Michelle C. Wang teaches courses in Asian art history. Her research specialization is Buddhist art in China, particularly during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE). Her dissertation, which she is currently revising into a book manuscript, focused upon esoteric Buddhist art at the Mogao Buddhist caves site in northwestern China and addressed mural paintings in conjunction with portable paintings, diagrams, and manuscripts from the same site in order to address aspects of religious praxis and visual culture that until now, have been more clearly understood in the Japanese and Tibetan contexts than in the Chinese context.

Prior to joining the Georgetown faculty, Wang held teaching positions at Louisiana State University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Harvard University. In 2006, she co-curated an exhibit of Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) small-scale animal sculptures titled “A Bronze Menagerie: Mat Weights of Early China” for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Her research has been supported by fellowships from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, the Asian Cultural Council, and the Pittsburgh Foundation.