On February 16, 2024, Yan Yang discussed her unconventional path to becoming an art history professor, shared her diverse personal experiences in the field, and guided students to interpret an artwork as art historians. Yan Yang, a graduate of Yale University and long-time resident of New Haven, where she earned her B.A. and Ph.D. degrees, has taught undergraduate courses on East Asian Art including that of China, Japan, and Korea from prehistory to the 21st century. She specializes in premodern Japanese art history and is currently a Professor of Art History in the Music and Art Department at BMCC. She has published on the 20th-century codification of the concept of Japanese art known as yamato-e.