directed the MFA in Design Criticism and MA in Design Research, Writing & Criticism at the School of Visual Arts.

She has a Ph.D in History of Design (V&A/RCA), and her book, Sifting the Trash: A History of Design Criticism, was published by MIT Press in 2017.

Based at the intersection of environmental humanities, design history, and practice-oriented research, Twemlow’s research addresses topics including: the geological concept of deep time to better understand the long-lasting environmental implications of the processes, values, and products of the design industry; sensory research methods such as walking, touching and listening; and the representational biases and imbalances in the preservation of graphic design heritage, generally, and how the perspectives and dispositions derived from decolonial aesthesis and intersectional feminism might support critical investigation of the graphic design archive, specifically.

Previously, Twemlow was an Associate Professor in the Academy for Creative and Performing Arts at Leiden University, where she supervised PhDArts candidates (2017-2022) and head of the Design Curating & Writing Master at Design Academy Eindhoven (2016-2018).

Twemlow has a PhD and an MA in the History of Design from the Royal College of Art/Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and she lives in Amsterdam with her husband, son, and dog. 

Colophon

Concept: Niels Schrader & Vera van de Seyp. Development: Vera van de Seyp