Dr Ben Wiedel-Kaufmann

Professional biography

I joined the OU in July 2021 having worked as an Associate Lecturer and Module Lead in Art History at the University of Plymouth (2015-2020) and Visiting Lecturer in Critical and Historical Studies at the Royal College of Art (2019-2021). In those capacities I wrote, led and delivered modules, seminars, tutorials and lectures for undergraduate and postgraduate students of Art History, Anthropology and the Visual Arts. I also acted as a supervisor for MA dissertations. 

Before working in Higher Education, I taught A-level Art History and English for speakers of other languages. Outside of education, I have worked as a researcher, writer, technician, exhibition organiser and director of communications.

I hold a PhD in Art History (University of Plymouth), and a BA in History of Art (University of Cambridge).

Research interests

My research centres on the interrelations of art and politics in the 20^th-century and is rooted in the methodologies of Marxist art history and the social history of art. I am currently expanding on my doctoral research into publicly-funded exterior murals made in London across the 1970s and '80s. Focussing on those murals which gave explicit form to prevailing concerns of left politics, my research asserts its case studies within the urban, social, cultural and political dynamics of the conjuncture. In so doing, it seeks to situate the murals within histories of post-war British art, realist painting, public art, urban art and international muralism.

Teaching interests

I have written, taught and led a range of modules for undergraduate and postgraduate art, art history and anthropology students. At the OU, I have acted as a cluster manager for the MA in Art History (A843 and A844) and three level one modules: 'Discovering the arts and humanities' (A111), ‘Cultures’ (A112) and 'Revolutions' (A113). I have served on the module teams for 'Exploring Art and Visual Culture' (A226) and the MA Art History (A843 and A844).

External collaborations

Convenor for Marxism in Culture Seminar series