Smithsonian Journeys Experts

Erik Gustafson is an architectural historian of Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Islamic world, with interests spanning from the ancient world into the early Modern period. He has lived for extended periods in Italy, France, and Egypt, and has also extensively travelled in northern Europe, Iberia, and the eastern Mediterranean. Erik’s academic work addresses how specific sites were historically understood in light of broad intellectual and visual traditions, interests which inform his teaching and Smithsonian Journeys work. His current book project, Building Saint Francis, considers how the Franciscan order architecturally tried to shape and channel the legacy of their founder in the centuries after his death. Erik has taught a variety of courses on the art and architecture of the ancient world, medieval Europe and the Mediterranean, and intercultural exchanges throughout the European and Islamic worlds at the University of California, Berkeley, Fordham University, Washington & Lee University, and George Mason University. Erik has published on Italian, Spanish, and French medieval architecture as well as Mamluk architecture in Cairo, and is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome.