Bernardo Menezes

PH.D. IN THE CONSTRUCTED ENVIRONMENT, 2021

Bernardo Menezes

 


Beauty in the Field: Philosophical Aesthetics and the Consolidation of Landscape Architecture as a Field of Study in U.S. Academia

Bernardo Menezes is a landscape critic and historian, serving as a lecturer and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Landscape Architecture (see full Faculty Profile here). His dissertation explores the role of beauty and philosophical aesthetics in landscape architecture theoretical discourse as the profession developed into an academic discipline in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. It analyzes the specific circumstances under which landscape architecture transitioned from an emerging professional practice to a recognized field of scholarly inquiry, offering a robust account of the role beauty played in landscape architecture’s disciplinary formation. It asks how the evolving conceptions of beauty and aesthetic theories permeated landscape architecture’s consolidating structure, examining how those ideas were specifically translated and developed within the field and offering a critical review of their treatment.

Before beginning his doctoral studies, Menezes worked as a designer, researcher, and educator at the University of Porto. He is especially proud to have assisted in the preliminary studies that led to the inscription of the sanctuary Bom Jesus do Monte (Braga, Portugal) as a cultural landscape in the World Heritage List (UNESCO). While at the University of Porto, Menezes taught in the Departments of Landscape Architecture and Heritage Studies on courses such as “History of Landscape Architecture” and “Landscape Policies.” For his role as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the UVA School of Architecture, he was awarded the Class of 1985 Fellowship for Creative Teaching, a recognition that stands among the highest honors a graduate student can earn based on their dedication to teaching at UVA. During the Spring of 2024, he was also selected as a Visiting Scholar in Landscape Architecture at the American Academy in Rome.

Menezes earned degrees in Landscape Architecture (B.L.A., 2009; M.L.A., 2010) and History of Art (B.A., 2018) from the University of Porto, to which he added an M.A. in Garden and Landscape History, graduating with distinction from the University of London (2019). In addition to different UVA research grants, his studies are funded by a Fulbright Grant for Graduate Studies and a Ph.D. Studentship offered by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

Honors and Grants

2024

Harvard University: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection


Bliss Symposium Award: supported participation in the 2024 Garden and Landscape Studies Spring Symposium on “Commons and Commoning,” at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. 


University of Virginia: Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs 

The Class of 1985 Fellowship for Creative Teaching: awarded annually to the graduate student who best demonstrates exceptional creativity in teaching. It is the highest honor a graduate student can earn in recognition of their dedication to teaching at the University of Virginia. 
 

University of Virginia: Raven Society 

Raven Scholarship: awarded annually to students demonstrating outstanding achievement in the classroom, unique achievement in scholarship outside the classroom, and leadership and community service. 
 

American Academy in Rome 

Visiting Scholar: selected as a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome for four weeks of archival research and fieldwork in Spring 2024 (March 25 – April 19). 
 

2023

University of Virginia: Society of Fellows


2023-24 Junior Fellow: the Society is made up of Senior Fellows, a continuing group of distinguished scientists and scholars who are active faculty, and an annually changing complement of Junior Fellows, students who are chosen for their attained distinction and future promise. 


2020

Fulbright Program: Portuguese Commission


2020 Pathway to Graduate School: offered a place at this Fulbright program designed to help highly motivated and talented students submit competitive applications to graduate programs in the U.S.A. 


2010

University of Porto


1st Prize at the “Idea Contest for e-Learning Café’s Outer Spaces and Canopy;” idea developed with Duarte Ramalho Fontes and Maria João Teixeira. 

 

Research Grants, Scholarships & Fellowships

2024

University of Virginia: Society of Fellows

Summer Grant for Junior Fellows: for archival research and fieldwork in Cambridge and Boston, MA, during Summer 2024.

University of Virginia: Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation

Global Graduate Research (GGR) Grant: for independent travel and research in Italy during Spring 2024.

University of Virginia: School of Architecture

Carlo Pelliccia Travelling Fellowship: for independent travel and research in Italy during Spring 2024.
 

2023

University of Virginia: Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs

Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (AHSS) Summer Research Fellowship: for archival research and fieldwork in Cambridge and Boston, MA, during Summer 2023.
 

2022

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Ph.D. Studentship (2022-2026): offered by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT); ranked first (nationally) on the Design, Architecture, and Urban Planning evaluation panel.
 

2021

Fulbright Program

Fulbright Grant for Graduate Studies (Ph.D.): financial support for the 2021-2022 academic year, visa sponsorship and academic support until 2025-2026.
 

2020

Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche

Shortlisted for a landscape study scholarship on their sixth edition (2020-2021). Scholarships were then awarded to Andrea Bagnato and Salome Katamadze.
 

Banco Santander and IE Foundation Scholarship

Recipient of a scholarship for the online learning journey “The New Role of the Educator: Best Practices in Online Education,” an online course developed by IE University faculty to train university educators to tackle the transition to a digital educational environment.

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