about

Elizabeth Guffey’s research lies at the intersection of design, visual culture, museology and disability studies. She is currently working on a book project that describes and critiques the emergence of Post-Universal Design, arguing that paradigms from critical disability studies are reshaping the landscape of design for disability but also providing a new model for responsible, respectful and research rich design practice in the future.

Her scholarly work has appeared in a variety of venues, including Design and Culture, Design Issues, and the Journal of Visual Culture. As part of her efforts to bring design and disability studies to broad publics, she has also authored essays in publications from The New York Times and The Nation to Design Observer and Icon Magazine. Her most recent books are Making Disability Modern (with Bess Williamson, Bloomsbury, 2020), and Designing Disability (Bloomsbury, 2018). Other books include Retro: The Culture of Revival (Reaktion, 2006) and Posters: A Global History (Reaktion, 2015).  She is also the Founding Editor of the peer-review journal Design and Culture (Routledge).

Professor Guffey is the head of the MA Program in Art History at the State University of New York, Purchase College.