Fellowship / Fellows

Dorothy Wong

  • 2002–2003
  • Humanities
  • University of Virginia
Headshot of Dorothy Wong
Photo by Tony Rinaldo

This information is accurate as of the fellowship year indicated for each fellow.

Focusing on the study of Chinese Buddhist art of the medieval period (fourth to tenth century), Dorothy Wong’s research addresses the broader issues of art in relation to religion and society. Adopting interdisciplinary, cross-cultural approaches and diverse methodologies, she is the author of many articles on topics that range from iconology to gender and ethnicity issues in Buddhist patronage, devotional art, and cults of saints in Asian traditions. Wong is an assistant professor at the University of Virginia.

As a Radcliffe Institute fellow, she will complete her project on Chinese Buddhist steles—a hybrid art form that underscores the close interactions of Chinese and Indian Buddhist traditions. In this comprehensive study of some two hundred monuments, she investigates the steles’ chronology and regional styles, patronage, relation to doctrinal developments, and functions and cultural symbolism. The stele project will culminate in a book, to be released both in print and electronic formats. Using Web-based technology, via a global digital project, the illustrations in the electronic version can be linked to images of steles in worldwide collections.

Wong’s previous awards include fellowships from the American Association of University Women, the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, and the Whiting Foundation. After education at the International Christian University in Tokyo and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, she received her PhD from Harvard University.

Our 2023–2024 Fellows

01 / 09

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