Miriam Chusid is an assistant professor of art history at the University of Washington. She specializes in Japanese art and visual culture with an interest in East Asian Buddhist art; the role of women in the production and reception of religious images; visual narratives and narrative theory; the place of conservation in art historical inquiry; and contemporary Japanese art. Her current book project entitled Envisioning the Afterlife: Image, Text, and Ritual Practice in Premodern Japan examines the emergence in the thirteenth century of pictures of Buddhist hell used in rituals to benefit the dead. She has published several related journal articles and book chapters, and has been recognized by prizes by the Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies.