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Haiyan Lee serves as the Walter A. Haas Professor of the Humanities and Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures and of Comparative Literature at Stanford University. She has held these positions since joining Stanford in 2009, and currently serves as Chair of the East Asian Languages and Cultures department (2020-present). Her academic journey includes previous teaching appointments at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Hong Kong, along with post-doctoral fellowships at Cornell University and Harvard University. Lee's research spans multiple interdisciplinary fields with particular focus on modern Chinese literature and cultural production. Her work bridges literary studies with law, philosophy, cognitive science, affect theory, gender studies, and environmental humanities. She has developed influential theoretical frameworks including the concept of "high justice" and "low justice" in Chinese legal imagination. Her current research explores animism, cognition, and the Chinese environmental imagination, extending her longstanding interest in human-animal relations. Lee's publications reveal a consistent trajectory examining Chinese cultural production through innovative theoretical lenses. Her recent work shows increasing engagement with legal theory, environmental humanities, and cognitive approaches to literature. She has produced significant scholarship on Chinese concepts of justice, love, and the stranger, moving across historical periods from early 20th century to contemporary China. Biennial Book Prize, Honorable Mention, International Society for Chinese Law and History (ISCLH) (2024) Humanities Seed Grant, Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences (2023-2025) Bass Fellowship in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (2022-2027) Joseph Levenson Book Prize, The Association for Asian Studies (2009) Professor Lee actively mentors doctoral students across multiple disciplines, serving as dissertation advisor, co-advisor, and committee member for students working at the intersection of Chinese studies, law, literature, and cultural theory. Her teaching includes courses across East Asian humanities, comparative literature, and interdisciplinary environmental studies. She has received significant research support including the Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies and a residency at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.

• Modern Chinese literature
• Chinese popular culture
• philosophy and literature
• +9 more

Christopher Rea is a Professor of Modern Chinese Literature in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Arts. He serves as a faculty member and former Associate Head of the Department of Asian Studies, former Director of the Centre for Chinese Research, an associate of the Hong Kong Studies Initiative, and a Faculty Fellow of St. John's College. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. from Columbia University (2008) and a B.A. from Dartmouth College (1999). Rea's research focuses on the modern Chinese-speaking world, with particular expertise in Chinese literature, cinema, print culture, translation, and the cultural history of humor and deception. His scholarly approach bridges literary analysis, cultural history, and film studies, creating a distinctive interdisciplinary perspective on modern Chinese cultural production. He is particularly known for his work on Republican-era China (1912-1949), exploring how cultural forms evolved during this transformative period. His major publications reveal a trajectory from studies of humor and laughter in modern China ( The Age of Irreverence , 2015) to literary hoaxes and deception ( The Book of Swindles , 2017), Chinese cinema ( Chinese Film Classics , 2021), and research methodology ( Where Research Begins , 2022). His current projects include China on the Make: Stories of Chinese Deception and The Unfinished Comedy , a sequel to The Age of Irreverence . National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship (2024) UBC Dean of Arts Mentorship Award (2024) UBC Killam Research Prize (2022) Joseph Levenson Book Prize (2017) Rea actively supervises graduate students and has developed significant digital resources, including the Chinese Film Classics project (chinesefilmclassics.org) featuring 40+ subtitled Chinese films and 22 video lectures, and a YouTube channel with over 250 videos on Chinese cinema and culture. His teaching extends to free online courses on The Modern Chinese Novel and early Chinese cinema, demonstrating his commitment to making scholarly resources accessible beyond traditional academic boundaries.

