SOUTHFIELD—A Lawrence Technological University English professor has been named the Buckham Fine Arts Project Writer in Residence for the 2024-25 academic year by the Buckham Gallery in Flint.
In this capacity, Vivian Kao will be writing creative responses to each of the gallery’s art exhibitions during the next year, culminating in a publication.
The gallery established the Writer in Residence program in 2021, reaching out to the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community to be more accessible to a wider audience in the community. As Writer in Residence, Kao will attend Buckham Gallery’s 10 exhibitions between October 2024 and September 2025. After absorbing the visual presentations, Kao will create written compositions responding to her experience, as a catalyst for her literary practice. In addition to the residency and honorarium, Kao joins the Buckham Arts Collective with a complimentary Artist Collaborator membership.
“This appointment is a testimony to Dr. Kao’s contribution to literature and culture, which includes her scholarship in composition and literary studies,” said Paul Jaussen, associate professor and chair of the LTU Department of Humanities, Social Studies and Communication. “Not incidentally, this recognition comes on the heels of her first book of poems being selected for publication by Another New Calligraphy press in Chicago. This book, entitled Dear Mrs. River Dragon, was also a finalist for the 2024 Wheelbarrow Books Poetry Prize from Michigan State University.”
Kao joined the LTU faculty in 2016, a year after finishing her Ph.D. in English at Rutgers University. She started her studies with a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Washington and a Master of Arts from Rutgers. At LTU, she teaches courses in writing, literature, film studies, and the intersection of the humanities and technology. She is an advisor for LTU’s unique Bachelor of Science in Technological Humanities degree program. She is also the author of more than a dozen peer-reviewed academic papers, monographs, and book chapters. More about Kao at ltu.edu/faculty/kao-vivian.
Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 independent, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932 and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation’s top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report list it in the top tier of the best Midwest colleges. And LTU is included in the Princeton Review’s “The Best 390 Colleges 2025 Edition,” a list of the nation’s top 15 percent of colleges and universities. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.
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