Alva Speth, M.A.
- Wissenschaftliche Assistentin / Teaching & Research Assistant
- Phone
- +41 44 634 45 95
- Address
- Universität Zürich Kunsthistorisches Institut Abteilung Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens Rämistrasse 73 8006 Zürich
Main Research Interests
Late Qing Material Culture, including Fashion History and Kingfisher Jewelry; Ecocritical Art History; Modern and Contemporary Art of China.
Dissertation (PhD, ongoing)
Working title: Refashioning local and national disasters in the late Qing – An art historical exploration of sartorial innovation
Teaching (2024-2026)
Courses in 2026
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Fall 2026: Theorien und Konzepte in der Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens: Elite and Popular Culture in Early Modern Chinese and Korean Visual Arts: Hierarchies, Canon, and the Vernacular (BA Seminar, co-teaching with Isabelle Leemann) (6 ETCS)
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Fall 2026: Einführung in die Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens: Introduction to East Asian Art History (BA introductory course, co-teaching with Isabelle Leemann, M.A.) (9ECTS)
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Spring 2026: Landesspezifische Kontexte und Inhalte: Übung mit regionalem Schwerpunkt – China (Country-specific contexts and contents: Introduction to Chinese Art) (9 ECTS)
Courses in 2025
- Fall 2025: Einführung in die Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens: Introduction to East Asian Art History (BA introductory course, co-teaching with Isabelle Leemann, M.A.) (9ECTS)
- Spring 2025: Critical Perspectives on the Production of Art in East Asia: Iridescent Luxuries: Perspectives on Commodities as Art in East Asia (BA Seminar, co-teaching with Dr. Stephanie Santschi) (6 ECTS)
- Spring 2025: Theories and Methods: Korean Wave(s): Global Itineraries of Korean Art (co-teaching with Prof. Dr. Ewa Machotka) (3 ECTS)
Courses in 2024
- Autumn 2024: Einführung in die Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens: Grundlagenwissen der Kunstgeschichte Ostasiens (co-teaching with Isabelle Leemann, M.A.) (9ECTS)
Bachelor-Thesis Supervision
- Spring 2025: Angela Yu-Chen Li “Kaiserliche Macht im Gewebe: Die Drachenrobe als Spiegel kaiserlicher Identität und visueller Hierarchie in der frühen Qing-Dynastie”
Presentations
- “Unifying fashion? Modernizing military uniforms at the end of the Qing empire” SOAS–UZH East Asian Art History Graduate Symposium, London, April 2026.
- "Productive Estrangement? From flighty birds to luminescent headdresses: The case of kingfisher jewelry." International workshop Ecocritical Perspectives in East Asian Art and Culture organized by Zurich University and Leiden University, Leiden, October 2024.
- “Things-in-motion, late Qing kingfisher jewelry.” 11th Forum East Asian Art History in German-speaking countries, Vienna, May 2023.
Since Fall 2024: Co-organizer of the annual “Forum for East Asian Art History in German-speaking countries.”