Bridgewater State University

Associate Professor of Art History

Responsible for courses in the history of art and architecture of Asia, history of global art and architecture.

Bridgewater State University

Assistant Professor of Art History, Interim Asian Studies Coordinator

Assistant Professor of Art History (Global/Non-Western Art), Department of Art. Responsible for surveys of world architectural history, art history, and Asian architecture and art.

Casa Buena Builder's, Inc.

Builder

Historical renovation work on primarily residential projects in greater Providence, RI area.

Academy of Art University

Adjunct Instructor of Architecture

Taught graduate and undergraduate surveys of the architectural history of the Renaissance.

Roger Williams University

Adjunct Professor of Architecture

Seminar in Japanese modern architecture in School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation (SAAHP).

University of San Francisco

Adjunct Professor of Architecture

Teaching ARCH 290 "Reframing and Reclaiming the Past," an introduction to historic preservation theory and practice in the Architecture and Community Design program of the Department of Art + Architecture at USF.

National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan

Crosscurrents: East Asia History and Culture Review. E-Journal 3, June 2012.

The reworking of religious space in modern Japan encompassed the reinvention of the spatial, material, and ritual culture of matsuri 祭り(festivals). After a period of relative official disfavor, festivals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reinvigorated by changes in ritual process and spatial scope, as well as by shifts in the architecture and sculpture of dashi 山車 (wheeled festival floats). The incorporation of matsuri into broader discourses of national cultural identity was driven by the affective potential of their supposed cultural authenticity. This reinvention of festivity is evident in the Tokoname Matsuri of Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, where after the 1905 Russo-Japanese conflict several Edo-period shrine festivals were merged into a shōkonsai 招魂祭 (festival for the war dead). The spatial scope and ritual process, as well as the architecture and sculptural iconography, of the six dashi built for the new Tokoname Matsuri tied this regional city into national discourses of cultural authenticity, racial purity, and martial valor. The ideological resonance in prewar Japan of the Tokoname Matsuri and other festivals with nationalist imagery sprang from their indelibly local origins; matsuri were not controlled entirely from the top down, but rather were mediated at multiple levels.

National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan

Crosscurrents: East Asia History and Culture Review. E-Journal 3, June 2012.

The reworking of religious space in modern Japan encompassed the reinvention of the spatial, material, and ritual culture of matsuri 祭り(festivals). After a period of relative official disfavor, festivals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reinvigorated by changes in ritual process and spatial scope, as well as by shifts in the architecture and sculpture of dashi 山車 (wheeled festival floats). The incorporation of matsuri into broader discourses of national cultural identity was driven by the affective potential of their supposed cultural authenticity. This reinvention of festivity is evident in the Tokoname Matsuri of Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, where after the 1905 Russo-Japanese conflict several Edo-period shrine festivals were merged into a shōkonsai 招魂祭 (festival for the war dead). The spatial scope and ritual process, as well as the architecture and sculptural iconography, of the six dashi built for the new Tokoname Matsuri tied this regional city into national discourses of cultural authenticity, racial purity, and martial valor. The ideological resonance in prewar Japan of the Tokoname Matsuri and other festivals with nationalist imagery sprang from their indelibly local origins; matsuri were not controlled entirely from the top down, but rather were mediated at multiple levels.

Review of Matthew Stavros, Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2014).

Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review (TDSR) Vol. XXVII, Number I, Fall 2015: 87-88.

National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan

Crosscurrents: East Asia History and Culture Review. E-Journal 3, June 2012.

The reworking of religious space in modern Japan encompassed the reinvention of the spatial, material, and ritual culture of matsuri 祭り(festivals). After a period of relative official disfavor, festivals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reinvigorated by changes in ritual process and spatial scope, as well as by shifts in the architecture and sculpture of dashi 山車 (wheeled festival floats). The incorporation of matsuri into broader discourses of national cultural identity was driven by the affective potential of their supposed cultural authenticity. This reinvention of festivity is evident in the Tokoname Matsuri of Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, where after the 1905 Russo-Japanese conflict several Edo-period shrine festivals were merged into a shōkonsai 招魂祭 (festival for the war dead). The spatial scope and ritual process, as well as the architecture and sculptural iconography, of the six dashi built for the new Tokoname Matsuri tied this regional city into national discourses of cultural authenticity, racial purity, and martial valor. The ideological resonance in prewar Japan of the Tokoname Matsuri and other festivals with nationalist imagery sprang from their indelibly local origins; matsuri were not controlled entirely from the top down, but rather were mediated at multiple levels.

Review of Matthew Stavros, Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2014).

Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review (TDSR) Vol. XXVII, Number I, Fall 2015: 87-88.

Hybrid Nativism and Regional Internationalism: The Architecture of Japanese- American Buddhist Churches in the Central Valley

Vernacular Architecture Newsletter (VAN), No. 120, Summer 2009.

