Eric Segal's teaching and research in American Art extends from Colonial America to the modern United States. In addition to introductory courses in the history of art in America, he teaches advanced courses in American Art; visual culture studies (including popular illustration); African American art; the history and theory of collecting and museums; and methodology and theory in art history.

Professor Segal completed his doctorate in American Art at the University of California, Los Angeles with a minor field of study in Critical Theory. He has published in the Art Bulletin and is currently writing a manuscript on U.S. popular illustration between the World Wars and the formation of American nationality under the rubric of whiteness.