Education and Specialization

International Business Administration

• MBA California State Polytechnic University, US

• M.Sc Management Boston University and Vrije Universiteit Brussels Faculty of Economic & Social Sciences, Brussels, Belgium

• Coaching Program, School of Professional Studies, New York University, New York

• B.A. Cum Laude, Boston University, Boston

• Columbia Visiting Scholar and Scientist Program 2011-2018

Cross-Cultural Collaboration

• Post-Doctorate, School of Art and Communications, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

• PhD Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

• MA Fine Art Musashino Art University, Tokyo

• MA Fine Art Goldsmiths, University of London

• BA (Hons) Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London

• Taiwan MOE Huayu Scholar, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan

• Sophia University, Tokyo

• American University in Paris, Paris

Areas of Specialization

• Building cross-cultural collaboration across organziations

• Coaching and mentoring Future of Work in Organizations

• Advanced Curriculum Design Training (TC)

• Comparative Cultures: Modern to Contemporary (BA/MA/PhD)

• Studio Art and Collaborative Practices (BA/MA/PhD)

• Cultural and Creative Entrepreneurship (MA/PhD)

• Masters and Doctoral Supervision (MA/PhD)

Academic Positions

• Research Scholar on Education, Columbia University (2025)

• Fulbright-Nehru Senior Scholar on Art and Performance, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi (2022)

• Highland Institute Fellow India (2022-present)

• Visiting Associate Professor, Visva Bharati University (2022)

• Professor of Record, Renmin University (2013-2019)

• Postdoctoral Fellow University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (2015-2017)

• Research Scholar, University of the Arts London Research Center on Transnational Art, Identity and Nation, London (2015)

• Japan Ministry of Education and Culture Scholar on Japanese Art, Musashino Art University, Tokyo (1997-2001)

Introduction

Taiwan is the crown jewel of Asia. I admire Taiwan's dynamic approach to higher education and its emphasis on innovation in the creative and cultural industries and global business.

Active in Asia since 1985, I have lectured at leading universities in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Mongolia and China. I am eager to collaborate with faculty and students to share global perspectives, develop forward-looking curricula, and contribute to educational leadership.

Academic Profile: Dr. Les Joynes

Dr. Les Joynes (天樂) is a Columbia University Research Scholar specializing in the future of education and advanced curriculum design. His work explores transnational approaches to teaching and learning across cultures with a focus on educational innovation and global engagement. He is the recipient of the Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Award for India, during which he served as a Senior Scholar at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi and as Visiting Associate Professor of Art at Visva Bharati University. Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Dr. Joynes brings thirty years of international experience in research, teaching, and student mentorship.

in 1997 he served on the curatorial team that produced the Inaugural Taipei Biennial ant the Taipei Fine Art Museum and has lectured on cross cultural collaboration at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), National Taiwan University of Education (NTUE), and National Sun Yat-sen University.

His academic appointments include Professor of Record at Renmin University of China, and Visiting Professor at the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University. He has also lectured and presented at Cambridge University, the University of Melbourne, Teachers College Columbia University, Kookmin University Seoul, the Bauhaus Germany, and the Mongolian State University of Arts and Culture.

Also an experienced researcher and critic, he began publishing in 1989 with The Parallel Learning Models for technology transfer (co-published with R. Shani PhD, Dankook University Press, Seoul). His work has been featured in Art in America, Sculpture Magazine, Art Monthly, Springer, Commons and Sense, and on NHK and CCTV.

He is a founding Editorial Board member of ProjectAnywhere, a peer-reviewed journal of artistic research co-hosted by the University of Melbourne and Parsons School of Design and is a Board Director for College Art Association in New York.

Dr. Joynes has contributed to numerous US Department of State-funded projects on cultural diplomacy and international education in India, Mongolia, Brazil, and China. He has also held fellowships at the University of São Paulo, the Highland Institute in India, and the Centre for Transnational Art, Identity, and Nation at the University of the Arts London. His early research on cross-cultural cooperation was conducted through M.Sc. studies at Boston University and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels, followed by an MBA and advanced degrees in the fine arts in the UK and Japan. A long-time advocate of intercultural learning, Dr. Joynes continues to shape new directions in art education through his teaching, scholarship, and mentorship across global academic networks.

[CV upon request]