Robert Daniel DeCaroli



Robert Daniel DeCaroli

George Mason University

Department of History and Art History

rdecarol@gmu.edu

Teaching Experience

2005-2016 Associate Professor (Tenured). Department of History and Art History, George Mason University.

1999-2005: Assistant Professor. Department of History and Art History, George Mason University

1998-1999: Lecturer. Loyola Marymount University.

1998: Lecturer. University of California, Los Angeles.

Education

1999: Ph.D.: University of California, Los Angeles Department of Art History

Art History of South and Southeast Asia, minor field in Buddhist Studies.

1997: Doctoral Fieldwork in India and Sri Lanka

1995: MA: University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Art History

1992: BA Loyola Marymount University, summa cum laude, valedictorian.

Research Languages

Sanskrit, French, Pali

Publications: Books

2015 Image Problems: The Origin and Development of the Buddha’s Image in Early

South Asia. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2015.

2004 Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Publications: Articles and Book Chapters

2014-6 Chapter 10 "Art of South and Southeast Asia before 1200" in Art History. 5th edition (2014) revised and expanded for 6th edition (2016), M. Stokstad and M. Cothren eds. Boston: Pearson/Prentice Hall. 2014. 294-329.

2014-6 Chapter 24 "Art of South and Southeast Asia after 1200" in Art History. 5th edition (2014) revised and expanded for 6th edition (2016), M. Stokstad and M. Cothren eds. Boston: Pearson/Prentice Hall. 2014. 770-791.

2013 “Yoga and Tapas: the Buddhists and Ajivikas” in Yoga the Art of Transformation Exhibition Catalog, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2013. 138-141.

2011 “’The Abode of a Naga King’: Questions of Art, Audience, and Popular Deities at the Ajanta” Ars Orientalis. vol. 40. 2011. 142-161.

2009 “Shedding Skins: Naga Imagery and Layers of Meaning in South Asian Buddhist Contexts” in Buddhist Stupas in South Asia. A. Shimada and J. Hawkes eds. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009. 94-113.

2008 Text versus Image: Physical Evidence and the Recovery of Buddhist History” in Belief in the Past: Theoretical Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion. David Whitley ed. Archaeology of Religion series, Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. 2008. 119-128.

2008 “From the Living Rock: Understanding Images in Early South Asia” in What’s Use of Art?: Asian Visual and Material Culture in Context. J Mrazek and M Pitelka eds. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 2008. 21-45.

2000 “Reading Bhaja: A Non-Narrative Interpretation of the Vihara 19 Reliefs.” East and West. vol. 50. 2000. 259-280.

1996 “Laukika or Folk Religion as an Iconographic Link between the Indus Culture and Jainism.” Jinamanjari: International Journal of Contemporary Jaina Reflections. vol. 13. no. 1. April 1996. 22-41.

1995 “An Analysis of Dandin’s Dasakumaracarita and its Implications for Both the Vakataka and Pallava Courts.” Journal of the American Oriental Society. vol. 115. no. 4. October 1995. 671-678.

1994-5 “Cosmic Geography: An Analysis of Programmatic Decoration in the Buddhist Stupa-Pillar Caves of Kuca.” Journal of Asian Culture. vol. 17. 1994-95. 28-49.

Publications: Encyclopedia Entries and Reviews

2015 Book review Kazi Ashraf. The Hermit's Hut: Architecture and Asceticism in India. University of Hawai'i Press for South Asian Archaeology. 2015.

2010 Exhibition Review: "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia," CAA Reviews. 2010.

2005 “Sculpture: Buddhist” in Encyclopedia of India. Stanley Wolpert ed. Detroit: Charles Scribner’s Sons - Thomson Gale, 2005.

Publications: Forthcoming

Edited Volume and Article

2016 “Heat and Hunger: The Emaciated Buddha and the Significance of Fasting”. In Across the South of Asia: A Volume in Honor of Robert L. Brown. R. DeCaroli and P. Lavy eds. (under option with DK Printworld Books, New Delhi)

2017 Handbook to Buddhist art at the Smithsonian

2017 Encountering the Buddha Freer Occasional Papers series. Co-edited with Donald Lopez.

Book Chapters and Articles:

"Poolside Monks: Water and Landscape in Early Buddhist Monastic Complexes of the Western Deccan". Archives of Asian Art. In process

Encyclopedic Entries:

2016 “Buddhist Architecture and Popular Religion” in Cambridge History of World Religious Architecture.

2016 “Iconography and Programmatic Decoration in Early Buddhism” in Cambridge History of World Religious Architecture.

Museum and Curatorial Work

2015-17 Co-Curator with Debra Diamond for "Encountering the Buddha" a reinstallation of the Buddhist art in the Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. Funded by a grant from the Robert H. N. Ho Foundation.

