Nachiket Chanchani
Director, Museum Studies Program 
Nachiket Chanchani (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2012) is an Associate Professor in the History of Art Department at the University of Michigan. He is the author of a monograph, Mountain Temples and Temple Mountains: Architecture, Religion, and Nature in the Central Himalayas (2019, reprinted 2021), a co-authored book, Amarushataka and the Lives of Indian Love Poems (2022), and a children’s book, India’s Composite Heritage (2022, reprinted 2022). His articles are appearing in such journals as Artibus Asiae, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, Journal of Asian Studies, Archives of Asian Art, History of Photography, Ars Orientalis, South Asian Studies, Arts Asiatiques, and Art in Translation, and many chapters in edited books. He also periodically writes op-eds on cultural policy, historical preservation, and the role of museums in society for leading newspapers.
Nachiket’s research has been supported by fellowships and grants from the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (Max Planck Institute), Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Smithsonian Institution, Forum Transregionale Studien, Victoria and Albert Museum, National University of Singapore and other organizations. He has been involved with projects at many museums and in 2024 curated “Angkor Complex: Cultural Heritage and Post-Genocide Memory in Cambodia,” at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. This exhibition was supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and other organizations. Since then, he has completed terms on the editorial boards of The Art Bulletin and Ars Orientalis.
Currently, Nachiket is writing a monograph on how communities are formed around —and by means of — metalware in the riverine region of Assam, India. Concurrently, Nachiket is a serving as one of the principal investigators of “Connected Teams: Practicing Art Histories Under the Conditions of Ecological Crises and Digital Transformations: India, Latin America, and Europe,” a multi-year research and fellowship program studying the intersections of art, heritage, and the environment funded by The Getty Foundation.
Email: [email protected]
Deirdre Hennebury
Associate Director, Museum Studies Program 
Deirdre L.C. Hennebury is an interdisciplinary academic whose teaching and research resides in architecture history and theory, urban planning, and museology. Her research focuses on the use of cultural institutions, such as museums and libraries, to create signature landmarks that act as catalysts for economic growth and social improvement. Articles, chapters, book contributions, and conference papers cover a diverse terrain from exhibition design and pedagogy to museum architecture and its multiplier effects to the adaptive reuse of industrial buildings for cultural installations. After interning at Cranbrook Art Museum as a Museum Studies student in 2005, Deirdre returned to Cranbrook as the first Collections Fellow for the Center for Collections and Research in 2011 – 2012. Over the past decade, while teaching history, theory, and design, Deirdre has curated and developed exhibition programs for Cranbrook, the Detroit Center for Design and Technology, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, and the European Cultural Centre in Venice, among others. Deirdre is a member of the Museum Studies Certificate’s MSP04 cohort and holds degrees from Princeton University, Harvard University, and the University of Michigan.
Email: [email protected]
Amy Smola
Administrative Assistant, Museum Studies Program
Amy Smola joined the Museum Studies Program in 2010 as the Administrative Assistant after having worked for 17 years in healthcare administration at the University of Michigan Health System. Her role in Museum Studies includes tasks related to budget reconciliation, purchasing, financial systems, student administration, events coordination and promotion. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University with a major in Psychology and a double minor in Literature and Art History, and she completed her Master’s in Library and Information Science at Wayne State University. Amy also holds an administrative role with the Rackham Graduate School’s Graduate Student Program and Consultation Services.
Email: [email protected]
