Advisor:
Biography
Naren Gao studies Chinese and Inner Asian art in relation to the built environment and transcultural exchange during the Mongol period (13th–14th centuries). Her research focuses on visual and material culture, particularly the decorative arts, among Inner Asian ethnic and sociopolitical groups and institutions. Her current project at Pitt examines tombs, funerary monuments, and burial practices in the eastern Eurasian steppe during the Mongol period.
Education Details
Ph.D., History of Art and Architecture, University of Pittsburgh, in progress
M.A., East Asian Studies, University of Toronto, 2022
Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Purtle
Thesis: “‘Center’ and ‘Periphery’: Ethnic Artists of the Yuan (1271 – 1368) and the Cultural Interactions among the Yuan Literati Community”
M.A., Art History (Eastern Asian Art focused), University of Kansas, 2018
B.A., Double major: Art History and History, Miami University, Oxford, 2015
Selected Awards
Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 2025-2026
Arts and Sciences Summer Research Grant, University of Pittsburgh, 2024
Evelyn and Thomas Rawski Graduate Student/Faculty Partnership Grant (In collaboration with Dr. Michelle McCoy), Asian Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh, 2024
Arts and Sciences Summer Research Grant, University of Pittsburgh, 2023
Dietrich School of Arts and Science Graduate Fellow, University of Pittsburgh, 2022-2023