T.J. Demos

Faculty Advisor, Climate Justice & Critical Ecologies

T.J. Demos is Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Visual Culture at UC Santa Cruz and founding Director of the Center for Creative Ecologies. An art historian, writer, and cultural critic, his research examines contemporary art in relation to climate change, political ecology, decolonization, migration, environmental justice, and Indigenous and more-than-human worlds. His work has been especially influential in developing critical approaches to the intersections of visual culture, ecology, and global politics. He is the author of numerous books, including Decolonizing Nature: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology, Against the Anthropocene: Visual Culture and Environment Today, and Radical Futurisms: Ecologies of Collapse, Chronopolitics, and Justice-to-Come. At UCSC, he has also developed research and public programming through the Center for Creative Ecologies focused on climate justice, artistic activism, and environmental politics.

For UC CAAN, Demos contributes his expertise in contemporary art, climate justice, political ecology, and environmental humanities. He also participated in the Arts & Ecology Festival, contributing to the network’s broader conversations around artistic practice, environmental crisis, and climate justice.