Mark Clintberg

Mark Clintberg is an artist who works in the field of art history. He is represented by Pierre François Ouellette art contemporain in Montreal, Canada. While studying in the interuniversity PhD program he conducted research at St Peter’s College of Oxford University, with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He is also an International Counselor for the V&A Waterfront / Zeitz MOCAA Curatorial Training Programme (Cape Town, South Africa). 

How are you applying your art history degree and what do you value most from your doctoral experience?

I teach contemporary art history with a Canadian focus, so my degree in Art History from Concordia is immediately applicable to my role as a scholar and faculty member. I also work as a visual artist, and the research skills and knowledge I developed while in my graduate studies have supported (and in many ways steered) my art practice.

I met incredible faculty in the interuniversity program who have inspired me to pursue excellence in teaching and research. I model many of my pedagogical strategies on those I encountered at Concordia.

I remember my very first graduate seminar vividly. I was so excited to be surrounded by a group of people who cared as much about the discipline as I do, who were talkative and interrogative. My cohort bonded socially and intellectually very quickly. That network of support helped me complete the degree, and has remained important in my work to this day.

What advice would you give to someone considering graduate studies in Art History?

I think it’s important for graduate students to be flexible and responsive, since there are so many approaches and methodologies in the discipline. It’s possible – even interesting – to start a research project with a semiotic focus and then, later on, to incorporate a queer or decolonial perspective, for instance.