Karen Fiss

Karen Fiss's research examines the history of "nation branding" in the production of visual culture, from the rise of the nation-state to its current role in shaping the social, artistic, and built environment of emerging economies.

Her most recent book is Grand Illusion: The Third Reich, the Paris Exposition, and the Cultural Seduction of France published by the University of Chicago Press (2009). The study examines related developments across fine arts, film, architecture, and mass pageantry in order to illuminate the role of National Socialist propaganda in the French decision to ignore Hitler’s war preparations and pursue an untenable policy of appeasement. By examining how cultural exchange shifted toward political collaboration, Grand Illusion casts new light on the power of art to influence history.

She also recently coedited with Hazel Clark a special volume of the journal Design Issues on globalization, postcolonialism, and design (MIT Press, Summer 2009).

Fiss is coeditor of the anthology Discourses: Conversations in Postmodern Art and Culture (MIT Press, 1992) and has contributed to Art, Culture and Media under the Third Reich (ed. Richard Etlin, University of Chicago Press), in addition to other scholarly publications and catalogues. Fiss has also published articles for the magazines and websites of Print, CMYK, and Metropolis.

Fiss's writing and research has been supported by grants from the Graham Foundation, Getty Grant Program, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD), the Fulbright, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art.