• Modern Chinese literature
• Cinema and film history
• Cultural history
• +5 more

Sophie Volpp is a Professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on Chinese literature from the 16th to 19th centuries, with particular emphasis on theatricality, material culture, and literary objects. She is the author of *Worldly Stage: Theatricality in Seventeenth-Century China* (2011) and *The Substance of Fiction: Literary Objects in China, 1550-1775* (2022). Her current projects include a book on the National Peiping Library’s preservation efforts during the Sino-Japanese War and an analysis of referents in *The Story of the Stone*. Her scholarly work bridges literary analysis and cultural history, examining themes such as gender, power, and spectacle in late-imperial China. She has translated works by pre-modern women poets and dramatists, contributing to gender-centric scholarship in East Asian studies. Her publications span journal articles and edited volumes, addressing topics like Qing-era theatrical design, material circulation in classical novels, and cross-cultural influences in literary production. Her research has been published in venues such as *Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies* and *Journal of Asian Studies*.

• Chinese Literature
• Early Modern Chinese Literature
• Comparative Literature
• +3 more

Chi-Ming Yang is a Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences, where she has established herself as a leading scholar in literary and visual culture studies with a focus on race, empire, and East-West cultural exchanges. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges British, American, Asian, and Latin American studies while examining historical periods from the early modern era through the 18th century to contemporary contexts. Educational Background: Ph.D. in English from Cornell University B.A. in Comparative Literature from Stanford University with emphases in Spanish, Chinese, and English Professor Yang's research interrogates the intersections of race, visual culture, and imperial histories through multiple disciplinary lenses. Her work explores how objects, images, and texts function within global networks of power and representation, with particular attention to transpacific and transatlantic connections. She has developed significant expertise in chinoiserie, material culture, and the visual dimensions of racial formation across historical periods. Her recent publications demonstrate a growing interest in ecological perspectives on race and empire, particularly evident in her 2021 article 'The Song of the Rice Bird,' which innovatively examines plantation slavery through avian migration patterns. Her scholarship consistently bridges historical analysis with contemporary concerns about representation, power, and cultural exchange. Professional Recognition: 2022 Best Advisor Award in English, Sponsored by the English Undergraduate Advisory Board Professor Yang maintains an active advising role, having chaired doctoral dissertations including Jacob Myers' 'Noxious Life: Figuring Vermin in the Natural Histories of the Anglophone Caribbean' (2025) and Cassidy Holahan's 'Dramatizing the Novel: Transmedial Exchange in the Long Eighteenth Century' (2023). She regularly participates in departmental workshops and events, including the 2024 conversation with Sharon Holland exploring Black feminist perspectives on animal life in relation to Octavia E. Butler's work. Her teaching portfolio reflects her interdisciplinary approach, with recent courses including 'Science Fictions of Octavia E. Butler,' 'Orientalisms,' '18th-Century British Poetry,' and 'Arts of Abolition and Liberation,' demonstrating her commitment to connecting historical scholarship with contemporary social justice concerns.

• Literary and visual culture of race and empire
• East-West cultural exchanges
• Transatlantic/transpacific exchanges
• +12 more

Dr. Heather Inwood serves as University Associate Professor in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture within the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. She is also a Fellow and Director of Studies at Trinity Hall, maintaining dual institutional affiliations that support her teaching and research activities across undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Her educational background includes a BA in Chinese Studies from the University of Cambridge (Trinity Hall), followed by advanced studies at Tsinghua University and Peking University, culminating in a PhD in modern Chinese literature from SOAS, University of London in 2008. Prior academic appointments include Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University (2008-2013) and Lecturer in Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester before returning to Cambridge in 2016. Professor Inwood's research program investigates the dynamic interactions between digital media and literary production in contemporary China, with particular focus on poetry communities, genre fiction, and transmedia storytelling. Her work bridges traditional literary analysis with digital humanities approaches, examining how online platforms transform authorship, reception, and cultural value. She has pioneered scholarship on internet poetry scenes, demonstrating their vitality despite public perceptions of poetry's decline in modern China. Her publication trajectory reveals a clear evolution from early work on poetry communities ( Verse Going Viral: China's New Media Scenes , 2014) toward broader investigations of digital narrative forms, game studies, and Sinophone cyberspace. Recent publications increasingly engage with science fiction, transmedia storytelling, and the algorithmic structures shaping literary production, reflecting both the changing digital landscape and her expanding methodological toolkit. Professor Inwood actively supervises five PhD students working on diverse projects spanning Misty poetry, queer narratives, gender studies, and poetic animality, demonstrating her commitment to nurturing next-generation scholarship in Chinese literary studies. Her research has been supported by British Academy Small Grants and similar funding mechanisms that enable sustained fieldwork and publication. Her teaching responsibilities include undergraduate courses on East Asian media and popular culture, Modern Chinese texts, and Modern Chinese literature, connecting classroom instruction directly to her research expertise. She also maintains public engagement through Chinese-language columns for BBC China and other media outlets, bridging academic and public discourse on contemporary Chinese culture.

