Contents:
     Introduction
     General information
     Faculty
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Notes on course teachers

Dr Heather Elgood: Course Director; Convenor of the 'Classical and Decorative Arts of India': Formerly Deputy Director of SOAS/Sotheby's Asian arts programme and Academic Director of the SOAS and Christie's 'Arts of Asia and Africa Programme'. Specialist in Persian, Jain, Sultanate and Mughal manuscript painting; Hindu sculpture and the ritual arts of India. Author of Hinduism and the Religious Arts, London 1999.

Robert Knox: Keeper of the Department of Oriental Antiquities; Chair of Academic Committee for the British Museum Diploma: Specialising in the ancient archaeology of South Asia, the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan in particular. Author of the Catalogue of the Amaravati Sculptures in The British Museum and Akra, the first Capital of Bannu.

John Reeve: Chair of Academic committee for the British Museum Diploma; Head of Education at The British Museum since 1983. Has worked with the British Council and other partners on museum training, exhibitions and IT projects in Japan, India, Taiwan, Qatar, Egypt, USA and South America. Author of Living Arts of Japan and co-editor of Behind the Scenes of the British Museum. Visiting fellow, Institute of Education, London University.

Carol Michaelson: Assistant Keeper of Chinese art in the Department of Oriental Antiquities at The British Museum; Convenor of the 'Classical and Decorative Arts of China'. She specialises in Ancient China, particularly the Qin and Han dynasties, and Jade. She has worked on the Hotung Gallery for Chinese antiquities and was a co-curator of jade, snuff bottles and archaeological exhibitions in 1995 and 1996. In 1999 she was sole curator of the exhibition Gilded Dragons and author of the catalogue. She has taught on Chinese art at SOAS (University of London) for many years and lectured extensively in the UK and abroad.

Dr Sheila Canby: Assistant Keeper of Islamic Collections; Convenor of the 'Classical and Decorative Arts of the Islamic world'. Currently British Museum curator of the special exhibition on jewellery in the Age of the Mughals from the Al Sabah collection which will open in May 2001. She is author of Persian Painting (1991); Princes, Poets and Paladins (1998); The Golden Age of Persian Art (1999). She is a specialist in the Arts of Iran and Central Asia.

Dr Venetia Porter: Assistant Keeper, Islamic collections in the Department of Oriental Antiquities: Responsible for material from the Arab world, Turkey and the contemporary Middle East, she researches and publishes on Islamic tiles and pottery, coins, seals, inscriptions and the medieval history of the Yemen.

Jessica Harrison-Hall: Assistant Keeper of Chinese Ceramics and Vietnamese Art in the Department of Oriental Antiquities: She has written extensively on Chinese ceramics. She has recently completed Ming Ceramics - a catalogue of the British Museum's late Yuan and Ming ceramics to be published in 2001 and is the co-author (with Regina Krahl) of Ancient Chinese Trade Ceramics: Ming to Qing porcelains in the British Museum and a contributor to Pottery in the Making: World Ceramic Traditions and A.W. Franks: Nineteenth-century Collecting and The British Museum.

Richard Blurton: Assistant Keeper in the Department of Oriental Antiquities with special responsibility for the South Indian and Southeast Asian collections; Convenor of the 'Classical and Decorative Arts of South East Asia'. He has curated a variety of exhibitions at the Museum including, Deities and Devotion: the arts of Hinduism; 'Like a Stream of Gold': painting and sculpture from South India; Image and Narrative: Indian Folk Bronzes from the Polsky Gift; and Visions from the Golden Land: Burma and the art of lacquer. He is the author of Hindu Art (BM Press 1992), and co-author of the catalogue, which accompanied the Burma exhibition. He has travelled widely in South and Southeast Asia, especially in connection with the Museum's policy of collecting contemporary graphics.

Victor Harris: Keeper of Japanese Antiquities in the British Museum; Convenor of the 'Classical and Decorative Arts of Japan & Korea': Has special interest in Japanese Swords with curatorial responsibility for the archaeological collection, ceramics, lacquer, sculpture, and metalwork. Author of: A Book of Five Rings (Translation of the work of the Japanese 'Sword Saint', Miyamoto Musashi, d. 1645) 1974; Masterpieces of Japanese Swords of The Samurai, (co-author Ogasawara), BMP 1990; Japanese Imperial Craftsmen, BMP 1994 and Japanese Decorative Arts (co-author Smith) BMP 1982.

Jane Portal: Assistant Keeper responsible for the Chinese later decorative arts, Korean Collections and the Stein Collection: she has just opened the permanent Korean gallery and published Korean Art and Archaeology. She studied Chinese at Cambridge, Chinese archaeology at Beijing University and Korean at SOAS, (University of London) and Yonsei University, Seoul.

Dr Michael Willis: Assistant Keeper of the North Indian and Himalayan Collections in the Department of Oriental Antiquities at the British Museum: He has lectured on Asian arts at SOAS (University of London) and has held posts at universities in the USA and Canada. Author of, Buddhist Reliquaries from Ancient India, and other books on sacred architecture, inscriptions and sculpture of Asia.

Tim Clark: (Japanese Antiquities). He is a leading authority on Ukiyo-e art. He is author of Ukiyo-e Paintings in The British Museum; Demon of Painting; The Art of Kawanabe Kyosai and co-author of Rimpa Art; and is curating the exhibition '100 views of Fuji' in 2001 as part of the festival of Japan 2001.

Joe Cribb: Assistant Keeper of South Asian coins, Curator of the festival of HSBC Money Gallery, Department of Coins and Medals (curator in department since 1970). Published extensively on Ancient Indian, Central Asian, South East Asian and Chinese coins. Author of Crossroads of Asia (with Elizabeth Errington, 1992); Magic Coins of Java, Bali and the Malay Peninsula (1999); A Catalogue of Sycee in the British Museum (1992); Eyewitness Guides: Money (1999 revised edition). Medallist of the Royal Numismatic Society 1999, Hirayama Award, 1996.

Lectures are also given by visiting lecturers from the following museums and academic institutions: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Courtauld Institute, University of London. Edinburgh University. Hull University. Leiden University. London Institute. Musee Guimet, Paris. Percival David Foundation for Chinese Art, London. Rietberg Museum, Zurich. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Royal Holloway, University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Victoria and Albert Museum.