Professional Summary
I am an art and design historian interested in global visual cultures, philosophies, and questions about the future. My work builds rich, historically grounded accounts of how humans have made and understood images across time.
A central thread in my research is the relationship between humans and the broader world we inhabit, including animals, plants, and environments, and what those relationships reveal about art and existence. I am also interested in how minds (human and nonhuman) organize and make sense of information, particularly through visual means, and what that tells us about culture and knowledge.
Philosophical posthumanism is the framework I use to examine these questions, challenging assumptions about what it means to be human. This raises a fascinating area of inquiry: how might non-human beings, such as animals or artificial intelligence, experience the world visually, and what does that mean for our conception art? My doctoral dissertation, "The Well-Tempered Android: Philosophical Posthumanism in Science Fiction Cinema," brings these ideas together through science fiction film.
Teaching is central to my work, and I am especially invested in fresh, effective approaches to art and design history through an interdisciplinary humanities lens, in both introductory and major-specific courses.
Education
MA: Indiana University Bloomington | Bloomington, Indiana, 2013 (Art History)
PhD: University of Louisville | Louisville, Kentucky, 2023 (Humanities: Studies in Culture, Criticism & Contemporary Thought)
Certificate: University of Cambridge | Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2010 (Art History Summer School Program)
BA: University of Louisville | Louisville, Kentucky, 2011 (Triple Majors in Art History, English & Humanities)
Positions and Work Experience
08-2024 -05-2025 Lecturer at the Hite Institute of Art and Design, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
08-2024 -10-2024 First-Year Experience Lecturer for the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
08-2022 -12-2023 First-Year Experience Lecturer for the Honors Program, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
08-2021 -05-2025 Art History & Humanities Lecturer, Central Texas College (Continental Campus), Ft. Knox, KY
01-2021 -05-2021 Art History Lecturer, Ivy Tech Community College, Sellersburg, IN
08-2019 -05-2020 Art History & Humanities Lecturer, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA
08-2015 -05-2018 Humanities Lecturer, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
08-2025 -To Present Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash, Blue Ash, Ohio
Presentations
Paper Presentations
Cody Gault (02-2026. ) The Sound Machine, Annihilation & Anesthetized Venus Flytraps: Sentience and Sapience in Plants . Louisville, KY.
Contact Information
cody.gault@uc.edu