For full CV please contact me.
Dr. Bess Williamson, swilliamson1@saic.edu
EDUCATION
2011 Ph.D., History of American Civilization, The University of Delaware
2007 M.A., History, The University of Delaware
2005 M.A., History of Decorative Arts and Design, Parsons School of Design/Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
1998 B.A. History/Visual Arts, Brown University
EMPLOYMENT
2024-Present Associate Professor of Design Studies, NC State College of Design
2018-2024 Associate Professor of Design History, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
2017-2021 Graduate Programs Director, Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism
2012-2018 Assistant Professor of Design History
Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism
2011-2012 Assistant Professor of Design History
Department of Art + Design
PUBLICATIONS
Neurodivergent Design: The Past and Future of Sensory, Tactile, and Inclusive Design. Manuscript in Progress.
Design for Independent Living: Physical Disability and the Built Environment
Making Disability Modern: Design Histories. co-editor with Elizabeth Guffey. Bloomsbury Publishers, 2020.
Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design. New York University Press, 2019.
Book Series
Co-editor, Critical Access Studies book series from the University of Minnesota Press. Launched Fall 2026: now accepting submissions (contact sewill32 at ncsu dot edu)
Articles (Peer Reviewed)
“Is Universal Design Neurodivergent? Pasts and Futures of Mental Disability in Design.” Journal of Design History, digital preprint, May 26, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1093/jdh/epaf052.
“Getting a Grip: Disability and American Industrial Design of the Late Twentieth Century,” Winterthur Portfolio, Winter 2012-2013: 213-236. Winner of Grier Prize for Best Article Published 2013-2014.
“California Access: Designing Berkeley’s Wheelchair Route, 1970-1974,” Boom: A Journal of California 2:1 (Spring 2012).
“Electric Moms and Quad Drivers: People with Disabilities Making, Buying, and Using Technology in Postwar America,” American Studies 52: 1 (Spring 2011): 5-30. Winner of Katzman-Yetman Award from Mid-Atlantic American Studies Association. Reprinted in Disability, Space, Architecture: A Reader, ed. Jos Boys. New York: Routledge, 2017.
