Shorted CV (below) - Full length CV   Found - Here
Education
Harvard Univisrity Graduate School of Design
Masters in Design Studies (MDeS) - Narratives Domain
 
Rive University
Bachelor’s of Arts double majoring in Art History and Philosophy. Graduated With tripple honors.

Art History Honors Thesis: “The politics of Space and Experience in the Work of Helio Oiticica and Lygia Pape.”

Philosophy Honors Thesis: “Kant and Jauernig on the Transcendental Self.” 

University of Oxford, St. Catherine’s College,
Visiting student studying art history and philosophy 
Research & Experience 
Elizebeth Lee Undergraduate Research Followshp in The Humanities and Arts (2023-2026)

Mary Helen Lovett Travel Fellowship (2024, 2025)

2024 Project: Brancusi’s prusiut of Essence
Archival Research: Bibliothèque Kandisky Centre Pompidou

2025 Project:  Senior Thesis
Archival Research: MAM-RJ, MASP, Project Helio Oiticica

Art Research Associate, Humanities Research Center(HRC), Rice University 

Cycladic Art Independent Study,  Ashmolean Musuem, Oxford, U.K. 

Awards 
Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts (2026)
https://studentlife.rice.edu/events-and-programs/awards/sudler-prize 

Distinction in Research and Creative work, Rice University (2026)

High Honors in Art History, Rice University Department of Art History  (2026)

Award for Excellence in Art History, Rice University Department of Art History (2024)

Publications
Public Scholarship 
“Jeffery Gibson’s The future is Present”, Humanities Research Center, Rice University
https://hrc.rice.edu/theme/about-image 






About

 Previous Work

Art Related Practices

 Extraneous

CV

Juan-Pablo Cajiga-Pena



About


Hellooooo,

I’m Juan-Pablo, a graduate student in the MDes program (Domain: Narratives) at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. My work often examines how political ideologies manifest in the built environment, and how architecture and visual art shape subject formation and cultural identity.

I often work at the intersection of art history, architectural history, and theory, with particular interest in how spaces, objects, and images structure experience, perception, and knowlege/cultural production.
You can reach me(virtually) via juanpablo_cajigapena@gsd.harvard.edu


My research origins are in art history and philosophy.

My background and research experience in philsophy is in metaphysics and history of philosophy, specifically in Kant’s theorhetical and aesethetic philosophy.

In art history I have done research and worked on a variety of topics including Modernist Sculpture, 1960s and 70s Brazilian Art, and Cycladic Art.  My reserach often examines the nature of artistic objecthood by examining modes of artistic production which challenge traditional categories, modes, and mediums of art history.  

CV


Juan-Pablo Cajiga-Pena - juanpablo_cajigapena@gsd.harvard.edu

Education
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, 2026-2028
Masters in design studies (MDeS) - Narratives  Domain Head: Ed Eigen                                             

Rice University, Houston, TX, 2022-2026                                                                                                                                      
Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in Philosophy and Art History 
Graduated With tripplle honors: honors in Philosohy, high honors in Art History, and Univeristy Latin Honors (cum laude)

Art History Honors Thesis:
“The Politics of Space and Experience in the Work of Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Pape”
Advisor: Associate Professor of Art History Fabiola Lopez-Duran
(Awarded high honors)

Philosophy Honors Thesis:
“Kant and Jauernig on the Transcendental Self”
Advisor: Assistant Professor Thimo Heisenberg

University of Oxford, St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, UK, 2024-2025
Visiting Student studying Philosophy and History of Art                                                    

Research & Experience
Elizabeth Lee Moody Undergraduate Research Fellowship in the Humanities and Arts, Huamnities Research Center, Rice University (2023-2026)

2024 Project: A Kantian Approach to the Value of Sublime Experiences
Advisor: Assistant Professor Thimo Heisenberg

Mary Helen Lovett Travel Fellowship - Travel fellowship to conduct field research in Art History, Rice University (Summer 2024, Summer 2025)
       
2024 Project: Brancusi’s Pursuit of Essence
Archival Research: Bibliothèque Kandinsky, Centre Pompidou

2025 Project: Senior Thesis on Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Pape
Archival Research: MAM-RJ, MASP, Project Hélio Oiticica

Art Research Associate, Rice University Humanities Research Center (HRC), (2025-26)

Cycladic Art Independent Study, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, U.K, Winter 2025
        - Topics explored: the archeological context or lack thereof in Cycladic Art, Cycladic Figurines,
            Cycladic Art’s influence on Modern Sculpture, and contemporary archeological and curatorial
            discourse on the Cycladic art and institutions
            Advisor: Sir Arthur Evans Curator of Bronze Age and Classical Greece Dr. Andrew Shapland

Gallery Assistant, Galería Herrero de Tejada, Madrid, Summer 2023
          

Awards
Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts, Rice University, Louis Sudler endowment, 2026
University-wide prize awarded annually to a graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence and  distinction in the arts; part of the Louis Sudler endowment supporting arts prizes at fourteen major universities across the United States.

Distinction in Research and Creative Work, Rice University, 2026     
        - nominated for the award by the art history department and the philosphy department

High Honors in Art History, Rice University, 2026
Departmental recognition awarded for an outstanding Art History honors thesis.

Inaugural, Art Research Associate, Rice University Humanities Research Center (HRC), (Academic Year 2025-26)

Award for Excellence in Art History, Rice University Art History Department, 2024


The Benjamin F. Sylvester Jr Award,  St Catherine’s College Oxford Rowing Society,  St Catherine's College (Oxford) Foundation, 2025  
The Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr medal  is given annually to the member of the Boat Club who has most significantly contributed to enhancing the rowing life of St Catherine's College, Oxford. 

Rice University President’s Honor Roll (Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2025)


Publications
Public Scholarship
“Jeff Gibson’s The Future is Present” Short-form essay written for a public audience on contemporary
artists Jeff Gibson. Humanities Research Center, Rice University. Circulated through the HRC and Rice
school of Humanities and Arts (April 2026)

Invited Talks & Presentations
April 2026: “The Politics of Space and Experience in the Work of Hélio Oiticica and Lygia Pape”
Rice University, Humanities and Arts Festival

April 2026: Art History Honors Thesis Presentation
Rice University, Department of Art History Department

February 2024: “Kant’s ‘Deduction’, or lack thereof, of the Sublime”
Houston German Philosophy Society Reading Group, Organized by Assistant Professor Thimo
Heisenberg

Languages and Skills
English (Native)
Spanish (Native)
Portuguese (Basic)
Tibetan (Reading Knowledge Wylie: specifically, THL Extended Wylie and THL Simplified Phonetics)

Activities and Memberships
Rice University Philosophy Club, President and Guest-Talk Organizer (2023-24, 2025-26)

Previous Academic Work


Art History Thesis (Draft): “The politics of Space and Experience in the Work of Helio Oiticica and Lygia Pape.”

Philosophy Thesis: “Kant and Jauernig on the Transcendental Self.” 

Essay On Gibson (Circulated By Rice-HRC)

Art related Practices


2026

Spring - Stain Painting

Extranenous



Me walking around Paris during my undergrad - June 2024
 


Photos of Flowers  



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