Rivi Handler-Spitz

Rivi Handler-Spitz serves as Professor in Asian Languages and Cultures at Macalester College, currently on sabbatical for 2024/2025. Her scholarship uniquely bridges Chinese literary studies, comparative literature, and visual arts through innovative graphic narrative approaches.

Education:

• AB in Comparative Literature (Chinese, French, Latin) from Columbia University
• PhD in Comparative Literature from University of Chicago

Handler-Spitz specializes in Ming dynasty intellectual history, with groundbreaking work on radical thinker Li Zhi and cross-cultural encounters between China and Europe. Her research examines ethical dimensions of teacher-student relationships in Neo-Confucian 'recorded sayings' and the international racial history of Chinese script reform, employing both traditional sinological analysis and original cartooning techniques to visualize complex historical narratives.

Her recent publications reveal a decisive shift toward interdisciplinary graphic scholarship, where visual-verbal formats address themes of cultural identity and global modernity. The 2024 chapter 'Savage Script' deconstructs racist associations with Chinese writing systems, while her 2022 prose analysis contributes to classical Chinese literary studies, collectively demonstrating how visual storytelling can transform humanities scholarship.

Scientific Awards:

• Getty Scholar (2024-2025)
• National Humanities Center Fellow (2020-2021)
• Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Fellowship (2024-2025)
• British Academy Fellowship

Handler-Spitz has secured significant research funding for projects exploring Chinese script reform and graphic narrative development. She mentors students through courses spanning Masterpieces of Chinese Literature to Cross-Cultural Encounters, emphasizing comparative frameworks and creative pedagogy. Her teaching portfolio includes specialized seminars on Li Zhi, Women Warriors in Chinese literature, and the Art of Chinese Writing.

As a practicing cartoonist, she develops original visual methodologies for academic communication, contributing comics to publications like Seven Days and The COVID Chronicles while creating a book-length graphic narrative on script reform. This dual scholarly-artistic practice positions her at the vanguard of experimental humanities research.