Dr. Johanna Fassl designed, established and directed Columbia University’s academic program and study center “Casa Muraro” in Venice, which she still oversees as a member of the advisory board. The program is an interdisciplinary curriculum that connects art history with literature, architecture, conservation studies and the social sciences. This builds bridges between the past and current issues around sustainability and cultural heritage. Today, she is an Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Communication at Franklin University (FUS), Switzerland, where she also serves as a faculty adviser to the Board of Trustees. Recently, she founded “Scholarships Without Borders,” a program at FUS that grants full scholarships and extensive academic and personal support to qualified refugee students to follow university studies towards their BA degree.

Johanna is involved in research, curatorial and editorial work for which she has received grants from the Mellon Foundation, the Getty Research Institute and the Swiss National Science Foundation. Her methodological approach stems from a rigorous visual analysis, the basis for the investigation of mental processes, underpinning the creation and appreciation of art. Her current project focus is on an exhibition and documentary film project featuring the work of artists who served as soldiers in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. It takes an interdisciplinary approach between art, neurology and psychology and studies how soldiers from all sides of the conflicts see war, how the memory from the combat zone is projected and how these recollections are then represented and transformed in painting and photography.

Dr. Fassl holds a diploma in Interior and Product Design and an MA and PhD in art history with distinction from Columbia University. She grew up in Munich and speaks German, English and Italian with mother tongue fluency and is also fluent in French. An avid athlete, Dr. Fassl is a nationally accredited ski instructor with special training to teach and guide visually impaired and blind skiers. She currently lives in Lugano, Switzerland.