• Contemporary Chinese literature
• Poetry studies
• Digital humanities
• +5 more

Emily Butterworth is a Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at King’s College London, within the Faculty of Arts & Humanities. She holds a prestigious position in Early Modern French literature studies, focusing on speech practices, women’s writing, and cultural analysis. Her career includes roles at the University of Sheffield (2002–2006) before joining King’s, where she has been a core faculty member since 2006. Education: Emily studied French at University College London (UCL) and the University of Cambridge, establishing her foundation in French literary and cultural studies. Research Interests : Her work centers on early modern literature and thought, particularly deviant speech, gossip, and the role of scandal in French Renaissance texts. Key focuses include: Analysis of Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptameron and its cultural context Montaigne’s exploration of ethics and skepticism Gendered discourse in early modern women’s writing The intersection of print culture, censorship, and obscenity Projects & Engagement : Co-Investigator on the AHRC-funded Gossip and Nonsense in the French Renaissance (2012–2015), she collaborated on artistic projects such as Spinning Stories and Chinese Whispers . She has contributed to BBC programs like Radio 4’s Something Understood and Radio 3’s Free Thinking , discussing gossip’s cultural significance and early modern news. Publications : Her scholarship includes monographs like The Unbridled Tongue (2016) and Marguerite de Navarre: A Critical Companion (2022). Her articles span topics from Renaissance book history to the ethics of speech in Montaigne’s essays. Affiliations : She is part of King’s Centre for Early Modern Studies and contributes to research groups on textual representation and visual culture.

• Early Modern Literature
• Renaissance Studies
• French Literature
• +7 more

Michele Matteini serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Art History at New York University's College of Arts and Science, specializing in Late Imperial Chinese painting and material culture (ca. 1400-1800) with focus on Qing dynasty antiquarianism, collecting practices, and eighteenth-century transnational artistic exchanges. His academic credentials include: Ph.D. (2012) in History of Art from the Institute of Fine Arts M.A. (2004) in History of Art from New York University B.A. (2000) summa cum laude from the University of Venice, Ca’ Foscari Research interests encompass Late Imperial Chinese painting, antiquarianism, collecting culture, Qing history, urban culture, inter-Asian artistic exchanges, eighteenth-century globalism, craft traditions, embodied knowledge, and art historical methodology. His interdisciplinary approach bridges anthropology, religious studies, and art history to examine material culture across East Asia. Recent publications reveal consistent thematic focus on eighteenth-century material practices, analyzing antiquarian objects, historical figure cults, and cross-cultural artistic production. Works integrate art historical analysis with anthropological perspectives on topics like rock collecting, filial piety, and sacred materiality, demonstrating how objects functioned within social and global contexts. His scholarly recognition includes: The Andrew Mellon Foundation Fellowship for Assistant Professors, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2013-2014) Ittleson Fellowship, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art (2007-2009) Panofsky Distinguished Fellowship, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University (2002-2007) Matteini's research has been supported by major fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and National Gallery of Art. While current advising activities and grant projects beyond these fellowships are not detailed in available sources, his extensive publication record indicates sustained scholarly productivity focused on East Asian material culture.

