Nicholas Bartlett

Nicholas Bartlett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College, part of Columbia University. He is affiliated with the medical anthropology track and co-chairs Columbia’s Modern China Seminar, reflecting his deep engagement with contemporary Chinese society and culture.

Education:

• BA: Pomona College
• MA: Columbia University
• PhD: University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco (Medical Anthropology)

His research lies at the intersection of medical and psychological anthropology, with core interests in addiction and recovery, labor, embodiment, civil society, psychoanalysis, and the politics of psychological knowledge in China. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, Bartlett explores how individuals navigate historical change, trauma, and social transformation. His work often examines the interplay between personal suffering and broader socio-political shifts, particularly in post-reform China.

The themes across his publications reveal a consistent focus on the lived experience of marginalization, historical consciousness, and therapeutic practices. His research spans heroin addiction recovery, entrepreneurial failure, socialist labor legacies, and the introduction of Western psychoanalytic group methods in China. These investigations highlight the affective and symbolic dimensions of social change.

Scientific Awards:

• No awards mentioned in the provided text.

Nicholas Bartlett has taught anthropology courses at USC and UCLA before joining Barnard. He mentors students through seminars on trauma, desire, labor, and East Asian mental health. While specific advisees are not listed, his role as a course instructor and seminar co-chair indicates active academic guidance. He is involved in collaborative research projects, including a special issue on China’s long 1980s and a book on affect during the pandemic, suggesting ongoing grant-supported or collective scholarly work.

His current fieldwork on Group Relations Conferences (GRCs) in China explores how unconscious group dynamics shape leadership and collective life. This research situates him at the nexus of psychoanalytic theory and political anthropology. Though no formal lab is mentioned, his participation in conferences and institutional collaborations indicates active team-based and interdisciplinary inquiry.