Meet the Curators

Catherine Yeh

Project Curator of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”
Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature, Boston University

EDUCATION
PhD, Harvard University
MA, Harvard University
BA, University of California, Santa Cruz

EMAIL
yeh@bu.edu

Catherine Vance Yeh is Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Transcultural Studies at Boston University. Her research interests include 19th and 20th century Chinese literary, media, and visual culture. Her work has focused on the social and political implications of Chinese entertainment culture and literature, and its impact on social change in late imperial and Republican era China.

In particular, she has worked and published on the lifestyle of late Qing urban literati and Shanghai courtesans in an effort to explore the role of “marginal” figures in driving modernity; the role of city guides and city maps in the formation of the overall image of a metropolis linking China with the world; the Chinese political novel and its transnational literary context; the new Chinese entertainment press and its impact on the formation of metropolitan culture and the modern star culture in particular; the relationship between fiction and the city; the formation of modern urban sensibilities in fiction and illustration; and illustration and the evolving technologies of image taking and reproducing as factors in shaping urban perception and behavior as well as reshaping stage performance.

Her publications include: Shanghai Love: Courtesans, Intellectuals and Entertainment Culture, 1850-1910 and The Chinese Political Novel: Migration of a World Genre. Her current project is “The Rise of Peking Opera dan Actors and Chinese Theater Modernity, 1910s-1930s.”

Janet Liu

Co-Curator and Website Designer of “Asia at the World’s Fairs” 

EDUCATION
BA, Boston University
MS, Pratt Institute

EMAIL
janetl8@bu.edu

Janet graduated from Boston University with a B.A. in a double major of Art History and Psychology, and is currently in the M.S. Program in Library and Information Sciences at Pratt Institute. She has previously interned for the Chinese contemporary artist, Xu Bing 徐冰 in his studio in Beijing and for Dr. Nancy Berliner, Curator of Chinese Art at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. She is deeply interested in learning about the moment of contact between cultures, particularly in the East-West dichotomy, as well as exploring the space where art, history, education and technology crossover and meet.

Alice Y. Tseng

Co-Curator of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”
Professor of Japanese Art and Architecture, Boston University

EDUCATION
MA and PhD, Harvard University
BA, Columbia University

EMAIL
aytseng@bu.edu

Dr. Alice Y. Tseng specializes in the art and architecture of Japan, with particular focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Her research interests are the history of institutional buildings, collections, exhibitions; transnational and transcultural connections between Japan and Euro-America; and the role of the visual arts in cultural transformation, invention, and revival.

She is the author of the following books: The Imperial Museums of Japan: Architecture and the Art of the Nation (University of Washington Press, 2008), Kyoto Visual Culture in the Early Edo and Meiji Periods: The Arts of Reinvention (co-edited with Morgan Pitelka, Routledge, 2016), and Modern Kyoto: Building for Ceremony and Commemoration, 1868-1940 (University of Hawai`i Press, 2018).

Robert Murowchick

Co-Curator of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”
Associate Director of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Asia
Director of Undergraduate Studies and Lecturer of Archaeology

EDUCATION
MA and PhD, Harvard University
BA, Yale College

EMAIL
remurow@bu.edu

Dr. Robert Murowchick’s principal research interests include the development of early metallurgy in China and Southeast Asia, archaeological remote sensing (particularly the use of aerial and satellite imagery), and the relationship among politics, nationalism, and cultural heritage studies. Dr. Murowchick is also the director of AsianArc: The Asian Cultural Heritage Research Initiative (formerly the International Center for East Asian Archaeology and Cultural History, or ICEAACH).

Wen-hao Tien

Co-Curator of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”
Assistant Director of Boston University’s Center for the Study of Asia

EDUCATION
MPH in Health Policy Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
BS, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan

EMAIL
whtien@bu.edu

Wen-hao Tien is the Assistant Director of the Center for the Study of Asia, and the Division of the Regional Studies of the BU’s Pardee School of Global Studies. She works with the Director of the Center for the Study of Asia as well as the Chair for the Council of Directors of the Division of Regional Studies to build a strong interdisciplinary regional studies community at BU.

Wen-hao is not a stranger to this field, having served at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, the Asia Center, and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs over a span of 15 years, where she helped develop and implement many initiatives.  Wen-hao is also known for her artwork and teaching in contemporary Chinese calligraphy.  She enjoys working with students and scholars to facilitate cross-cultural understanding in a wide array of subject areas.

Xiaoyi Peng

Curatorial Assistant of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”

EDUCATION
BA, Boston University

EMAIL
xypeng@bu.edu

Xiaoyi received her B.A. in Art History from Boston University and had internship experiences in both China and the U.S. in various positions in museums and galleries. She is currently an M.A. candidate in the Regional Studies East Asia program at Harvard University with a research focus on Japan. She is interested in exploring themes such as identity and modernization through Japanese art and architecture.

Yanxin Lu

Curatorial Assistant of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”

EDUCATION
BA, Boston University

EMAIL
sandralv@bu.edu

Yanxin Lu graduated from Boston University with a major in Communication, and a CAS concentration on Chinese Culture and Literature. She has previously worked for CCTV, the predominated state television broadcaster in China, Omnicom media group, and Tencent Technology to continue her interest in both traditional and digital media. She aspires to innovate the use of digital media to change the landscape of education and non-profit organizations. By applying a variety of visual content and interactive elements, she hopes to use digital media to build further connection with the public, and engage them in the study of Asian culture.

Yiran Weng

Research Assistant of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”

EDUCATION
BA, Boston University

EMAIL
wyiran@bu.edu

Yiran Weng received her B.A. degrees in Comparative Literature and Russian Language & Literature with a minor in Visual Arts at Boston University. Her interest lies in the cultural phenomenon of the emergence of modernity in Russian and Eastern Asia. As a graphic designer, her works majorly focus on combining traditional Eastern Asian art with contemporary abstract graphic style.

Gabriel Romualdo

Web Developer of “Asia at the World’s Fairs”

EDUCATION
High School Student (’23), Boston University Academy

EMAIL
romualdo@bu.edu

Gabriel is a web developer and joined the team in 2021 to redesign and create a new version of the Asia At The World’s Fairs site. He’s a high school student in the Class of 2023 at Boston University Academy, and has been programming for over six years. He’s worked on and volunteered on a number of projects, and has written many educational programming articles as well. He’s also a founder of Boston University Academy’s Computer Science Club and its Informatics Team.