Professor Basile Baudez has been awarded the Sophie and L. Edward Cotsen Faculty Fellowship for 2025-2028 in recognition of his distinguished career, both in teaching and scholarship at Princeton. He is the first member of the Department of Art & Archaeology to be awarded this prestigious fellowship. Established in 1990 by a gift from Lloyd Cotsen ’50, the Fellowship supports the development and teaching of new undergraduate courses, or other distinctive contributions to the undergraduate teaching program at Princeton. 

Baudez, who specializes in Early Modern European architectural history, is currently serving as the Department of Art & Archaeology’s director of undergraduate studies. As a Cotsen Fellow, he will launch the new undergraduate course ART 101/ VIS 101 in spring 2026, which examines themes and materials that bridge the two tracks of study offered by the department: the practice of art track and the history of art track. The course will feature a historian and an artist lecturing on a shared theme each week, fostering a dynamic exchange of perspectives. Ultimately, the course will offer the entire undergraduate community a holistic understanding of how, why, by whom, and under what conditions art is created.

The Fellowship also supports two Ph.D. candidates to assist Baudez in developing new ideas in undergraduate pedagogy while improving their teaching skills under his mentorship.  

Finally, in each of the three years of the Fellowship, the Department of Art & Archaeology will receive a $5,000 book fund, with every purchased book bearing a bookplate recognizing Baudez’s award.