Juliann K. Wolfgram

I take a cultural approach to art history, so my courses focus on the role of visual arts, including models of sacred ritual and social authority, and the importance of medium, technique and form. Emphasis will be placed on recognition of major art works, their artistic traditions, and of what these reveal about the cultural norms and attitudes that produced them. Issues of methodology, analysis, and aesthetics will also be addressed. 

I have taught/am teaching at a variety of academic institutions, including UCs, Calstates, and private schools like Caltech and USC. This means I spend quite a bit of time on the freeway, away from the classroom, the Canvas app, and my home! With recent changes in learning modalities, it also means I spend a crazy amount of time sitting in front of a computer. On a more positive note, it means that I am familiar with many different academic programs to which you may want to attend. Ask me about them!

My fields of interest are:

• Art and Culture of Early Modern Asia, in particular, popular arts and literature of Edo Japan.
• Art and Culture of Classic Asia, in particular, establishment of a national artistic canon in Heian Japan, Tang China, and Goryeo Korea.
• Arts of the Silk Road, in particular, the impact of transcontinental visual culture on the formation of national identity.
• Art and Culture of MesoAmerica, in particular, the inter-connectivity of Olmec, Maya, and Aztec cultures before Spanish contact.

Courses I teach at Cal Poly:

• AH 2303 Arts of Asia
• AH 3341 Arts of India
• AH 3343 Arts of Korea
• AH 3345 Arts of Japan
• AH 4990 Arts of China