Professional Qualifications

PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS

Education:

  • BFA in Art History (summa cum laude), OHIO UNIVERSITY, 1974
  • Graduate studies in Asian art and Chinese language, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NY, fall 1974
  • M.A. in Asian Art History, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS , 1978 (subject areas for M. A. exams:  Chinese painting, early Chinese art, Japanese painting, Buddhist art of Asia, ancient Greek art)
  • Graduate studies in Japanese art history at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan, September 1980-December 1981, with Professor Tsuji Nobuo.
  • Ph.D. in Japanese Art History, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, 1983 (Ph.D. exam areas included a minor in Chinese Ming dynasty painting)

Appraising Credentials:

CERTIFIED APPRAISER WITH THE APPRAISERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA. After working as an appraiser for nine years, in 2002, I applied and was admitted to the APPRAISERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, as a full member, qualified to appraise artworks in a broad range of Asian Art including Far Eastern Art (China, Korea, and Japan) and Southeast Asian, Himalayan,and Indian fine arts and crafts, from prehistoric periods to the contemporary era. I have successfully completed a 15-hour course and examination on the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), the Congressionally-recognized set of appraisal standards promulgated by the not-for-profit Appraisal Foundation. In early 2009, I completed Certification Examinations in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean arts administered by the Appraisers Association of America. My attendance at annual AAA conferences and receipt of regular updates on USPAP changes assures that my appraisals meet all necessary current guidelines for appraisals mandated by the IRS.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Japanese (excellent reading, writing, speaking), Chinese (reading), French (reading)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Research Consultancies:

  • Asian Art Consultant for a grant-funded program, Asian Arts in the Undergraduate Curriculum, sponsored by ASIANetwork, a consortium of over 160 undergraduate liberal arts colleges in the USA with Asian Studies Programs (2006-2009);
  • Consultant for Japanese Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art (1995-2007);
  • Editorial and Marketing Consultant for Kodansha International Publishers, New York Office (1988-1989).

Museum Positions:

  • Consultant for Japanese Art, NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART(1993-2001);
  • Assistant Curator of Asian Arts, ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM (1991-1993);
  • Research Fellow for Japanese Art, NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART  (1984-1986).

Academic Positions:

  • Director, Japan Section of the Kansas-Asia Scholars Program, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS (2002-2006);
  • Lecturer, Graduate Program in Historic Administration and Museum Studies, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS (1997, 1999, 2001);
  • Lecturer, History of Art and Religious Studies Departments, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS (spring 2000);
  • Assistant to the Director, Center for East Asian Studies, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS (1998-1999);
  • Assistant Professor, Art Department, HOBART & WILLIAM SMITH COLLEGES (1988-1990);
  • Assistant Professor, Art History Department, CORNELL UNIVERSITY (1986-1988).

University Courses Taught:

  • Undergraduate courses: Japanese art, Japanese Architecture and Gardens, Cultural History of Kyoto, Introduction to Asian art, Conflicts Between Tradition and Modernity in Contemporary Japan, Contemporary Japanese Culture, Art of Ancient Greece, Introduction to Ancient and Medieval (Western) art.
  • Graduate courses: Japanese Prints, Japanese Painting, Japanese Painting of the Edo Period, Japanese Ceramics, Introduction to Museum Exhibitions, Connoisseurship of Japanese Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Material Culture in Japanese Religious Traditions.

Director of Educational Exchange Trips to Japan:

  • Project co-director for the KANSAS RURAL CENTER, Whiting, KS, for Global Partners for Local Organic Foods: A U.S.-Japan Exchange Project in Kansas & Saitama, between Kansas-based organic food industry professionals and counterparts in Japan (cooperating institution in Japan: IFOAM Japan) intended to facilitate change in targeted communities in both locations (2008-2010);
  • Director, Japan Section of the Kansas-Asia Scholars Program (planner and leader for an annual 3-week study abroad scholarship program for outstanding undergraduates), UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS (2002-2006);
  • Director, Summer Study Abroad Institute in Hiratsuka, Japan, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS (5-weeks in 1998).

Leader for Cultural Tours to Japan:

  • Organizer and trip leader for an art and design-themed tour for the SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART (October 2006);
  • Lecturer for a tour organized by DISTANT HORIZONS, Santa Monica, CA (fall 2002 and fall 2003);
  • Lecturer on the Clipper Odyssey for a tour sponsored by the AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, NY (spring 2003).

PROFESSIONAL GRANTS, RECOGNITIONS, AND AFFILIATIONS

Institutional Grants:

KANSAS RURAL CENTER, for Global Partners for Local Organic Foods: grants from the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (2008-2010) and the Elizabeth Schultz Environmental Fund of the Douglas County Kansas, Community Foundation (2008-09); ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM, for library book acquisitions: grants from the Japan Foundation and the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies (1992); NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART, for library book acquisitions: the Japan Foundation and the Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies (1995 & 1999).

Publication Subvention Grants:

For my book, Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art (2007): Kajima Art Foundation (Tokyo); Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation. For my book, Tea of the Sages, The Art of Sencha (1998): Metropolitan Center for Far Eastern Art Studies; Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation.

Research Fellowships:

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES, Senior Research Fellowship (2003-2005); ASIAN CULTURAL COUNCIL (Rockefeller Brothers Fund) Fellowship, for research in Japan (fall 2001); ASSOCIATION FOR ASIAN STUDIES NORTHEAST ASIA COUNCIL Short Term Travel Grants (to Japan and PRC China, 2007, 1997, 1991) within the US (1985); FULBRIGHT Senior Research Fellowship for study at Kansai University, Osaka, Japan (1991); METROPOLITAN CENTER FOR FAR EASTERN ART STUDIES Grants (1987 and 1978); JAPANESE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (Mombusho) Fellowship for graduate level study at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan (1980-1981).

Professional Recognition:

Biography included in the Directory of Japan Specialists and Japanese Institutions in the United States and Canada (The Japan Foundation, 1989, 1995, 2007).

Professional Association Memberships:

American Council for Southern Asian Art, Association for Asian Studies & affiliate groups: Society for the Study of Japanese Religion, Early Modern Japan Studies Group (Editorial board member since 2008 for the group’s journal), Japan Art History Forum (JAHF-formerly board member, now website coordinator); College Art Association of America & affiliate group, Midwest Art History Society (MAHS, currently board member); The International House of Japan, Tokyo; Appraisers Association of America, Inc; Japan Society (NY).