Emily Stokes-Rees

Biography

Emily Stokes-Rees is director of the School of Design and the Iris Magidson Endowed Professor of Design Leadership.

In addition to a holding a doctorate in material anthropology, Stokes-Rees is a museum professional with close to 20 years of experience in a variety of positions, from exhibition development and interpretation to education and collections management. Her research centers on evolving ideas around cultural citizenship and representation in postcolonial Asia, though more broadly she is interested in how museums and their collections might act as agents for social change. Recent publications include a book on postcolonial museums in Asia (Rowman and Littlefield International, 2019) and a number of journal articles on museums in Japan, Macau and Canada.

Stokes-Rees is currently chair of the Senate Agenda Committee and serves on a number of museum and professional boards. She also recently completed a two-year term as editor of the journal Museum Anthropology.

Stokes-Rees has taught courses on cultural heritage preservation, professional practice, curatorship and interpretation for the graduate program in museum studies. She loves all the hands-on, creative aspects of what she does and treasures every moment spent working with collections both in the classroom and the gallery.

Education

• Doctorate, Oxford University