Assistant Professor, Art History mchusid@uw.eduFields of Interest Art History East Asian Gender Japanese Visual Culture Buddhist ArtBackground and ExperienceSummaryEducationPhD, Japanese Art and Archaeology, Princeton University, 2016MA, Japanese Studies, SOAS, University of London, 2005BA, Art History, Boston University, 2004I specialize in Japanese art and visual culture with an interest in East Asian Buddhist art; the role of women in the production and reception of religious images; visual narratives and narrative theory; the place of conservation in art historical inquiry; and contemporary Japanese art. My current book project entitled Envisioning the Afterlife: Image, Text, and Ritual Practice in Premodern Japan examines the emergence in the thirteenth century of pictures of Buddhist hell used in rituals to benefit the dead. In particular, it weaves together three lines of inquiry: an investigation of the iconographies and themes that patrons and painters incorporated into images of hell; strategies of the use and display of these images; and the practice of the maintenance and repair of the paintings. By uncovering the visual, ritual, and material matrix from which depictions of the infernal realms were given form and meaning, I demonstrate how producers of these objects addressed a range of postmortem concerns and expectations within increasingly diverse Buddhist communities. Before coming to the University of Washington in 2021, I held postdoctoral fellowships at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Burke Center for Japanese Art at Columbia University. I was also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Haverford College. Research + Creative Work Selected Publications + Projects “Hell.” In The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions. Edited by Jolyon B. Thomas and MatthewMcMullen, 135-155. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Read more “The Miraculous Descent of Amida Buddha.” Impressions 45 (2024): 74-95. Read more Mediating Salvation in Premodern Japanese Hell Paintings: Image, Text, Ritual.” In Sano Midori sensei kokikinen ronshū: Zōkei no poetika, Nihon bijutsushi o meguru aratana chihei 佐野みどり先生古稀記念論集:造形のポエティカ―日本美術史を巡る新たな地平 [Festschrift in Honor of Professor Sano Midori. The Poetics of Form: New Horizons in Japanese Art History]. Edited by Sano sensei kinen ronshū kankōkai 佐野先生記念論集刊行会, 1115-1093 (reverse pagination). Tokyo: Seikansha, 2021. Read more “Constructing the Afterlife, Re-envisioning Salvation: Enma Halls and Enma Veneration in Medieval Japan,” Archives of Asian Art, 69:1 (Spring 2019): 21-53. Read more Courses Taught Autumn 2024 ART H 209 A: Themes and Topics in Art History ART H 316 A: Buddhist Arts of Asia Autumn 2023 ART H 204 B: Art History and Visual Culture Spring 2023 ART H 400 A: ART History and Criticism: Art of the Japanese Print Winter 2023 ART H 400 C: Art History And Criticism: Visualizing Japanese Buddhism: Art, Religion, Philosophy ART H 509 C: Seminar In Special Topics In Art History: Visualizing Japanese Buddhism: Art, Religion, Philosophy Autumn 2022 ART H 204 A: Art History And Visual Culture: The Arts of Japan ART H 309 B: Topics In Art History: Buddhist Arts of Asia Spring 2022 ART H 309 A: Topics In Art History: Buddhist Art of Asia ART H 400 B: Art History And Criticism: Visual Narratives in Japanese Art ART H 509 A: Seminar In Special Topics In Art History: Visual Narratives in Japanese Art Winter 2022 ART H 309 A: Topics In Art History: Popular Art and Practice in the Edo Period Autumn 2021 ART H 204 B: Art History And Visual Culture: The Arts of Japan Related News Related News Japanese Woodcut Prints Jun 9, 2023 Transitions 2021 Oct 2, 2021 Incoming art history professor Miriam Chusid reflects on Buddhist afterlives, art conservation May 27, 2021 New Faculty for 2021 Apr 20, 2021