The social biography and architectural form of Buddhist churches established by Japanese immigrants and their descendants in the 20th century suggest complex and changing relationships among religious beliefs, cultural identities and social contexts. These institutions functioned as social anchors of ethnic communities, as well as visual markers of Japanese-American cultural identity within a larger social context of indifference or outright hostility. Buddhist churches served as centers of socio-economic advancement, political activism, religious ritual and cultural performance. This exploratory study addresses the founding, funding, design and construction of the 1920 Fresno Buddhist Church and the 1965 Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn, as well as their maintenance amidst the climate of extreme hostility toward Asian immigrants in California; the shifting activities hosted and promoted by churches; the inculcation and representation of cultural identity through church architecture, and the diverse ways in which cultural identity was communicated (or elided) through architectural form and spatial organization. A comparison of the architectural form, structural logic and spatial layout of these two buildings suggests generational differences in interpretations of Japanese cultural identity in built form.

National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan

Crosscurrents: East Asia History and Culture Review. E-Journal 3, June 2012.

The reworking of religious space in modern Japan encompassed the reinvention of the spatial, material, and ritual culture of matsuri 祭り(festivals). After a period of relative official disfavor, festivals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reinvigorated by changes in ritual process and spatial scope, as well as by shifts in the architecture and sculpture of dashi 山車 (wheeled festival floats). The incorporation of matsuri into broader discourses of national cultural identity was driven by the affective potential of their supposed cultural authenticity. This reinvention of festivity is evident in the Tokoname Matsuri of Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, where after the 1905 Russo-Japanese conflict several Edo-period shrine festivals were merged into a shōkonsai 招魂祭 (festival for the war dead). The spatial scope and ritual process, as well as the architecture and sculptural iconography, of the six dashi built for the new Tokoname Matsuri tied this regional city into national discourses of cultural authenticity, racial purity, and martial valor. The ideological resonance in prewar Japan of the Tokoname Matsuri and other festivals with nationalist imagery sprang from their indelibly local origins; matsuri were not controlled entirely from the top down, but rather were mediated at multiple levels.

Review of Matthew Stavros, Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2014).

Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review (TDSR) Vol. XXVII, Number I, Fall 2015: 87-88.

Hybrid Nativism and Regional Internationalism: The Architecture of Japanese- American Buddhist Churches in the Central Valley

Vernacular Architecture Newsletter (VAN), No. 120, Summer 2009.

The social biography and architectural form of Buddhist churches established by Japanese immigrants and their descendants in the 20th century suggest complex and changing relationships among religious beliefs, cultural identities and social contexts. These institutions functioned as social anchors of ethnic communities, as well as visual markers of Japanese-American cultural identity within a larger social context of indifference or outright hostility. Buddhist churches served as centers of socio-economic advancement, political activism, religious ritual and cultural performance. This exploratory study addresses the founding, funding, design and construction of the 1920 Fresno Buddhist Church and the 1965 Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn, as well as their maintenance amidst the climate of extreme hostility toward Asian immigrants in California; the shifting activities hosted and promoted by churches; the inculcation and representation of cultural identity through church architecture, and the diverse ways in which cultural identity was communicated (or elided) through architectural form and spatial organization. A comparison of the architectural form, structural logic and spatial layout of these two buildings suggests generational differences in interpretations of Japanese cultural identity in built form.

国家のアジェンダと地域の現実―知多半島における祭礼資源と儀礼文化、ナショナリズム、近代性

Articles in Translation, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University, Tokyo, Japan.

Japanese translation of “National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan,” article published in Crosscurrents: East Asian History and Culture Review, E-Journal 3, June 2012.

National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan

Crosscurrents: East Asia History and Culture Review. E-Journal 3, June 2012.

The reworking of religious space in modern Japan encompassed the reinvention of the spatial, material, and ritual culture of matsuri 祭り(festivals). After a period of relative official disfavor, festivals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reinvigorated by changes in ritual process and spatial scope, as well as by shifts in the architecture and sculpture of dashi 山車 (wheeled festival floats). The incorporation of matsuri into broader discourses of national cultural identity was driven by the affective potential of their supposed cultural authenticity. This reinvention of festivity is evident in the Tokoname Matsuri of Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, where after the 1905 Russo-Japanese conflict several Edo-period shrine festivals were merged into a shōkonsai 招魂祭 (festival for the war dead). The spatial scope and ritual process, as well as the architecture and sculptural iconography, of the six dashi built for the new Tokoname Matsuri tied this regional city into national discourses of cultural authenticity, racial purity, and martial valor. The ideological resonance in prewar Japan of the Tokoname Matsuri and other festivals with nationalist imagery sprang from their indelibly local origins; matsuri were not controlled entirely from the top down, but rather were mediated at multiple levels.

Review of Matthew Stavros, Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2014).

Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review (TDSR) Vol. XXVII, Number I, Fall 2015: 87-88.

Hybrid Nativism and Regional Internationalism: The Architecture of Japanese- American Buddhist Churches in the Central Valley

Vernacular Architecture Newsletter (VAN), No. 120, Summer 2009.

