He came to Bates in 2000 under the auspices of a grant from the Luce Foundation, and is the first faculty member to teach Asian art history at Bates. Nguyen holds a Ph.D. in Asian art history from the University of California at Berkeley. His primary research work situates Buddhist art and architecture within the religious, political, and social conditions of Southeast Asian culture. He is also interested in Buddhist visual culture. His research focuses on Vietnamese art. His recent article was published in Artibus Asiae (2005). Nguyen’s teaching covers a wide range of courses in Asian art history, including: Buddhist visual worlds; the art of Zen Buddhism; Chinese visual cultures, visual narratives; monuments of Southeast Asia; rock-cut temples in Asia; a seminar on Buddhist architecture. http://www.bates.edu/x30357.xml