About

Dr. Trian Nguyen is Associate Professor of Art and Visual Culture and a core faculty member in the Asian Studies Program at Bates College, where he joined in 2000 as the college’s first specialist in Asian art history. He teaches a wide array of courses on Asian visual culture, regularly leads students abroad to experience artistic traditions firsthand. His research explores Buddhist art and architecture in Southeast Asia, with a dedicated specialization in Vietnamese visual culture. More recently, his fieldwork has centered on the Daoist ritual art of the Yao ethnic minority across southern China and Southeast Asia, examining their spiritual traditions through ceremonial scrolls, ritual objects, and historical manuscripts. His scholarship—published internationally in both English and Vietnamese—is driven by a passion for sharing these rich, often understudied cultural heritage traditions with broader global audiences. With an interdisciplinary academic background, Dr. Nguyen holds a Ph.D. in Asian Art History from UC Berkeley, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a B.A. in Eastern Philosophy and Chinese Studies from San Francisco State University. His contributions to the field have been recognized through prestigious honors, including two Fulbright research grants in Vietnam and a residency fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at the National Gallery of Art. Outside the classroom and field research, he finds immense joy in mentoring students, fostering cross-cultural understanding, and bringing living artistic traditions into everyday learning.