• Late Imperial Chinese painting and material culture
• antiquarianism and collecting culture
• Qing history
• +6 more

Bruce Rusk is an Associate Professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia (Faculty of Arts) and serves as the Graduate Advisor. He previously taught at Cornell University for six years before joining UBC in 2012. During the 2012–13 academic year, he was on leave at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and the National Humanities Center in North Carolina. Additionally, he is the webmaster and past president of the Society for Ming Studies, a scholarly organization focused on Ming history and culture. Bruce holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where his dissertation, The Rogue Classicist: Feng Fang (1493–1566) and his Forgeries , examined sixteenth-century classical text forgeries. Following his Ph.D., he was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University from 2004 to 2006. He also earned his B.A. (History Honours) from UBC, which inspired his return to Vancouver to join the scholarly community here. His research focuses on the cultural history of pre-modern and early modern China, particularly the Ming and Qing dynasties. Key interests include authenticity and forgery in textual and material culture, transmission of knowledge, history of philology, writing systems in East Asia, and digital humanities. He collaborates globally on the SSHRC-funded FROGBEAR project, developing an open access repository for East Asian religious studies. Current work explores authentication practices surrounding artifacts like Xuande incense burners and silver ingots, reflecting his broader study of how authenticity and deception were negotiated in late imperial China. Recent publications address intersections between forgery, material culture, and digital methodologies, including co-editing Literary Information in China: A History (2021) and analyzing Ming-Qing literary practices. His work highlights the cultural significance of textual preservation and the sociocultural dynamics of early modern Chinese scholarship. As a leader in academic organizations, Bruce has contributed to the Society for Ming Studies, advancing research in Ming culture through his roles as webmaster and past president. His advising and grants include mentoring UBC graduate students and contributing to the FROGBEAR initiative. His career bridges historical research with digital innovation, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to Asian studies.

• Chinese Cultural History
• Material Culture
• Textual Studies
• +5 more

Dr. Apala Das is a Research Fellow at Bilkent University, specializing in 20th-century global anglophone literatures, modernist poetry and poetics, and postsecularism studies. Her academic work bridges postcolonial theory, South Asian literatures, and political theology within transnational frameworks. Her educational background includes a PhD from the University of Toronto, completed in 2024. Dr. Das's research centers on modernist asceticism as a critical lens for examining literary experiments by figures like Rabindranath Tagore, Hilda Doolittle, Aurobindo Ghose, and May Sinclair. She investigates how these writers negotiated ascetical ideals within colonial and postcolonial contexts, connecting literary form to biopolitics, secular citizenship, and ethno-nationalist ideologies. Her approach synthesizes postcolonial ethics, comparative literature, and political theology to analyze transnational modernist aesthetics. Her publications from 2018-2024 reveal consistent engagement with mobility, hybridity, and spiritual dimensions across literary traditions. Early work analyzed mobility in ethnography and Romantic-era travel, evolving toward contemporary meta-minimalist fiction and systematic studies of asceticism in global modernism. Dr. Das has received significant recognition for her scholarship: Ontario Graduate Scholarship (awarded twice) Chancellor Jackman Junior Fellowship from the Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto Khashu Award for Tagore Studies from the Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley As a recent PhD graduate, she has not yet taken on formal graduate advising roles. Her research has been supported by competitive doctoral grants including the Ontario Graduate Scholarships and Chancellor Jackman Junior Fellowship, with current work funded through the Bilkent University/British Institute at Ankara Joint Fellowship. Dr. Das is actively developing her book manuscript "Modernist Asceticisms: Discipline, Form, and the Postsecular in the Transnational Twentieth Century" while participating in academic initiatives like the 2024 book launch for "Mind and Embodiment in Late Victorian Literature".