2014 Docent training on Buddhist and Jain Art. Sackler and Freer Galleries. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2013 Docent training on Buddhist and Jain Art. Sackler and Freer Galleries. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

1997 – 1999: University Outreach Coordinator for the Southern Asian Art Council of

the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

1993 - 1996: Member of the Curatorial Team for the UCLA Fowler Museum of

Cultural History exhibition “Chewing Culture: The Art of Betel in Asia and the Pacific”

Invited Research Lectures and Keynote Presentations

2015 Crafting the Buddha: The Development of the Buddha Image in Early South Asia. Invited lecture, Harvard Buddhist Studies Forum, Harvard University.

2014 Critical Silk Road Studies. Invited Discussant/Chair. Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded lecture series. Georgetown University

2014 Envisioning the Buddha: The Development of the Buddha Image in Early South Asia. Invited lecture. Embassy of India, Washington DC.

2012 Buddhism and Local Gods. Invited Lecture Deccan College, Pune, India.

2009 Serpents in the Family Tree: Art of and for the Gods. Invited lecture for the Center for Indian and South Asian Studies and the Department of Archaeology at University of California, Los Angeles.

2008 Invited Discussant and Respondent at “Nativism in Buddhism” Conference sponsored by EKO – Haus and held in Dusseldorf, Germany.

2007 Picturing the Buddha: Text, Image, and Innovation. Invited lecture at University of California, Los Angeles.

2006 Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of Buddhism. Invited lecture for the Weedon Lecture Series. University of Virginia Museum

2005 Haunting the Buddha. Invited lecture and book signing. The Sackler and Freer Galleries of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2001 Local Gods and Foreign Ideas: Visual Culture as a Mechanism for Buddhist Expansion in India and Burma. Invited lecture. South Asia Seminar Series. University of Virginia.

Conference Presentations

2015 The Language of Devotion: Parallels in Buddhist and Non-Buddhist Approaches to Image Use (1st- 4th c. CE). American Council for Southern Asian Art Conference. Toronto, Canada.

2014 Poolside Monks: Water and Landscape in Early Buddhist Monastic Complexes of the Western Deccan. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington DC.

2014 Spirits on the Silk Road: Spirit Cults and the Origins of Buddhist Devotional Practices Invited lecture. Center for South Asian Studies. Silk Road Seminar. University of Pennsylvania.

2014 Kingship, the Kanheri Caves, and the Development of the Buddhist Image Cult

in the Western Deccan. International Association of Buddhist Studies Conference, Vienna Austria.

2014 Taxonomy of Devotion: Buddhist and Non-Buddhist Approaches to Image Use in the Early Period. Buddhism’s Boundaries Conference, University of Texas, Austin.

2013 Holiness, Heat, and Hunger: Sculpting States of Mind. Part of "Art of Yoga" Exhibition. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

2013 Heat and Hunger: The Emaciated Buddha and the Significance of Fasting. Conference in honor of Dr. Robert L. Brown. April 2013. San Diego Museum of Art.

2012 Containing the Threat: the Role of Art in the Regulation of Local Gods in Tibetan and Indian Buddhist Contexts. Invited talk arranged by the National Museum Institute and the Ministry of Culture. Read in absentia. Leh, India.

2011 Redefining Greatness: Depictions of the “Great Miracle” of Shravasti in Regional Context. International Association of Buddhist Studies. June 2011, Taipei, Taiwan.

2010 Ritual and Narrative at the Ajanta Caves. American Academy of Religions Conference. Atlanta, Georgia.

2009 Dead and Gone: Negotiating Absence and Presence in Images of the Buddha. The American Council of Southern Asian Art Conference. Denison Museum, Denison, Ohio.

2009 The Abode of a Naga King”: Questions of Art, Audience, and Popular Deities at the Ajanta, Part “Ajanta: Miracle in the Mountains” Conference. Houston Museum of Fine Art.

2008 Shedding Skins: Naga Imagery and Layers of Meaning in South Asian Buddhist Contexts. 15th Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. Atlanta, Georgia

2008 Image Problems: Exploring the Origin of the Buddha Image in South Asia. Colloquium on "Bringing Buddhism to Varied Lands". George Washington University.

2007 Seeking the Buddha’s Body: Art, Text, and the Crisis of Innovation in 2nd c. CE South Asia. Getty Scholar Seminar. Getty Center, Los Angeles, California.

2005 Portraits and Presence: Understanding Imagery in Early Indian Buddhism. 14th Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies. Panel Organizer and Chair. London, England.

2004 Text and Image: Physical Evidence and the Recovery of Buddhist History. Society of American Archaeology, Montreal, Canada.

2002 Instructing the Gods: Visual Culture and Buddhist Success in Southeast Asia. 13th Conference of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Bangkok, Thailand.

