Eldra-Dominique Walker

Eldra-Dominique Walker is an architectural historian whose dissertation examines the theme of the “primitive” in nineteenth-century French architectural thought and practice. She received the support of the Bourse Jeanne Marandon from the Société de professeurs français et francophones d’Amérique (SPFFA), the Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship from Harvard University, and the Pforzheimer Fellowship from the Harvard Library. More broadly, Modern European Architecture (1750-1950) is her primary field, and her additional research interests include transnational histories, architectural literature, intersections between race and architecture, history and theory of architectural ornament, and the theory and practice of architectural preservation.

Eldra has presented work at conferences organized by the University of Geneva and the University of Leuven, the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, the European Architectural History Network, and the Première Université d’été de programme STARACO (STAtus, RAce, et COuleur) at the University of Nantes.

She joined the Department of Architecture as an Assistant Professor in 2019 and directs the MDesign Historic Preservation Program. Additionally, she was the Nettie Seabrooks Graduate Curatorial Intern in European Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts, where she assisted museum curators with an upcoming exhibition entitled "Color of Faith." Eldra has taught courses at the GSD in Western Architectural history and theory, from the Renaissance to the present. Before coming to Harvard, Eldra was an architectural design reviewer in the District of Columbia Office of Planning. Eldra has an MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania and a BS from Morgan State University.

Companies

• Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director of the Masters in Design Program University of Massachusetts Amherst (2018)
• Pforzheimer Fellow with Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School Harvard University Libraries (2015 — 2015)
• Graduate Teaching Fellow for "Building, Texts, and Contexts II: 18th and 19th Century Architecture" Harvard Graduate School of Design (2015 — 2015)
• Graduate Teaching Fellow for "Building, Texts, and Contexts I: Classical and Baroque" Harvard Graduate School of Design (2014 — 2014)
• Graduate Teaching Fellow for "Building, Texts, and Contexts II: 18th and 19th Century Architecture" Harvard Graduate School of Design (2014 — 2014)
• Graduate Teaching Fellow for "Building, Texts, and Contexts I: Classical and Baroque" Harvard Graduate School of Design (2013 — 2013)
• Graduate Teaching Fellow for "Design of the American City" Harvard Graduate School of Design (2013 — 2013)
• Digital Collections Assistant Harvard Law School Library (2012 — 2012)
• Historic Preservation Specialist DC Office of Planning, Historic Preservation Office (2008 — 2011)

Education

• Master of Arts (M.A.) Harvard University Graduate School of Design (2011 — 2012)
• Master of Science (M.S.) University of Pennsylvania (2005 — 2007)
• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Morgan State University (1998 — 2001)