KU Department of Art History

We are delighted to announce that Associate Professor Maya Stiller has been named the Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art for the 2026–27 academic year. During her fellowship, she will pursue her project, “Sensing the Buddha Land: Architecture, Sound, and Devotion in Late Chosŏn Korea.” Congratulations, Professor Stiller!

National Gallery’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts Announces 2026–2027 Fellows | National Gallery of Art The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (the Center), the National Gallery’s world-renowned research institute, announced today its fellows for the 2026–2027 academic year. Over 30 fellows will conduct research that spans continents, centuries, and disciplines.

Yuan-Hsi Chao (PhD student) joined the organizing team and served as a program commissioner for the 2026 North American Taiwan Studies Association Annual Conference, held from June 26 to 28. This year’s conference, titled “Resonance/Dissonance — Taiwan Studies, Knowledge Production, and Power Asymmetry,” focuses on collaborative and contested dialogues across disciplines on issues regarding Taiwan and pays more attention to Indigenous issues and the Taiwanese diaspora. Yuan-Hsi delivered the paper “The Dilemma of Gazing at the Other: An Alternative Reading of Guan Xiao-Rong’s Lanyu Anti-Nuclear Series,” which focuses on the photographs of the Indigenous people’s protest about nuclear waste storage facilities in Orchid Island and sees how those photographs might resonate with the respect of the majority social groups through the returned gaze from the photographed protesters. He also organized a roundtable discussion entitled "Intersection, Visibility and Identity in Taiwanese and Asian American Art," which brought together art historians and artists to discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by Taiwanese American artists in their creative work, curating, and teaching, as well as reflecting the concept of "Asian American Art" from a Taiwanese perspective.

Congratulations to Julie Thompson Borger (PhD Candidate). Julie was appointed the Getty Graduate Curatorial Intern for the Manuscripts Department from September 2026 until August 2027.

Prof. David Cateforis is quoted in this recently published article about the renowned Nebraska landscape artist and KU alumnus Keith Jacobshagen. On May 22, Prof. Cateforis was pleased to attend the opening reception of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art’s Jacobshagen exhibition, The Shape of the Prairie, which was handsomely installed by the museum’s registrar and exhibitions manager Megan Benitz (MA ‘05).

Keith Jacobshagen, famed prairie painter, finds essential and eternal in endless Nebraska sky - Flatwater Free Press Unlike other landscape artists who capture obvious scenic glories of crashing ocean waves or snow-crested mountains, Jacobshagen has devoted his life to depicting what much of the rest of America calls flyover country.

Shout-out to Reyna Catching (MA ’25) who in April was promoted to Assistant Curator at the National WWI Museum and Memorial, where she previously worked as the Education Coordinator.
Additional exciting news from Reyna: her research on the museum’s monumental painting Panthéon de la Guerre culminated in an interactive feature for the museum’s centennial exhibition. Reyna identified the painting’s approximately 250 notable figures and created brief biographies of them accompanied by photographs. Visitors can access this material by selecting figures on a touchscreen interface keyed to the painting. The photograph shows Reyna posing next to the screen.

Congratulations to our distinguished alumnus Robert Mowry (MPhil ‘75) who last month was awarded the 2026 Grand Prize of the Order of National Merit of the Republic of Korea, in recognition of his work to build a collection of Korean art for Harvard and for promoting Korean art and culture in the West through lectures, publications, and exhibitions. As Bob couldn’t travel to Seoul on short notice, his dear friend GuGu Kim accepted the award on his behalf, while Bob officially acknowledged it and expressed thanks via Zoom. Sponsored by government ministries and agencies, this national award was administered through the Kim Koo Museum and Library, Seoul.

Ph.D. students Arial Kim, Logan Ward, and Heeryun Suh joined Prof. Maya Stiller at the Academy of Korean Studies today to visit the Woljungdo exhibition at the Jangseogak Archives. Before exploring the exhibition, the group enjoyed lunch together and discussed their ongoing research projects!

Congratulations to Preston Tindal on receiving the Edmund Eglinski Prize for Study Abroad. A senior majoring in global and international studies with a minor in philosophy, Preston has been awarded this $750 scholarship to support study of French language and culture in Paris this summer. In Paris, Preston is particularly excited to visit the Musée Carnavalet, L’Institut du Monde Arabe, the Musée de Cluny, and the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature.

https://arthistory.ku.edu/eglinski-prize

Hats off to Megan Weis who has received the Eglinski Prize for Study Abroad. This $750 scholarship will support Megan’s study of French language and culture this summer in Paris. A senior double-majoring in astronomy and physics and with a minor in French and Francophone studies, Megan is eager to explore France’s rich and extensive art history, and especially Impressionism, which she says is her favorite movement.

https://arthistory.ku.edu/new-resources-and-funding-opportunities

Congratulations to Greta Hyde on receiving the Edmund Eglinski Prize for Study Abroad—a $750 scholarship. Greta is a junior business major with minors in political science and French and Francophone studies. Greta, who will be taking French language courses this summer in Paris, writes, “I am looking forward to looking at different works of art in a variety of mediums at some of the best museums in the world.”

https://arthistory.ku.edu/eglinski-prize