معرفی
Li Zhang is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis. She has held leadership roles including Interim Dean of the Division of Social Sciences (2015–17), Chair of the Anthropology Department (2011–15), and Director of the East Asian Studies Program (2003–06). Her research examines the social and psychological impacts of market reforms and socialist transformations in China, focusing on urbanization, mental health, and cultural selfhood.
Education: Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cornell University (1998), M.A. in Social Relations from UC Irvine (1993), and B.A./M.A. in Chinese Literature from Peking University (1987, 1990). She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University's Fairbank Center (1998–99).
Research interests include urban studies, mental health governance, psychotherapy in China, global middle-classes, labor migration, and East Asian studies. Her work analyzes how neoliberal policies and Western psychological frameworks interact with local cultural norms.
Her publications explore themes like housing privatization, urban inequality, and the rise of therapeutic practices in postsocialist China. She has received prestigious awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship (2008–09) and three major book prizes for her works on urban China and migration.
Zhang teaches courses in anthropological theory, medical anthropology, and Chinese political economy. Her research bridges sociology, anthropology, and policy studies, offering critical insights into China's socio-cultural transformations.
