Pat Chirapravati

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Professor Pattaratorn Chirapravati earned her Ph.D. in Art History and Southeast Asian Studies from Cornell University in 1994. Her Master's degree was in Indian art and philosophy (Ohio State University, 1984). She specializes in the art of mainland Southeast Asia (i.e., Thailand, Cambodia and Burma). As a scholar, she has been interested in the political uses of religious icons and the interpretation of religious practices from art works. Her publications include a book, Votive Tablets in Thailand: Origin, Styles and Uses (Oxford University Press, 1987), and numerous articles on the topics of votive tablets and Buddhist art. Her current research topics include artifacts in the main tower of Wat Ratchaburana in Ayutthaya and Jataka engravings at Wat Sri Chum (Sukhothai), two important sites in Thailand.

Professor Chirapravati teaches several courses on Asian art and design at CSUS, including ART 3 (Arts in the Asian World: offered for the first time in Fall 2004), ART 113B (Asian Art and Mythology), ART 117A (Arts of India and Southeast Asia), ART 117B (Arts of China and Japan), and INTD 124B (Asian Design). She also teaches ART 1A (Art in the Western World). Previously she taught art history courses at Sonoma State University and the University of California, Davis.

Before joining the faculty of CSUS in 2001, Professor Chirapravati was the Assistant Curator of Southeast Asian Art at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. She curated the recent exhibition "The Spirit of Contemporary Asian Art" at the University Library Gallery at CSUS and also organized the one-day symposium on the same topic. She is currently a co-curator of a large exhibition of Thai art, "The Kingdom of Siam: Art from Central Thailand (1350-1800)," scheduled for Spring 2005 at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.