Paul Eli Ivey, Ph.D.

Paul Eli Ivey is Professor of Art History teaching Modern and Contemporary Art.  He researches the built environments and compounds of alternative and esoteric American religions and communal groups. He is author of Radiance from Halcyon, A Utopian Experiment in Religion and Science (Minnesota, 2013), concerning a turn of the twentieth century theosophical intentional community on California’s Central Coast, and Prayers in Stone:  Christian Science Architecture in the United States, 1894 – 1930 (Illinois, 1999). His new book project is Building Respectability, Globalizing Christian Science Architecture, which studies the international building movement and issues of church preservation and reuse in the 21^st century.  His research interests include metaphysical, Eastern and esoteric religions in the United States.  Winner of five teaching awards, his interest in contextualizing contemporary artworks within both perceptual and institutional systems has led to him to teach the required Theory courses from both the MA and PhD in Art History, and the MFA.