Helen Hess

Helen Hess is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Chinese Studies (Modern China) at the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich since 2024, following her role as Teaching and Research Assistant (2021-2024). She earned her PhD from the University of Zurich in 2024 with the dissertation 'Sinophone Balancing Acts: Reclaimed Histories, Spaces, and Ideologies in Contemporary Women-authored Mahua Literature'.

Her academic credentials include:

• PhD in Chinese Studies, University of Zurich (2018-2024)
• M.A. in Chinese Studies and Gender Studies, University of Zurich (2015-2018)
• B.A. in Chinese Studies and General Linguistics, University of Zurich (2010-2015)
• Semester abroad at Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris (2013-2014)
• Chinese language program at Guangxi University for Nationalities and Central Academy of Drama, Beijing (2011-2012)

Hess's research centers on migration and Chinese diasporas in Southeast Asia and Europe, contemporary Chinese/Sinophone cultural production, and transnational feminist perspectives. Her work examines how gender, space, and storytelling intersect in Sinophone Malaysian and Taiwanese literature and film, often through ethnographic approaches to diasporic communities.

Her recent publications demonstrate a cohesive trajectory exploring border-crossings in Sinophone cultural expressions, with increasing attention to digital media's role in pandemic-era artistic production. Key thematic threads include the reclamation of historical narratives by women authors and the negotiation of identity in transnational contexts.

Her scholarly recognition includes:

• Doctoral Scholarship by the Janggen-Pöhn-Stiftung (2020-2022)
• China Scholarship Council Full Scholarship (2012)
• Multiple PhF Graduate School and GRC grants for academic events (2020-2023)

While not currently advising graduate students, Hess has secured significant institutional support for workshops like 'Queering the Boundaries of the Arts in the Sinosphere' and 'Wired China,' establishing herself as an organizer of interdisciplinary dialogue. She teaches courses on Sinophone literature, cultural analysis, and migration at both the University of Zurich and University of Bern.

No dedicated laboratory or fixed research team is documented in her professional profile.