Emily Graf

Emily Graf is a Junior Professor of Chinese Language, Literature and Culture at the Faculty of Humanities, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. She is affiliated with the Department of Asian and Oriental Studies and is based at the China Centrum Tübingen. Her academic work bridges Sinology, global history, and cultural studies, with a focus on 20th-century China and Taiwan.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Sinology, Heidelberg University (2018, summa cum laude)
• Magister Artium in Sinology / East Asian Art History / English Literature, Heidelberg University (2012)
• Studies at National Taiwan University (2006–2007)

Her research centers on the cultural and intellectual history of modern China, especially the interplay between literature, museums, and political memory. Key themes include the global impact of China's 'barefoot doctors,' the politics of author museums (especially Lu Xun), and the construction of authenticity in cultural heritage. She employs interdisciplinary methods from transcultural studies, visual analysis, and conceptual history.

The recent publications of Emily Graf reveal a strong trajectory in cultural memory, knowledge production, and global health history. Her work consistently examines how cultural and medical concepts are institutionalized and remembered, particularly in the PRC and Taiwan. The recurring focus on materiality, spatiality, and visual representation underscores a methodological commitment to analyzing both texts and institutions as sites of meaning-making.

Emily Graf has been involved in significant research projects funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), including 'A Translingual Conceptual History of Chinese Worlds' and 'Worldmaking from a Global Perspective: A Dialogue with China.' She has also coordinated the DFG-funded 'Recalibrating Culture' project at Heidelberg University. While no formal students or awards are listed, her teaching portfolio indicates active mentorship at the BA and MA levels.

She teaches courses on Chinese literature, Sinological methodologies, and health in China and Taiwan, often in collaboration with other scholars. Her teaching emphasizes critical engagement with cultural texts, historical narratives, and global health paradigms.