Howard Chiang

Howard Chiang is a Professor of East Asian Languages & Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, holding the Lai Ho & Wu Cho-liu Endowed Chair in Taiwan Studies. He specializes in queer Asian Pacific history, transgender studies, and the history of the human sciences, particularly psychoanalysis and cultural psychiatry. His research bridges transnational and decolonial frameworks, examining how geopolitical contexts shape knowledge production. Chiang is the Editor-in-Chief of the Global Encyclopedia of LGBTQ History and editor of multiple book series, including Global Queer Asias. He has held leadership roles, such as Founding Chair of the Society of Sinophone Studies, and taught at NYU, the University of Warwick, and UC Davis.

Chiang’s academic contributions include award-winning monographs like Transtopia in the Sinophone Pacific (2021) and After Eunuchs (2018), which explore transgender history and the transformation of gender norms in modern China. His current projects include The Confucian Freud, examining psychoanalysis in transpacific contexts. His work has been supported by grants from the National Humanities Center, Wellcome Trust, and others.

• Education: Ph.D., Princeton University
• Awards: Bonnie and Vern L. Bullough Book Award, Dartmouth Medal, Lambda Literary Award finalist
• Publications: Over 20 authored/edited volumes, including Keywords in Queer Sinophone Studies and Sinoglossia
• Grants: Arts and Humanities Research Council, Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, George A. and Eliza Gardner Howard Foundation

Chiang’s teaching focuses on critical Taiwan studies, medical humanities, and Sinophone studies. He directs UCSB’s Center for Taiwan Studies and actively contributes to interdisciplinary dialogues on queer theory, geopolitics, and decolonial methodologies.