Michael W. Meister is an art historian, archaeologist and architectural historian

Architectural historian

A architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it Similar profession are known widely such as Historian, Art historian and Archaeologist. Architectural historians survey areas that are often threatened by extinction...

 at the University of Pennsylvania. He has served as chair of the Department of South Asia Studies (SASt) and director of Pennsylvania's South Asia Center; he is Consulting Curator, Asian Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology; and Faculty Curator of the South Asia Art Archive within the Penn Library's South Asia Image Collection.

His research focuses on temple architecture, the morphology of meaning, and other aspects of the history of art

History of art

The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...

 and architecture

History of architecture

The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates.-Neolithic architecture:Neolithic architecture is the architecture of the Neolithic period...

 of the Indian sub-continent.

Education

• Harvard University, Ph.D., Fine Arts, 1974
• Harvard University, M.A., Fine Arts, 1971
• Harvard College, B.A. (honors), History and Literature, 1964
• HONORARY DEGREE: University of Pennsylvania, M.A., 1979

Roles

• American Institute of Indian Studies Board of Trustees, 2002 to date.
• Director, National Resource Center, South Asia, University of Pennsylvania, 2002–04.
• Institute for International Education, National Selection Committee, India. 2003–06.
• Indian Art Committee, Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1978 to date.
• Contributing Editor, Res, Anthropology and Aesthetics, 1987 to date.
• Editorial Advisor, Yale Dictionary of International Architecture. Edited by Nicholas Adams, 1998– .
• Society of Architectural Historians’ millenium tour, India’s Architectural Traditions, Ancient and Modern, 2000.
• Advisory Committee, The Asia Society Galleries, New York City, 1992–94; Multimedia Committee, 1995–98.
• President, Oriental Club of Philadelphia, 1994–95.
• CONSALD, Association of Asian Studies, 1983–86.
• Editorial Board, Princeton University Press Encyclopedia of Indian History, 1983–84.
• Nomination for AAS Board of Directors, 1983.
• Member of AHRC Peer Review Academy
• Advisory Council of Scholars, South Asia Religious Art Studies (SARAS), 1982– .
• Secretary/Treasurer, University Research Club, 1980–81.
• General Editor, Encyclopædia of Indian Temple Architecture, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1978– 92; advisor, 1992–to date.
• Art and Archaeology Committee, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1978–82; ex-officio member, 1982– 92.
• Publications Committee, American Institute of Indian Studies, 1982–92.
• Board of Directors, American Committee for South Asian Art, 1976–79; 1983–86.
• Gupta Selection Committee, Archives of South Asian Art Project, American Committee for South Asian Art, 1973.

Books

• Temples of the Indus: Studies in the Hindu Architecture of Ancient Pakistan (Brill Indological Library, vol. 35), Leiden & Boston: Brill.
• Desert Temples: Sacred Centers of Rajasthan in Historical, Art-Historical, and Social Contexts. Co-authored with Lawrence A. Babb and John E. Cort. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.

Edited Books

• Traditional and Vernacular Architecture (2003) Coordinated by Michael W. Meister with Deborah Thiagarajan; edited by Subashree Krishnaswami. Madras: Madras Craft Foundation.
• Multiple Histories: Culture and Society in the Study of Rajasthan (2002) Edited by Lawrence A. Babb, Varsha Joshi, and Michael W. Meister. Jaipur and New Delhi: Rawat Publications.
• Ethnography and Personhood: Notes From the Field (2000) Jaipur and New Delhi: Rawat Publications.
• Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: Essays in Architectural Theory (1995) New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Oxford University Press.
• Cooking for the Gods: The Art of Home Ritual in Bengal (with Pika Ghosh) (1995), Newark, NJ: The Newark Museum.
• Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: Essays in Early Indian Architecture (1992) New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and Oxford University Press.
• Encyclopædia of Indian Temple Architecture (vol. II, pt. 2), (1991) North India: Period of Early Maturity, text and plates volumes. Edited by Michael W. Meister and M. A. Dhaky. Princeton: Princeton University Press and Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Encyclopædia of Indian Temple Architecture (vol. II, pt. 1) (1988) North India, Foundations of North Indian Style, text and plate volumes. Edited by Michael W. Meister, M. A. Dhaky, and Krishna Deva. Princeton: Princeton University Press and Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Making Things in South Asia: The Role of Artist and Craftsman (1988) Philadelphia: South Asia Regional StudiesDepartment.
• Encyclopædia of Indian Temple Architecture (vol. 1, pt. 2), (1986) South India, Upper Dravidadesa, Early Phase, text and plates volumes. Edited by Michael W. Meister and M. A. Dhaky. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press and Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• Discourses on Siva, Proceedings of a Symposium on the Nature of Religious Imagery (1984) Edited and with an Introduction by Michael W. Meister. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press and Bombay: Vakils, Feffer & Simons.
• Encyclopædia of Indian Temple Architecture (vol. I, pt. 1) (1983) South India, Lower Dravidadesa, text and plates volumes. Edited by Michael W. Meister, coordinated by M. A. Dhaky. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press and Delhi: Oxford University Press.
• M. A. Dhaky, “Complexities Surrounding the Vimalavasahi Temple at Mount Abu,” (1981) trans. by Miki and MadhaviDesai; ed. Michael W. Meister. Philadelphia: South Asia Regional Studies Department, University of Pennsylvania, Occasional Papers Series.

See also

• Architectural historian
  Architectural historian
  A architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it Similar profession are known widely such as Historian, Art historian and Archaeologist. Architectural historians survey areas that are often threatened by extinction...
  
  
• History of architecture
  History of architecture
  The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates.-Neolithic architecture:Neolithic architecture is the architecture of the Neolithic period...
  
  
• List of architectural historians