VIRTUAL Prague Research & Teaching Conference

Abstract

This paper discusses the intersection of my research and teaching, focusing on the development, structure, class materials, teaching methods, and evaluation techniques of the course East Asias in New England. I am currently teaching this course at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston. The course explores how various institutions in the surrounding area have collected and exhibited visual and material cultures of East Asia within the specific context of New England. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the region’s major port cities served as hubs for complex commercial, diplomatic, and cultural exchanges between East and West. The development of this course stems from my scholarly conviction to challenge art-historical reductionism, which often arises from the regional survey model of teaching art history. In this model, East Asian visual and material cultures are frequently portrayed as exotic objects of fascination, reinforcing essentialized and stereotypical images of a singular “Asia.” Moving beyond this framework, I discuss how I have translated my scholarly work into a hands-on, object-based, and multisensory pedagogy. This includes museum and archival visits, fieldwork, and group projects, allowing students to learn through their own experiences the agency of materiality in shaping – and simultaneously constraining – our understanding of East Asias as plural and dynamic. Based on this case study, I will suggest ways in which academia can actively contribute to creating equitable and sustainable spaces for research, teaching, and learning.