The K-12 teacher institute, featuring two art historians, will give educators an opportunity to learn more about the cultures and histories of these two world regions through their religious spaces and places of worship and receive resources to build out new curriculum to teach these topics in the classroom.

Mya Chau (Loyola Marymount University) 

Catholic Art and Architecture: Spiritual Spaces from Empire to Nation Building in Vietnam 

Catholicism in Vietnam had profound transformations from the colonial period, mid 19th century through the emergence of Vietnam as a nation in the 20th century. This talk will discuss the arrival of Christianity and the construction of churches from the French colonial period in Vietnam, signaling the shift of religious dynamics and Vietnamese identity over time. Spiritual spaces became historical markers that reinforced reflection and unity during times of uncertainty for the Vietnamese community. The construction of Catholic art and architecture, blending of Western Christian imagery and Vietnamese culture featured styles and materials created by local and foreign artists. 

Mya Chau received her PhD from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She is a Lecturer in the Department of Asian Studies and Asian Pacific American Studies at Loyola Marymount University. Her research examines visual culture and international cultural exchanges in India, China and Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam and Cambodia. In 2015, she was a Blakemore Freeman Fellow and recipient of the 2019 Women of Vision Award. Mya has conducted fieldwork in Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, France and Singapore. She previously worked at the Getty Research Institute, Getty Villa Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Heather A. Badamo (UC Santa Barbara)

Art and Faith Across Empires: Christian Sanctuaries in the Middle East 

This talk explores how Christian communities in the Middle East built and sustained sacred spaces in dynamic cultural and political landscapes. Through three striking examples, we trace Christianity’s rich and resilient presence in the region. The sixth-century Hagia Sophia in Constantinople fused architecture, mosaics, and music to create a vision of heaven on earth—later reimagined as a mosque that influenced generations of Muslim builders. In Egypt’s Eastern Desert, the Monastery of St. Antony reveals how monastic life adapted and endured through centuries of Islamic rule. And in seventeenth-century New Julfa, Armenian merchants constructed the Cathedral of All Saviors, asserting their faith and identity under Persian governance. These sanctuaries not only reflect spiritual devotion, but also tell a broader story of cultural exchange, artistic innovation, and survival across time. 

Heather A. Badamo is associate professor of art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the visual culture of the medieval eastern Mediterranean, particularly Christian-Muslim exchange. Her first book, Saint George Between Empires (Penn State University Press, 2023), examines how rival communities repurposed the saint’s image to navigate political relationships during the Crusades. She has received fellowships from the Getty, Dumbarton Oaks, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others. She is currently writing a book on the “Coptic Arabic Renaissance” and the role of sacred art in shaping communal resilience in medieval Egypt.

Sponsor(s): Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Near Eastern Studies