Christina Spiker

Christina M. Spiker is an Assistant Professor of Art and Art History and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College. She holds a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Ursinus College and a Ph.D. in Visual Studies from the University of California, Irvine. Her courses cover Asian art, material culture, global architecture, and photography, with a focus on expanding Asian American Studies.

Her research dismantles the myth of Japanese homogeneity, examining visual representations of the Indigenous Ainu through globalization, modernity, and travel theory. She co-created a virtual exhibition on Meiji-era woodblock prints and maintains the ongoing digital project Mapping Isabella Bird: Geolocation and Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (1880).

• Education: B.A. in East Asian Studies (Ursinus College), M.A./Ph.D. in Visual Studies (University of California, Irvine)
• Research Themes: Ainu visual culture, colonial travel narratives, Japanese modernity, and digital humanities
• Selected Exhibitions: Nostalgic Femininity, From Flowers to Warriors, Altered Skyline