Education
- B.A., St. Olaf College
- M.A., National Taiwan University
- Ph.D., University of Chicago
Courses Taught
- Arts of China
- Museum Studies
Publications
Beckman, J. and C. Story. American Landscapes. Wright Museum Collects Series. Vol. 2., Wright Museum of Art. Beloit College, 2022.
Franklin Boggs: Fifty Years in Paint, Wright Museum of Art. Beloit College.
Beckman, J. ed. Wright Museum Collects Series. Vol. 1., Wright Museum of Art. Beloit College, 2018.
At the Mouth of the Grave: Chariot Fittings in Eastern Zhou Burials. Artibus Asiae, v.76.1 (2016).
“The Meaning of Material: Ritual Vessel Assemblages in Chu Burials of the 4th and 3rd Century BC,” Antiquity Fall, 2013.
Faculty and Student Curators: An Exhibit Template for Course Integration. in S. Jandl and M. Gold (eds.) Academic Museums: Campus and Community, MuseumsInc. 2012.
Beckman, J., and Kasten S., eds., East Asian Art and Inquiry at a Midwestern College, Beloit College, 2012.
Sui: Gifting of Warring States Burial Shrouds. Yishushi yanjiu 艺术史研究, v.5, 2004, pp.127-142.
Minister Zhao’s Grave: Staging an Eastern Zhou Burial. Orientations v.34 no.5 (May 2002), pp. 22-26.
Joy Beckman
Professor and George S. Parker II Chair in Art History, Director of the Wright Museum of Art
Email: beckmanj@beloit.edu Phone: 608-363-2097 Office: Wright Museum 212AI majored in chemistry at St. Olaf, a small liberal arts college in Minnesota, although my real passion lay in Asian art. Fortunately, I was able to study Chinese at St. Olaf, while taking Chinese art history courses at the University of Minnesota. After college, I looked for an opportunity to return to Asia. Leveraging my chemistry degree I landed a summer job in a Pfizer lab, which paid my way to Taiwan. Once there, I studied enough classical Chinese to be admitted to the National Taiwan University, where I earned a Masters Degree. The many hours spent at the National Palace Museum helped hone my observations skills. Returning to the States, I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Chicago, where the course work focused on theory. Taken together, those studies guide my work today, both as a faculty member and as the director of Beloit’s Wright Museum of Art.
Outside work, I have a couple of hobbies. When I moved to Beloit, I was able to buy a neglected Victorian house, and restore it. At sunset, you can often finding me birdwatching at Nygren Wetlands.