Assistant Professor in History of Art and History
About
Gaëtan Thomas is a historian of the twentieth century with a focus on France and Gabon. Engaging methods from the field of technology studies, he tackles historical problems through the lens of materials, spaces and the environment.
He has edited, translated into French, and introduced the work of two prominent American art critics closely associated with the cultural history of AIDS: Douglas Crimp and Craig Owens. He continues to contribute to exhibition catalogues and other art publications, drawing on his knowledge of queer theory emerging in the wake of the AIDS crisis.
He is the author of two books on the history of immunization and infectious diseases. Currently, he is working on two projects: a history of the Claude-Bernard Hospital (now defunct) in Paris, and a study of medical mobilities and infrastructures in post-colonial Gabon.
In the Department of History of Art, he teaches courses on the history of the built environment in Africa, the history of the architecture of hospitals, and the history of visualization in science.
Significant recent publications:
Books
G. Thomas, Vaccination. Histoire d’un consentement, Paris, Le Seuil, 2024
G. Lachenal and G. Thomas, Atlas historique des épidémies, Paris, Autrement/Flammarion, 2023. Japanese translation in 2025.
G. Thomas (ed.), Craig Owens, Le discours des autres. Essais choisis, Romainville, Même pas l’hiver, 2022
G. Thomas (ed.), Douglas Crimp, Pictures. S’approprier la photographie, New York, 1979-2014,Paris-Cherbourg, Le Point du Jour, 2016
Articles
G. Thomas, “Carrying Promiscuity and Excess” in Rattanamol Singh Johal (ed.), Homage. Queer Lineages on Video, Wallach Gallery, Columbia University, 2025, p. 58-61
G. Thomas, “Craig Owens et Douglas Crimp, deux critiques d’art dans la pensée queer, ” in N. Liucci-Goutnikov (ed.), Over the rainbow, Paris, Centre Pompidou, 2023, p. 156-158
G. Thomas, “Morts bêtes,” in E. Lebovici and F. Piron (ed.), Exposé.es, Paris-Bruxelles, Palais de Tokyo-Fonds, Mercator, 2023, p. 221-225
G. Thomas, “The Cost of Trust: The World Health Organization and Vaccination's Contested Economization in France, 1978- 2000,” Journal of Contemporary History, 5, 4, 2022, p. 939–958.
G. Lachenal and G. Thomas “Epidemics Have Lost the Plot,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 94, 4, 2020, p. 670-689
G. Thomas, “Keeping Vaccination Simple: Building French Immunization Schedules, 1959–1999,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 94, 3, 2020, p. 423-458
