Rebecca Svehla is a design historian with a specialty in architectural history and urbanism, interested in the intersections of product design, media, and architecture. Her dissertation in progress, "A Strategy of Separation: GE and the Architecture of Electricity, 1911-1936," examines the electrification of American architecture in the 20th century through the efforts of General Electric Company (GE) and brings together methods of architectural history and primary documents from GE’s collections to connect multidisciplinary branches of design. Rebecca’s broader research also considers the intersections of design professionals, domestic interiors, and craft practices with industrial, commercial, and corporate influences in design in the 19th and 20th centuries. Her work challenges persistent conceptual divides that shape society to consider alternate narratives of the past and the possibilities for the future.
Teaching Interests: Surveys of art and design, history of design, corporate design histories, interdisciplinary spaces