• 20th-century global anglophone literatures
• modernist poetry and poetics
• postsecularism studies
• +4 more

Professor Mary Augusta Brazelton is a Professor at the University of Cambridge's Department of History and Philosophy of Science and a Fellow of Jesus College. She serves as Director of Studies in Natural Sciences (History and Philosophy of Science) at Jesus College (on leave 2024-2025). Her academic work focuses on the history of science and medicine in modern China, with particular attention to global health, transportation technologies, and the intersection of science and state power. Education: BA (Harvard), MPhil and PhD (Yale). Awards include the 2020 Student-led Teaching Award and the 2019 Zhu Kezhen Senior Award. She is also a Trustee and Research Fellow of the Needham Research Institute and a Council member of the American Association for the History of Medicine. Her research explores topics such as mass vaccination policies in 20th-century China, Sino-French scientific collaborations, and the history of penicillin development. Current projects include studies on the Sino-French Institute in Lyon and transnational histories of civil aviation. Publications include Mass Vaccination: Citizens' Bodies and State Power in Modern China (2019) and China in Global Health: Past and Present (2023). She actively contributes to academic discussions through media engagements and international conferences.

• History of public/global health
• Global studies of science, technology, and medicine
• Modern Chinese history
• +3 more

Xiaofei Tian is Professor of Chinese Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. She joined Harvard in 2000 after teaching positions at Colgate University and Cornell University. Her research centers on Chinese literature and cultural history from the Middle Period (1st–13th century CE), with expertise in manuscript culture, courtly literary production, and Buddhism's influence on poetic traditions. She also investigates late imperial/modern Chinese literature, travel writing, and Cultural Revolution trauma narratives. Professor Tian's scholarly contributions have earned significant recognition: Patrick D. Hanan Book Prize for Translation (2016) for The World of a Tiny Insect Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2006 for Tao Yuanming and Manuscript Culture Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2018 for The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature She mentors graduate students while teaching courses including Art and Violence in the Cultural Revolution , and currently serves as Editor of Early Medieval China and founding co-editor of The Nanyang Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture .

• Medieval Chinese Literature
• Chinese Cultural History
• Manuscript Culture
• +8 more

O.J. (Oliver) Moore is a Professor and Chair of Chinese Language & Culture at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Arts. His expertise spans Art History of China, early/modern Chinese history, archaeology, and material culture. He holds a PhD from Cambridge University and has held roles at Leiden University, the British Museum, and Kyoto University. His research integrates historical, technical, and aesthetic aspects of Chinese art and culture, with a focus on photography, printing systems, and classical texts. Education: Studied Chinese at London University (SOAS) and Fudan University (Shanghai), PhD at Cambridge on Tang Dynasty civil service recruitment rituals. Teaching includes modern Chinese language, East Asian art/media, and thesis writing. He supervises PhD projects on Chinese art collecting in the Netherlands and collaborates internationally on courses like 'Chinese Gardens in Europe.' Key publications: Photography in China: Science, Commerce and Communication (2022), translations of Tang-era texts, and studies on Tang art and archaeology. Research emphasizes demystifying Chinese culture through translation and cross-disciplinary approaches. Past roles include Curator at the Netherlands Museum of Ethnology and Visiting Professor at Kyoto University.

• Art History of China
• Early and Modern Chinese History
• Archaeology of China/East Asia
• +6 more

Professor Leigh K. Jenco holds the position of Professor of Political Theory at the Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science (on sabbatical during 2024/25). Her expertise spans Chinese Thought, Taiwan Studies, Political Philosophy, and Global Intellectual History. She previously taught at the National University of Singapore and has held visiting roles at Taiwan's Academia Sinica, National Taiwan University, and the University of Heidelberg. Education: B.A. from Bard College M.A. and Ph.D. from University of Chicago Her research explores late Ming neo-Confucian concepts of equality through literary theory and the 20th-century rediscovery of Chinese folksong compendia. She leads the £1.5M British Academy-funded 'Chinese Global Orders' project and was the principal investigator for the EU's 'East Asian Uses of the European Past' initiative. She served as associate editor of the American Political Science Review (2016–2020). Her publications include groundbreaking monographs like Changing Referents (Oxford UP, 2015) and Making the Political (Cambridge UP, 2010), which bridge political theory with Chinese intellectual history. Current projects focus on Ming dynasty poetics and cross-cultural knowledge transfer. Grants & Projects: Lead investigator for 'Chinese Global Orders' (£1.5M, British Academy) EU H2020 'East Asian Uses of the European Past' (€1.2M) She is fluent in Classical Chinese, Mandarin, and English, and her work emphasizes global comparative frameworks to challenge Eurocentric narratives. Her research often intersects historical texts with contemporary political debates, particularly around cultural borrowing and identity formation.

