Emily Wilcox

Dr. Emily Wilcox is the Margaret Hamilton Professor of Chinese Studies at William & Mary and core faculty in the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Program. She holds affiliations with the University of Michigan’s Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies and multiple interdisciplinary programs. Her research focuses on modern Chinese performing arts, cultural diplomacy, and Cold War transnational networks.

Wilcox earned degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, and UC Berkeley. She has held roles as Interim Chair of Modern Languages at William & Mary and Associate Chair at the University of Michigan. Her awards include the 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship and the 2019 de la Torre Bueno Prize.

Her research explores Sino-Japanese cultural diplomacy, Cold War dance exchanges, and the role of performance in Asian geopolitics. Recent work includes analyzing the Matsuyama Ballet’s White-Haired Girl adaptation and China’s Bandung-era dance diplomacy.

Wilcox has authored six books and over 30 articles, co-curated major exhibitions on Chinese dance history, and directs the Chinese Dance Collection at the University of Michigan. Her work bridges dance studies, cultural history, and East Asian studies.