Sizhao Yi joined the faculty of Kenyon College in 2026. She teaches courses on Asian art from ancient to modern times. Her scholarship centers on the art and material culture of early modern China, through which she explores how humans have been affectively bound to the material world across time; how people have articulated diverse forms of subjectivity through the objects they make and use; and how material objects embody and shape artistic, intellectual, and cultural discourses. Her book project examines these questions through the paintings and prints of Chen Hongshou (1598/9-1652). 

Before joining Kenyon, Yi was a postdoctoral teaching fellow at the University of Chicago and a curatorial fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago. She previously studied textile conservation at the Institute of Archaeology, CASS, and worked as a freelance journalist for Quartz.

Areas of Expertise

Asian art, Chinese art, material culture, object studies

Education

2025 — Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Chicago

2017 — Master of Arts from the University of Chicago

2016 — Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Hong Kong

Courses Recently Taught

This course introduces students to the visual, material and architectural heritage of Asia. It is not intended as a survey or comprehensive study of all the arts of Asia. As an introduction to the discipline of art history, this course aims to teach students how to analyze images, objects and the built environment through their formal and visual qualities, their material characteristics and how they structure — and are structured by — the space around them. We consider how objects and spaces functioned within their respective cultural, religious and political contexts. This counts toward the 100-level course requirement and Asia place requirements for the major. No prerequisite.

What does "made in China" mean to you? Come discover the broad range of the arts of China from the Paleolithic period (4000 B.C.E.) to the present moment. The class learns about the rich traditions of ceramics, jade, bronzes, lacquer, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, textiles and the built environment within their cultural context. We consider how the visual and material arts expressed ideas about politics, class, gender and religion across Chinese history, while also asking, "What makes an artwork 'Chinese?'" This counts toward the 200-level intermediate course requirements and the Asia place requirement for the major. Prerequisite: any 100-level ARHS course.