Siyen Fei

Siyen Fei is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania's College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on Late Imperial and modern China, with specializations in gender, urban history, and political activism. She holds a PhD from Stanford University (2004) and teaches courses on Late Imperial China, 20th-century China, and urban histories.

Education:

• PhD in History, Stanford University, 2004

Research Interests:

• Gender and women's history, particularly the role of female chastity in Ming China
• Urbanization dynamics in late Ming Nanjing and beyond
• Frontier societies and identity formation in the Ming empire
• State-society interactions and their impact on cultural and political structures

Key Projects:

• Sexuality and Empire: Female Chastity and Frontier Societies in Ming China (forthcoming), examining de-sinicization and identity crises in border regions
• Negotiating Urban Space: Nanjing and Late Ming Urbanization (Harvard, 2010), challenging Eurocentric urbanization theories

Teaching: Courses include HIST 096 Late Imperial China, HIST 206 Cities in Chinese History, and others exploring gender and urban themes.