Pratt Institute

Biography

Amir Parsa is a writer, poet, educator, artist and cultural designer. He is the author of 15 literary works written in English, French, Persian and Spanish, including the books Divan, Kobolierrot, Erre, and Drive-by Cannibalism in the Baroque Tradition, along with the ongoing, multinlingual, multiformalThe Portable Open Epic as rendered by the Elastic Circus of the Revolution. He has also created new genres, forms and species of literary artifacts, and been involved in both group and solo shows of conceptual, exhibitory and performative works. Most recent literary and artistic work has appeared at curated venues such as The Dumbo Arts Festival, The Persian Arts Festival, The Baroquissimo Festival in Mexico, and the Paris en toutes lettres Festival in Paris.

Parsa has created and launched innovative programs, curricula, events and models of educational interaction in a host of settings across the U.S. and the world. He is the former director of the Museum of Modern Art's Alzheimer’s Project, the lead writer and researcher, and co-author, of Meet Me: Making Art Accessible to People with Dementia (MoMA, 2009). Additionally, in his years at MoMA, he conceptualized and implemented programs and projects emphasizing social and community engagement, and created work linking art and design education to literacy, health and social change, including MoMA’s Wider Angles and Double Exposures. Previous work includes teaching, cultural, programmatic and conceptual design, and consulting at various institutions, including the Queens Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a number of community organizations and a host of learning environments. Parsa has worked with a range of audiences including underserved children and youth, people with disabilities, English language learners as well as seasoned museum-goers, scholars, artists, and intellectuals.

In the past few years, he has presented and been keynote speaker at conferences and symposia nationally and internationally. He has delivered lectures and workshops on the interaction between art theory and practice, museum education and transformative educational engagement at universities, museums and special events across the world, including The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, The Museum of Photographic Arts, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in Rome, and a series of events in Mumbai, India. Most recently, he led seminars and workshops for university professors and students in Oslo, Norway, in Girona, Spain and in Porto Alegre, Brazil, for the eight edition of the Mercosul Bienale.

Formerly a visiting Associate Professor at Pratt Institute’s department of Critical and Visual Studies, he studied at Princeton (B.A.), and Columbia. M.A., MPhil. (PhD/Abd). His research interests and writing include: Literary Theory and Practice; Art Theory and Practice; The intersection of art theory, art practice and art education (from social practice to social design and participatory arts); New forms of education along with avant-garde and critical educational practices, Radical Pedagogy, Museum Education and Critical Institutional Practice; The perception of artworks, aesthetics and viewer-response criticism and the impact of this approach on teaching and educational endeavors.