Tulane art scholar Fan Zhang earns prestigious fellowship

Tulane art scholar Fan Zhang earns prestigious fellowship

Tulane Assistant Professor of Asian Art Fan Zhang has been named as resident at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) for the 2025-26 academic year. She will join a prestigious cohort of international scholars in a community that encourages intellectual exchange and intensive research in an interdisciplinary environment.

A decade ago as a graduate student at New York University, Zhang visited the IAS, which is located near Princeton University. She said she knew immediately she wanted to pursue a residency there.

"Now, 10 years later, the dream has come true," Zhang says. "I am looking forward to joining the IAS community, and I am excited about exchanging ideas with scholars from different fields both at the IAS and Princeton University."

Zhang, who specializes in art and material culture of Early Medieval China, plans to use the institute's comprehensive library of resources to finish a book focused on transcultural exchange across fifth-century Eurasia through seafaring and the Silk Road.

To be selected, Zhang had to undergo a rigorous, competitive selection process conducted by the permanent faculty at the IAS. She will join more than 250 distinguished scholars and post-doctoral researchers at the New Jersey Institute. Among past and present scholars, there have been 37 Nobel Laureates; 46 Fields Medalists; 24 Abel Prize Laureates; MacArthur and Guggenheim fellows; Turing Award winners; and awardees of the Wolf, Holberg, Kluge and Pulitzer Prizes.

In addition to completing her manuscript, Zhang plans to deliver two talks on the project during her fellowship.