Rice University, PhD, Art History

Indiana University, MA, Art History

Wheaton College (IL), BA, Art History

Stephen Westich completed his dissertation, titled The Shrine in the Field: Materiality and Spatiality of Norwegian Stave Churches, in the Department of Art History in 2024 advised by Professor Linda Neagley.

His research focuses on the intersections of material, meaning, and landscape in medieval architecture with a special emphasis on Norway. He is currently preparing a book length study of Borgund stave church that investigates the evolving significance of the structure in Norwegian identity. Recent publications include “Beyond the Churchyard Wall: Stave Churches in the Medieval Landscape,” in Landscape and Nature in Scandinavian Art, eds. MaryClaire Pappas, Tonje Haugland Sørensen (Routledge, 2025); and "The Present Absence: Eyewitnesses, Pilgrims, and the Anastasis Rotunda in the St. Albans Psalter." Peregrinations: Journal of Medieval Art and Architecture 9, 2 (2024).

He currently lectures in the Houston area.