Timothy Parker
- Graduate Director, School of Architecture + Art
- Associate Professor
About
Timothy Parker regularly teaches survey and elective courses in the history and theory of art and architecture, research methodologies, and graduate-level thesis research studio. He also directs the M.Arch program.
His areas of research include modern religious architecture, interreligious/interfaith conceptions of sacred space, historiographies of modernism, and theories of ornament. His current long-term research project combines many of these areas to understand the material religion of the Second American Revolution/Founding.
A licensed architect with a doctorate in architectural history and theory (University of Texas at Austin, 2010), a Master of Arts in philosophy (California State University, Long Beach, 2001), and a Bachelor of Architecture (California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, 1990) Parker values the challenge of substantive interdisciplinary work and the tensions inherent in the relations between theory and practice. His recent work ranges from a book chapter on typology in the context of the emerging field of “interfaith studies,” to a “public philosophy” talk on ethics and architectural form, to a general-audience essay on how the coronavirus pandemic may spur new thinking on sacred space.
Parker is a co-editor and contributor to Sanctioning Modernism: Architecture and the Making of Postwar Identities (Texas, 2014). He has presented his work at regional, national, and international conferences, including those of the Society of Architectural Historians, the College Art Association, the American Academy of Religion, the Architecture Culture Spirituality Forum, and DOCOMOMO. The importance of Professor Parker's research and teaching has been recognized by substantial fellowships and awards, including the Carter Manny Award from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and several grants from Interfaith Youth Core. Parker has also used his expertise in historic preservation, including work on successful nominations for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.