About
Janet Chen is Professor of History and East Asian Studies at Princeton University, serving as Director of the East Asian Studies Program. Based in 302 Dickinson Hall, she maintains regular office hours on Thursdays from 9:30 am to 11:30 am and is contactable via jychen@princeton.edu.
Her academic credentials include:
- Ph.D. in History, Yale University
- M. Phil in History, Yale University
- M.A. in History, Yale University
- B.A. in History and Asian Studies with highest honors, Williams College
Chen specializes in twentieth-century Chinese social and urban history, examining marginalized populations during periods of war and revolution. Her research explores intersections of poverty, state formation, and cultural identity, with current work focused on Mandarin language standardization in China and Taiwan. This scholarship bridges historical analysis with sociological frameworks to understand how ordinary people navigate systemic upheaval.
Her publication 'Guilty of Indigence: The Urban Poor in China, 1900-1953' (2012) exemplifies her methodological approach, revealing how destitution became criminalized amid political transformation. Collectively, her work demonstrates consistent focus on urban marginality, state-society relations, and historical memory in modern East Asia, establishing her as a significant voice in social history methodologies.