The social biography and architectural form of Buddhist churches established by Japanese immigrants and their descendants in the 20th century suggest complex and changing relationships among religious beliefs, cultural identities and social contexts. These institutions functioned as social anchors of ethnic communities, as well as visual markers of Japanese-American cultural identity within a larger social context of indifference or outright hostility. Buddhist churches served as centers of socio-economic advancement, political activism, religious ritual and cultural performance. This exploratory study addresses the founding, funding, design and construction of the 1920 Fresno Buddhist Church and the 1965 Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn, as well as their maintenance amidst the climate of extreme hostility toward Asian immigrants in California; the shifting activities hosted and promoted by churches; the inculcation and representation of cultural identity through church architecture, and the diverse ways in which cultural identity was communicated (or elided) through architectural form and spatial organization. A comparison of the architectural form, structural logic and spatial layout of these two buildings suggests generational differences in interpretations of Japanese cultural identity in built form.

国家のアジェンダと地域の現実―知多半島における祭礼資源と儀礼文化、ナショナリズム、近代性

Articles in Translation, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University, Tokyo, Japan.

Japanese translation of “National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan,” article published in Crosscurrents: East Asian History and Culture Review, E-Journal 3, June 2012.

"Spectacle and Performance in Japan,"​ in Encyclopedia of Asian Design

Bloomsbury Publishers, London and New York

This article discusses the role of spectacle and performance in Japanese culture, with a focus on the ritual and material culture of shrine festivals (matsuri) in Japan.

National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan

Crosscurrents: East Asia History and Culture Review. E-Journal 3, June 2012.

The reworking of religious space in modern Japan encompassed the reinvention of the spatial, material, and ritual culture of matsuri 祭り(festivals). After a period of relative official disfavor, festivals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were reinvigorated by changes in ritual process and spatial scope, as well as by shifts in the architecture and sculpture of dashi 山車 (wheeled festival floats). The incorporation of matsuri into broader discourses of national cultural identity was driven by the affective potential of their supposed cultural authenticity. This reinvention of festivity is evident in the Tokoname Matsuri of Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, where after the 1905 Russo-Japanese conflict several Edo-period shrine festivals were merged into a shōkonsai 招魂祭 (festival for the war dead). The spatial scope and ritual process, as well as the architecture and sculptural iconography, of the six dashi built for the new Tokoname Matsuri tied this regional city into national discourses of cultural authenticity, racial purity, and martial valor. The ideological resonance in prewar Japan of the Tokoname Matsuri and other festivals with nationalist imagery sprang from their indelibly local origins; matsuri were not controlled entirely from the top down, but rather were mediated at multiple levels.

Review of Matthew Stavros, Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan’s Premodern Capital (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2014).

Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Review (TDSR) Vol. XXVII, Number I, Fall 2015: 87-88.

Hybrid Nativism and Regional Internationalism: The Architecture of Japanese- American Buddhist Churches in the Central Valley

Vernacular Architecture Newsletter (VAN), No. 120, Summer 2009.

The social biography and architectural form of Buddhist churches established by Japanese immigrants and their descendants in the 20th century suggest complex and changing relationships among religious beliefs, cultural identities and social contexts. These institutions functioned as social anchors of ethnic communities, as well as visual markers of Japanese-American cultural identity within a larger social context of indifference or outright hostility. Buddhist churches served as centers of socio-economic advancement, political activism, religious ritual and cultural performance. This exploratory study addresses the founding, funding, design and construction of the 1920 Fresno Buddhist Church and the 1965 Placer Buddhist Church in Penryn, as well as their maintenance amidst the climate of extreme hostility toward Asian immigrants in California; the shifting activities hosted and promoted by churches; the inculcation and representation of cultural identity through church architecture, and the diverse ways in which cultural identity was communicated (or elided) through architectural form and spatial organization. A comparison of the architectural form, structural logic and spatial layout of these two buildings suggests generational differences in interpretations of Japanese cultural identity in built form.

国家のアジェンダと地域の現実―知多半島における祭礼資源と儀礼文化、ナショナリズム、近代性

Articles in Translation, Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University, Tokyo, Japan.

Japanese translation of “National Agendas and Local Realities: Festive Material and Ritual Culture, Nationalism and Modernity in the Chita Region of Japan,” article published in Crosscurrents: East Asian History and Culture Review, E-Journal 3, June 2012.

"Spectacle and Performance in Japan,"​ in Encyclopedia of Asian Design

Bloomsbury Publishers, London and New York

This article discusses the role of spectacle and performance in Japanese culture, with a focus on the ritual and material culture of shrine festivals (matsuri) in Japan.

Review of Alice Y. Tseng, The Imperial Museums of Meiji Japan: Architecture and the Art of the Nation

caa.reviews

Book review of The Imperial Museums of Meiji Japan: Architecture and the Art of the Nation