Professor Karil Kucera's research centers on sacred sites, with her most recently completed work focused on the cliff sculptures at the Buddhist cave site of Baodingshan in Sichuan province, Ritual and Representation in Chinese Buddhism: Visualizing Enlightenment at Baodingshan from the 12th to the 21st Century. A large-scale open-access digital project related to the 20+ years of Professor Kucera's work on the Buddhist texts and images carved at Baodingshan is available online at https://baodingshan.org. This research has produced one course - “Buddhism through Text and Image” - that focuses on the interplay of scripture on artistic representation and another course - "Sacred Sites of Asia" - that connects to her current research project looking at sacred sites across Asia through a variety of theoretical lenses.  She has also developed special interests in 20th century Chinese visual culture, with students addressing the context of all matters of Chinese material culture including advertising and film. Using materials from the St Olaf Flaten Art Museum collection, Professor Kucera has also been actively working with students to put on exhibitions related to Japanese and Chinese print culture, Chinese ceramics, and the Chinese scholar's studio. Her most recent collaboration was with the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, bringing a selection of their works to St Olaf for an exhibition entitled Gateway to Himalayan Art. 

Professor Kucera completed her Ph.D. in Chinese art history at the University of Kansas, her Masters degree at the University of Oregon, and her BA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to coming to St Olaf College, Karil held a post-doctorate position at the University of Washington in Seattle. She has lived and traveled extensively throughout Asia. In addition to teaching in Asian Studies and art history, Karil has served as chair of St Olaf’s Asian Studies Department and director of the Asian Conversations program. Most recently she served as Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary and General Studies and Director of the Center for Integrative Studies, St Olaf's individual major.

During academic year 2026-27, Professor Kucera will serve as chair of the Asian Studies Department as well as the Department of Russian Language and Area Studies.