2002 Getting to Know the Neighbors: Buddhist Art and Expansion in Southeast Asia: South and Southeast Asian Art Symposium. University of Colorado at Boulder.

2001 Monks and Ghosts: the Intersection of Buddhism and Spirit Religion in India. South Asia Seminar. George Washington University.

2000 Policing the Monastery: The Iconic Presence of Minor Deities at Buddhist Sites

and the Regulation of Monastic Behavior. the American Council of Southern Asian Art Conference. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

2000 Pious Ghosts and Troublesome Monks: The Dynamics of Patronage in Early Indian Buddhism. The Center for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation. George Mason University. Fairfax, Virginia.

1996 Ghost Stories: Buddhist Appropriation of Sanctity from Popular Indian Funerary Practice. American Academy of Religion in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1996 Patrons, Monks and Yaksas: The Role of Minor Deities in the Formation of Buddhism. at the American Council of Southern Asian Art Conference. Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1996 Converting the Dead: Local Deities, Ancestor Worship and the Emergence of Buddhist Monasticism in India. 11th Annual South Asia Conference. Berkeley, California.

1994 The Perfect Gift: An Exploration of the Social and Supernatural Uses of Betel in India. 23rd Annual Conference of South Asian Studies. Madison, Wisconsin.

1994 Cosmic Geography: An Analysis of Programmatic Decoration in the Buddhist Stupa-Pillar Caves of Kuca. Artistic Traditions of Buddhist Central Asia Workshop. Los Angeles, California.

1993 An Analysis of Dandin’s Dasakumaracarita and its Implications for Both the Vakataka and Pallava Courts. 22nd Annual Conference of South Asian Studies. Madison, Wisconsin.

Public Lectures

2016 Cultural Heritage Sites of China. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2016 China’s First Emperor: Art and Power. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2016 Arts of South Asia. Four part lecture series for Smithsonian Associates, World Art Certificate program, Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2015 Arts of China. Four part lecture series for Smithsonian Associates, World Art Certificate program, Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2014 Cultures of the Mekong. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2014 The Art of Angkor. Osher Lifelong Learning Center.

2014 Old Temples and New Findings: Urban Development in Ancient Angkor. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2014 New Media in George Mason's Art History MA Program. Rebuilding the Portfolio. Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Getty funded project on art and new media.

2012 Exploring Angkor Wat: Art and History of a Khmer God-King.Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2011 Global Contact in the Ancient World. Four part lecture series co-taught with Chris Gregg. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2011. Early Buddhism and the Silk Road. University of Mary Washington Galleries.

2011 The Caves of Ajanta. Georgetown University.

2010 Dai Viet and Champa: Culture and Conflict. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2010 Standing Guard: The Terracotta Army. National Geographic Society, Washington DC.

2010 The Legend and Legacy of China’s First Emperor. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2009 Footsteps of the Buddha: Art and Pilgrimage in India. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2009 Art of Buddhism. Osher Lifelong Learning Center.

2008 Life at Court in Mughal India. Teachers training symposium on India. University of Maryland, College Park.

2008 Bodhgaya: Pilgrimage at the Seat of Enlightenment. Part of the “Sacred Spaces and Spiritual Journeys” series. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

2007 Early Buddhist Practices. Mary Washington University. Fredricksburg, Virginia.

2007: Indian Art and Politics. Osher Lifelong Learning Center.

2005 India in World History. Training program for Fairfax County High School World History instructors.

2001 Pilgrimage, Patronage and the Past: Great Buddhist Centers of India. Part of the “Places of Piety: Sacred Sites and Cities of India” series. Smithsonian Institution. Washington DC.

2000: Narrative and Image in Indian Art. Learning Retirement Institute.

2000 Conviction Carved in Stone: the Rock-Cut Temples of Ajanta, Ellora and Mahabalipuram. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.

1996 Painting Traditions of the Pahari Hills. Loyola Marymount University.

Fellowships, Grants, and Awards

2014 Millard Meiss Publication Fund, College Art Association

2012 George Mason Summer Research Funding for research in India

2007: Getty Research Institute Visiting Scholar Fellowship

2006, 2002: South and Southeast Asian Art editor for the NEH funded World History

Matters project, The Center for History and New Media.

2003: George Mason University Teaching Excellence Award.

2002: Department of Education Title IV grant for course revisions as part of new George Mason Asian Studies Program

2001: George Mason Summer Research Funding travel stipend for research in Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar), and Thailand

2000: Mathy Junior Faculty Award Program of the College of Arts and Sciences

and the Institute of the Arts at George Mason University.

