Biography
James R. Swensen is professor of art history and the history of photography at Brigham Young University. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in 2009. His research interests include documentary photography, American photography in the 1930s and 1970s, and the art and photography of Utah and the American West. He is the author of several articles which have appeared in History of Photography, TransAtlantica: Revue d’Études Américaines, American Indian Quarterly, and The European Journal of American Culture, among others. He is also the author of two books: Picturing Migrants: The Grapes of Wrath and New Deal Documentary Photography (University of Oklahoma Press, 2015), and In a Rugged Land: Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and the Three Mormon Towns Collaboration, 1953-1954 (University of Utah Press, 2018). He also co-authored (with Farina King and Michael Taylor) Returning Home: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School, published by the University of Arizona Press in 2021.
Swensen was the recipient of the 2016-2019 Butler Young Scholar Award from the Charles Redd Center for Western American Studies, and the LeRoy Axland Best Utah History Article Award in 2018. In 2019 his book, In a Rugged Land, received the Juanita Brooks Best Book Award from the Utah Historical Society, the Joan Paterson Kerr Book Award for best illustrated book on the history of the American West from the Western History Association, and an honorable mention for the best book of the year award from the Mormon History Association. In a Rugged Land also received the Evans Biography Award in 2020. In 2022 Returning Home was given the Donald L. Fixico Award for the most innovative work in the field of American Indian and Canadian First Nations from the Western History Association.
Degrees
BA, Brigham Young University, 1998
MA, Brigham Young University, 2000
PhD, University of Arizona, 2009
Research Interests
History of Photography / American Art and Architecture / Imagery and History of the American WestTeaching Interests
American Art and Architecture / History of Photography / European Art and ArchitectureEducation
- Ph.D., Art History / History of Photography , University of Arizona (2009)
- M.A., Art History / History of Photography , Brigham Young University (2000)
- B.A., Art History , Brigham Young University (1996)
Honors and Awards
- Humanities Center Fellow (3 year), Humanities Center, College of Humanities, Brigham Young University (2024 - 2027)
- Alcuin Award, Honors College, Brigham Young University. (2024 - 2026)
- 38th Annual Russel B. Swensen Lectureship, Department of History, Brigham Young University. (2023 - 2023)
- Mildred Throne – Charles Aldrich Certificate of Recognition , State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees (2023 - 2023)
- Donald L. Fixico Award for the most innovative work in the field of American Indian and Canadian First Nations history for Returning Home Intermountain: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School , Western History Association (2022 - 2022)
- Finalist, Best Book in Utah History Award for Returning Home Intermountain: Diné Creative Works from the Intermountain Indian School, (Coauthored with Michael Taylor and Farina King), Utah Historical Society (2022 - 2022)
- College of Humanities Mentored Experience Grant , College of Humanities, Brigham Young University (2020 - 2022)
- Humanities+ Public Humanities Award , BYU College of Humanities (2020 - 2020)
- The David W. & Beatrice C. Evans Biography Award, Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, Utah State University (2020 - 2020)
- Best Art Book, Artists of Utah/15 Bytes (2019 - 2019)
- Honorable Mention, Best Book of the Year Award, Mormon History Association (2019 - 2019)
- Joan Paterson Kerr Book Award for best illustrated book on the history of the American West, Western History Association (2019 - 2019)
- Juanita Brooks Best Book in Utah History Award, Utah State Historical Society (2019 - 2019)
- “Good Samaritan Grant,” Faculty Award for Distinguished Contributions to Accessibility, Brigham Young University (2019 - 2019)
- The Butler Young Scholar Award, Charles Redd Center for Western Studies (2016 - 2019)
- LeRoy S. Axland Best Utah History Article Award, Utah Historical Society (2018 - 2018)
- Oklahoma Book Award Finalist (Non-fiction), Oklahoma Center for the Book (2016 - 2016)
- Morris S. Rosenblatt Award for Best General Interest Article, Utah Historical Quarterly (2003 - 2003)
Memberships
- Western History Association (2020 - Present)
- Southeastern College Art Conference (2013 - Present)
- Southwestern Art History Association (2013 - Present)
- Society for Photographic Education (2011 - Present)
- Utah Historical Society (2011 - Present)
- Association of Historians of American Art (2009 - Present)
- College Arts Association (2009 - Present)