Zsuzsanna Gulácsi (born on 10 April 1966) is a
Hungarian-born American historian, art historian of pan-Asiatic religions. She is a professor of art history, Asian studies, and
comparative religious studies at
Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1899, it was the third and final university established in the Arizona Territory.
It is one of the three universities gove ...
(NAU). Her teaching covers
Early and
Eastern Christian
Eastern Christianity comprises Christianity, Christian traditions and Christian denomination, church families that originally developed during Classical antiquity, classical and late antiquity in the Eastern Mediterranean region or locations fu ...
(
Syriac and
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...
) art,
Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
, with special attention to the medium of the
illuminated book; as well as late ancient and mediaeval
Buddhist art
Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes Buddha in art, depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, ...
from
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
,
Central, and
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
.
She is a specialist of
Manichaean art
Manichaeism has a rich tradition of visual art, starting with Mani (prophet), Mani himself writing Arzhang, the Book of Pictures.
One of Mani's primary beliefs was that the arts (namely painting, calligraphy, and music) were of the same esteem as ...
, in addition, her research also focuses on the
artistic heritage of other
Silk Road religions such as
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
East Syriac Christianity, with special attention to
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...
.
Career
Gulácsi went to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1990 in pursuit of a postgraduate education in Central Eurasian Studies and Art History and studied at
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...
. She received a
double major PhD degree
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in 1998. From 1999 to 2003, she taught history of
Central Asian art
Central Asian art is visual art created in Central Asia, in areas corresponding to modern Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and parts of modern Mongolia, China and Russia. The art of ancient and medieval ...
at
Sophia University
Sophia University (Japanese language, Japanese: 上智大学, ''Jōchi Daigaku''; Latin: ''Universitas Sedis Sapientiae'') is a private List of Jesuit educational institutions, Jesuit research university in Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1913 by ...
in
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Japan. Then she joined the faculty of the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Religion at NAU in 2003.
She has also published a number of articles and books. She was awarded the
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
for Humanities in 2016.
In 2017, she was invited by
Frantz Grenet as a guest lecturer at
Collège de France
The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
.
Awards
* Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities
* Ryskamp Research Fellows
* American Philosophical Society, Franklin Research Grant
* Northern Arizona University (3 Intramural Grants)
* Japanese Cultural Ministry, "Young Scholar" Fellow (Japan)
* Outstanding Teacher and Scholar, Indiana University
Selected publications
* ''Manichaean Art in Berlin Collections'', "Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum: Series Archaeologica et Iconographica" (). Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2001
* ''Mediaeval Manichaean Book Art: A Codicological Study of Iranian and Turkic Illuminated Book Fragments from 8th-11th Century East Central Asia'', "Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies" series (). Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2005
* ''Mani's Pictures: The Didactic Images of the Manichaeans from Sasanian Mesopotamia to Uygur Central Asia and Tang-Ming China'', "Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies" series (). Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2015
See also
* ''
Manichaean Diagram of the Universe
The ''Manichaean Diagram of the Universe'' ( zh, t=摩尼教宇宙圖; ) is a Yuan dynasty silk painting describing the cosmology of Manichaeism, in other words, the structure of universe according to Manichaean vision. The painting in vivid colo ...
''
* ''
Manichaean Painting of the Buddha Jesus
The ''Manichaean Painting of the Buddha Jesus'' ( zh, t=夷數佛幀, w=I2-shu4 fo2-chên1, p=Yí shù fó zhēn; ), is a Chinese Southern Song dynasty silk painting, silk hanging scroll preserved at the Seiunji Temple in Kōshū, Yamanashi, Japa ...
''
* ''
Sermon on Mani's Teaching of Salvation''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulacsi, Zsuzsanna
1966 births
Living people
Hungarian art historians
Women art historians
Historians of East Asian art
Indiana University Bloomington alumni
Northern Arizona University faculty
Scholars of Manichaeism