1998 – 1999: Edward A. Dickson History of Art Fellowship

1997 - 1998: Asian Cultural Council Travel Grant

1995 - 1996: Edward A. Dickson History of Art Fellowship

Service: National and International

2016 Outside reader for tenure case, University of Georgia, Atlanta

2016 Publication reviewer for The British Museum Press. Amaravati: The Art of an Early Buddhist Monument in Context.

2015 Article reviewer for Ars Orientalis

2007-Present Review Panel member for Library of Congress Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship

2013-Present South Asian Archaeology and Art History Referee for Rivista degli Studi Orientali published out of the University of Rome, La Sapienza.

2014 Editorial Board Member/Editor for Fo Guang Shan Encyclopedia of Buddhist Arts.

2014 Outside reader for tenure case: University of Hawai'i

2013 Outside reader for tenure case: University of Alabama, Birmingham.

2012 Article reviewer for History of Religions.

2010 Reader for Hong Kong University Press.

2007: Source for Washingtonian Magazine. “10 Top Museum Treasures in DC”.

2007 Outside reader for tenure case: St. Lawrence University.

2006: Consultant for Montgomery County school system World History Program.

2005-6: Review Panel member for the Smithsonian Institution’s Scholarly Studies granting program.

2004-05 Consultant for Fairfax County school system World History textbook selection.

Mentioned in April 17, 2005 Washington Post article.

2004: George Mason Saturday Seminar for teachers (Standards of Learning) “Violence and Non-Violence in Indian Tradition”

2003: Reader for SUNY Press.

2001: Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) World History Teacher Training course.

2000: Reader for the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory.

Service: University

2005-2014 Director of the Art History Program

Yearly Responsibilities

Conduct yearly faculty and staff evaluations

Hire adjuncts and perform classroom visits

Hold Art History meetings and write up the minutes

Market the MA program

Manage the Art History Budget

Oversee the Visual Resource Collection and the Database Project

Undertake the Assessment processes for the University (APR)

Maintain and provide materials for Accreditation programs (i.e. NASAD)

Read files for MA Admissions process

Read files for History of Decorative Arts Admissions process

Hire student workers (graders, scanners etc.)

Schedule Art History Courses

Major Accomplishments

Acquired two new Term Faculty lines for Art History

Proposed the Art History BA and got it approved by SCHEV

[previously it was Art (History) issued through the Arts program]

Established procedures for the Art History MA, met SCHEV requirements for review.

Helped develop the History of Decorative Arts MA in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution

Initiated Art History Teaching Support Assistantships for MA students

Developed Digital Image Collection and got Artstor approved for use.

NASAD accreditation for Art History

Initiated yearly participation in AVT Visual Voices Lecture series

2015-Present Graduate Director for Art History

2013-Present Chair of George Mason University India Advisory Committee.

Major Accomplishments

Faculty exchange with Flame School of Business and Liberal Education Pune, India

Public lectures by scholars including: Manil Suri, Debra Diamond, Binda Paranjape, Zubair Meenai, and Anil Revri

Organized the Africans in India exhibition and lecture

Hosted Ambassador Nirupana Rao of India

Working with the Indian Embassy to establish an India Chair at George Mason

Other University Service (Selected)

2015 Chair of Ancient Mediterranean Job Search Committee

2014-15 College to Workplace Initiative

2014-15 History and Art History Chair Reappointment Committee

2012-3 Decorative Arts Search Committee

2012 Office Manager Search Committee

2012 Global, India Specialist Search Committee

2011 Art History Search Committee

2008 Staff Search Committee

2006- Chair’s Advisory Committee

2005-06 Art History Term Position Search Committee

2003-06 Public Affairs Committee, Chair

2004-08 Honors Program Executive Committee

2004-05 GMU Teaching Award Committee

2004-05: Central Asia Search Committee

2003-04: Art History Search Committee

2002: History and Art History Chair Reappointment Committee

2001: Acquired and arranged the framing and display of a 19th Tibetan thangka

painting from Ken Robbins

2001: Traveled to Nepal with Center for Global Education to help arrange a student exchange program with Kathmandu University

2000-01: Chinese History Search Committee

Teaching: Courses Taught

ARTH 203 Survey of Asian Art

HNRS 122 Reading the Arts

ARTH 382 Arts of India

ARTH 383 Arts of Southeast Asia

ARTH 384 Arts of China

ARTH 394 The Museum

ARTH 399 Special Topics

ARTH 400 Methodology and Research in Art History

HIST 459 Pre-Modern South Asia

ARTH 482/599 Monuments and Memory in Asian Art

ARTH 490 Independent Studies

ARTH 594 The Museum

ARTH 596 Independent Studies

ARTH 600 Methods and Research in Art History

ARTH 699 Art of Gandhara

ARTH 699 The Raj: Art of Colonial India

ARTH 699 Hindu Art and Tradition

ARTH 699 Researching Prehistory

HIST 751 Independent Studies

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