Laura Hostetler

Laura Hostetler is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Her research focuses on the history of cartography, empire, and interactions between Europe and Asia, with a specialization in early modern China and ethnography. She directs the Engaged Humanities Initiative at UIC, launched in Fall 2021.

Key works include Qing Colonial Enterprise (2001), analyzing ethnographic representation in Qing frontier regions; The Art of Ethnography (2005), a translation and study of an 18th-century Miao ethnographic album; and Qing Imperial Illustrations of Tributary Peoples (2022), co-authored with Prof. Wu Xuemei. Current projects explore auto-ethnography through a creative non-fiction account of her experiences in northern India, blending scholarship with personal narrative to address post-colonial dynamics.

Contact: 1008 UH, 601 S Morgan St, hostetle@uic.edu.