Profile
Petya Andreeva works at the intersection of art history, cultural history and anthropology. She received her Ph.D. from the East Asian Languages and Civilizations Department at the University of Pennsylvania. Her upcoming book entitled Fantastic Fauna from China to Crimea: Image-Making in Eurasian Nomadic Societies, 700 BCE-500 CE will be publsihed by Edinburgh University Press in March 2024. The book draws from her dissertation, Fantastic Beasts of the Eurasian Steppes: Toward a Revisionist Approach to Animal-Style Art which received international recognition in the Best Asian Humanities Dissertation category at the International Convention for Asia Scholars (ICAS) in 2018. Dr. Andreeva's research focuses on the cultural and artistic transmission along premodern trade networks, namely the Silk Roads and their precursor the Eurasian steppe. She is particularly interested in the display of portable luxury and the formation of collective memory in nomadic communities along the fluid frontiers of sedentary empires (China, Persia and Greece). Her research aims to challenge Euro-centric narratives in the study of nomads and other margainzlied historical actors.
Andreeva is the recipient of two international awards, including a major grant from UNESCO and Getty-ACLS. She has given guest lectures at Cambridge, Institute for Advanced Study, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU, Heidelberg, Yale, Indiana University, Tulane, American Center for Mongolian Studies and several other institutions worldwide.
At Parsons, she served in the role of Coordinator for the First-Year course Objects as History between 2019 and 2022 and the Minors Coordinator for ADHT in 2022-2023.
Dr. Andreeva's work has appeared in journals such as Early China, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Fashion Theory, Orientations, Archaeological Research in Asia, Journal of Oriental Art History in Korea, Sino-Platonic Papers, two edited volumes published by the National Museum of Korea and the edited volume Fashion through History: Costumes, Symbols and Communication. Dr. Andreeva previously served as Assistant Professor of Asian Art at Oakland University, Michigan.
Originally from Bulgaria, she is fluent in Mandarin, Bulgarian, Russian and has a working proficiency in Japanese and Mongolian.
Degrees Held
Ph.D., East Asian Languages and Civlizations, University of Pennsylvania
BA, East Asian Studies, Colby College
Middlebury Chinese Language School
Middlebury Japanese Language School
Associated Colleges of China, Minzu University, Bejing
Professional Affiliation
College Art Association (CAA)
Association for Asian Studies (AAS)
Association for Slavic, East Eurooean and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES)
Recent Publications
Books
Preview of Dr. Andreeva's book Fantastic Fauna from China to Crimea:
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-fantastic-fauna-from-china-to-crimea.html
Special Issue and Open-Acces Volume: "The Zoomorphic Arts of Ancient Central Eurasia". Arts (2023). https://www.mdpi.com/books/book/6992
Articles and Chapters
“Re-making Animal Bodies in early China and North Asia.” Early China vol. 45 (2022): 413-465.
"Fantastic Fauna in a Global Perspective: Understanding Composites in Eurasian Antiquity." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, no.4 (2021): 1-17.
"Glittering Bodies: The Politics of Mortuary Self-Fashioning in Eurasian Nomadic Cultures (700 BCE-200 BCE)." Fashion Theory (October 2021): 1-30.
"Central Eurasian Hoards and their Epistemological Potential and Pitfalls." Dongyang Misulsahak (March, 2021): 1-34
“Animal Style at the Penn Museum: Rethinking Portable Steppe Art and Its Visual Tropes.” Orientations Vol. 52.3 (2020): 48-57
Andreeva, Petya V, and Atwood, Christopher P. “Camp and Audience Scenes in late Iron Age Rock Drawings from Khawtsgait, Mongolia.” Archaeological Research in Asia (2017): 1-9
“Redefining Edo Female Identity through Iki Aesthetics in Undergarment Textiles”, In Fashion Through History, ed. Antonello Biagini (Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2017): 426-437
“Deciphering the Religious and Secular Imagery from the Ōtani Central Asian Collection of NMK: Case Studies from Museums around the World” (Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2016).
“From Xu Bing to Shu Yong: Linguistic Phenomena in Chinese Installation Art”. Sino-Platonic Papers (2015).
“A Sense of Place: Modern Japanese Prints”. Ed. By Julie N. Davis. Philadelphia: Arthur Ross Gallery, 2015.
“Seeds of Identity and Blossoms of Change: A Mirror to Sociopolitical Dynamics in 19th century Joseon Korea”. (Seoul: National Museum of Korea Press, 2015).
Performances and Appearances
https://museumviews.com/silk-road-conversations-2/
Silk Road Conversations with Petya Andreeva (marking International Silk Road Week).
https://www.aseees.org/membership/petya-andreeva
Member Spotlight, Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
Awards And Honors
Selected:
Getty / ACLS Postdoctoral Fellowship Winner, 2023
UNESCO Silk Road Grant, 2021
India-China Institute Pandemics Seminar Felllowship
International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS): Best Dissertation in the Humanities, Specialist Accolade
National Museum of Korea Museum Network Award
Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies, Dissertation Research Award
National Museum of Korea Summer Fellowship
Archaeology Field Fund, University of Pennsylvania Museum
Penfield Fellowship for Dissertation Research, University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees
Josephine DeKarman Fellowship (deferred due to acceptance of job offer)
Kathryn Davis Peace Fellowship
Benjamin Franklin US State Department Fellowship