Mark Olson

Mark J.V. Olson is Associate Professor of the Practice of Visual & Media Studies in the Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies at Duke University and a founding member of several arts and humanities initiatives at Duke that borrow from and innovate upon the “lab model” of the sciences:  the Digital Art History & Visual Culture Research Lab, the S-1: Speculative Sensation Lab, and, most recently, the et al lab (a nascent art|science lab co-directed with Nina Sherwood and Kristen Tapson and sponsored by Bass Connections).

In his research and teaching, Olson is committed to cultivating literacies in “critical making”—drawing on the critical and analytic repertoires of the theoretical and historical humanities while cultivating deep understanding and proficient practice at the intersection of the creative arts, computer science, electrical engineering, medicine, and the life sciences.

He is the former Director of New Media & Information Technologies for HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Sciences & Technology Advanced Collaboratory) and currently serves as Faculty Advisor for Technology at the Nasher Museum of Art. He received his MA and PhD in Communication Studies and graduate certificate in Cultural Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.