Intellectual Biography

OHIO

Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 1972-1976

Steven J. Oscherwitz received his B.A. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1975, with a double major in Biology and Philosophy. Early on, he became fascinated with Pythagorean Mathematical Philosophy and Plato’s Treatise, The Timaeus, and analytic philosophy, specifically Wittgenstein’s Tractatus, and pursued independent studies in the histories of visual perception and optics. Important works read were also Hiedegger’s What is a Thing, B.H. Son’s Science and Person-A Study on the Idea of Philosophy as Rigorous Science in Kant and Husserl. And read Peter Koestenbaum, translation of Husserl’s Paris Lectures, which influenced his future trajectories because of the importance of Husserl’s phenomenology toward his future philosophical explorations related to empirical science.

Miami University Philosophy Department Faculty: Stan Kane (Ph.D. Philosophy Harvard University), Peter Schuller (Ph.D.. Philosophy Yale University), Asher Seidel (Ph.D. Philosophy The University of Michigan), Michael Goldman (Ph.D.. Philosophy the University of Michigan), Hugh Wilder (Phd Philosophy The University of Toronto). Special thanks to John Sommers (Ph.D. Philosophy at the University of Chicago), who initiated my interest in philosophy.

CHICAGO

The School of The Art Institute of Chicago 1976-1983

Resolutely interdisciplinary and of a hybrid nature, Oscherwitz’s work continued to locate itself as a connection point between philosophy, science, art, politics, and technology.
He continued his intense study in the history of philosophy and science at the University of Chicago while completing a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in the Department of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he also became an instructor.
His leading professors were Ted Halkin, Ray Yoshida, and Mary McCarthy. In addition, Professor Frank Piatek supported his hybrid study of art and science. His other teachers were Karl Wirsum, Michael Miller, Roxie Tremonto, and Thomas Kapsalis and in Art and Technology Sonia Sheridan.

Research Libraries. The Ryerson and Burnham Libraries and The John M. Flaxman Library.

” Steven J. Oscherwitz is the only student I have had (30 years of teaching) whose work, developing from an original impulse, has managed to incorporate all the information a school offers and retain its originality in a mature medium.

Ted Halkin: The Latimer Wells Chaired Professor Of The Department of Painting and Drawing

The University of Chicago Studied at 1976-1992

While still maintaining his identity by producing a body of artwork from 1986 to 1993, Oscherwitz also took part in the core curriculum of the Conceptual Foundation of Science Program at the Morris Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago. Professors Robert J. Richards, Howard Stein, Noel Swerdlow, and Lorraine Daston gave him their gracious support by allowing him to sit in on and take part in their courses, significantly impacting his philosophical trajectory. He specifically gained knowledge of the Historical Philosophy of Chemistry from one of the 20th-century eminent historians of science, Allen Debus, who allowed him to become a full-class member in one of his courses.
All while retaining his hybrid identity as a working artist.

U of C Research Libraries.The Regenstein Library, John Crerar Library.

The Newberry Library

WASHINGTON STATE

Seattle

The University of Washington. Studied from 1992 to 2015.

1993 to 2008
While keeping his working identity as an artist and continuing to build a large body of artwork, he also undertook Independent Scholarly Research in the Philosophy and Histories of Art and Science at the University of Washington. He studied under Professors Thomas Hankins, Bruce Hevly, and Keith Benson, who graciously supported the hybrid nature of his scholarship. He continued his scholarship in the history of ideas related explicitly to physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, and mathematics. Professor Phillip Thurtle also inspired and served as a great support to his independent growth as a hybrid scholar.

Attended courses at The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center studying the molecular biology of cancer cells.

Research Libraries. The John Suzzallo Library and The Allen Library.

Bremerton Art Workspace 2001-2016.

He continued to build a larger body of artwork in the small industrial ship-building town of Bremerton, Washington.

CALIFORNIA

Stanford University (SLAC) 2015-2020


Oscherwitz attended five different symposia in accelerator science at Stanford’s linear accelerator laboratory (SLAC). Once, he had the opportunity to receive the gracious support of SLAC and the Professor of Biochemistry, Petra Fromme, to witness an actual accelerator experiment as it took place.
These symposia stimulated Oscherwitz’s thinking on time and temporality related to the experimentation with molecular structures being observed and studied at femto regimes of time.
The following materials on this site from Oscherwitz’s time at Stanford provide insight into this critical influence.

MAINE

Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) Program in Portland, Maine.-current

He is currently pursuing intense philosophical studies with the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) Program in Portland, Maine.

Oscherwitz’s artwork was exhibited in the main galleries of The National Museum of American Art of the Smithsonian, The Art Institute of Chicago at the Chicago International Art Exhibition, and in many other venues across the United States. He has given scholarly art science presentations at the Society for Literature and Science, Johns Hopkins Press, the Art/Science Conference held at Notre Dame University, Banff Media Center, UT Austin, and many others. And has published in The Leonardo Journal M.I.T .Press.


This site archives a small portion of Oscherwitz’s artwork and a more extensive selection of his scholarly work from over five decades of making his artwork.