• Political Philosophy
• Global Intellectual History
• Chinese Thought
• +3 more

David Der-Wei Wang serves as Edward C. Henderson Professor of Chinese Literature and Comparative Literature at Harvard University, holding dual appointments in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. He directs the CCK Foundation Inter-University Center for Sinological Studies and holds prestigious Academician positions at both Academia Sinica and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His distinguished career includes prior faculty roles at National Taiwan University (1982-1986) and Columbia University (1990-2004), with continuous Harvard affiliation since 1986. His academic credentials include: B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature, National Taiwan University M.A. in Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1978) Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1982) Wang's research pioneers interdisciplinary approaches to Modern and Contemporary Chinese/Sinophone Literature, Late Qing fiction, and colonial Taiwanese studies. His work critically examines historical trauma , cultural identity formation , and transnational literary networks , particularly through the lens of political upheaval and diasporic experiences. Special attention is given to mid-20th century Chinese intellectuals navigating ideological crises, with methodologies blending comparative literary theory and historical analysis. His eight major publications (1997-2020) reveal consistent thematic evolution toward global frameworks for Chinese literary studies. Early works like Fin-de-Siècle Splendor established foundations in Late Qing modernities, while later volumes including A New Literary History of Modern China and Why Fiction Matters expand into transnational Sinophone networks and contemporary sociopolitical relevance. The corpus demonstrates increasing emphasis on diasporic perspectives and decolonizing methodologies across Chinese literary historiography. Wang's scholarly recognition includes: Academician, Academia Sinica Academician, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Changjiang Scholar Award (2008) Humanitas Visiting Professorship at CRASSH, Cambridge (2013-14) As Director of the CCK Foundation Inter-University Center for Sinological Studies, Wang coordinates international research initiatives connecting North American and Taiwanese institutions. This leadership role facilitates collaborative projects in digital humanities and comparative Sinology, supporting emerging scholars through cross-institutional fellowships and academic exchanges focused on reimagining Chinese studies through global perspectives.

• Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature
• Sinophone Literature
• Late Qing Fiction and Drama
• +5 more

Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, specializing in archaeology and art history with a focus on cultural heritage and transnational trade routes. She holds a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and has served in prestigious roles including Board Chair of The New York Historical Society and Co-chair of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Objects Conservation Committee. Her academic contributions span UNESCO missions, international film collaborations, and co-founding institutions like the Tang Center for Early China and Silk Road Studies. Education: BA (Bryn Mawr College, Classical Languages & English Literature), MA (University of Pennsylvania, East Asian & Middle Eastern Studies), PhD (University of Pennsylvania, 2004). Research interests include early Chinese cartography, Silk Road cultural exchanges, and the intersection of art history with imperial geography. Her work bridges archaeology, art, and policy, addressing illicit cultural trafficking and heritage preservation. She has produced award-winning documentaries and serves on global arts and museum boards. Her publications explore topics such as ancient mapping techniques and Silk Road heritage. Awards recognize her academic and leadership roles in cultural preservation. She co-founded the Tang Centers and Hsu-Tang Library, advocating for interdisciplinary scholarship and global cultural dialogue.

• Art History
• Archaeology
• Cultural Heritage Studies
• +3 more