Scarlet Cheng

Scarlet Cheng serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, where she teaches Contemporary Chinese Cinema (HHIS-302-01). An established arts writer and educator, she bridges academic scholarship with public-facing cultural criticism through roles as a columnist for Artillery magazine and regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times and The Art Newspaper.

Her research spans:

• Film history with emphasis on Sino-regional cinema
• Visual arts curation and criticism
• Chinese cinematic traditions and contemporary practices
• Cross-cultural artistic dialogue

Professionally, she has programmed film series for the Smithsonian Institution (including “China’s New Cinema”), served as judge for the San Francisco International Film Festival, and authored exhibition monographs for galleries including Pasadena Museum of California Art and Koplin del Rio Gallery. Her career integrates on-set production experience in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China with editorial leadership as former managing editor of Asian Art News and Time-Life Books editor.

She actively organizes public seminars for institutions like Pyo Gallery and Cella Art + Architecture, demonstrating sustained engagement in art ecosystem development beyond traditional academia.