Zoe Shan Lin

Zoe Shan Lin is an Assistant Professor of History at Colby College, specializing in Middle Imperial China. Her research focuses on political and cultural aspects of local governance, particularly during the 12th-13th centuries. She explores how local officials navigated bureaucratic systems and institutions to balance personal and public goals, challenging traditional views of the Chinese state as a monolithic entity.

Education: Ph.D. from University of California, Davis; M.A. from Peking University; B.A. from Beijing Normal University.

Research interests include gender, material culture, and China’s historical interactions with diverse cultural groups. She emphasizes the interconnectedness of pre-modern global histories through China’s case studies.

Her published works analyze Southern Song China’s governance structures and economic policies, such as grain embargoes. Courses taught include East Asian history, gender in Confucian China, and material culture in dynastic China.