Texas Tech University

Clifton Ellis, Ph.D.

Interim Associate Dean for Research and Innovation
Elizabeth Sasser Professor of Architectural History

Ph.D in Architectural History, University of Virginia
M.A. in Architectural History, University of Virginia
M.A. in Early American History, University of Tennessee
B.A. in French and History, Carson-Newman College

Dr. Clifton Ellis is a cultural historian whose research focuses on the architecture and material culture of the colonial and antebellum South. It draws from the fields of architectural history and material culture to explain how human relationships are mediated and maintained through architecture.

In his dissertation, Dr. Ellis researched the Berry Hill plantation in Halifax County, Virginia, and used its establishment and construction in 1842 as a case study to explain the ways in which class, gender, and race were manifested in the material culture of plantation society. From Dr. Ellis, "Academic styles and vernacular forms are expressive cultural symbols that must be considered in relation to the spatial configurations which they envelop. Style, form, and space together constitute the cultural phenomenon of architecture, and I seek to understand architecture as an active force that reveals the intentions of its builders even as it shapes the social dynamics of a given time and place."

In addition to his degrees, Dr. Ellis holds a certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia as well as his Education for Ministry certificate from the Episcopal School of Theology from the University of the South. He joined Texas Tech's College of Architecture in 2002.

Contact

clifton.ellis@ttu.edu
806.834.1209
Room 1002F
Office Hours: T/Tr 12:30–2:00 PM and by appointment

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