Ping-hsiu Alice Lin

Ping-hsiu Alice Lin is a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University, transitioning to an Assistant Professor role starting July 2025. Her research focuses on Political and Economic Anthropology, examining value creation, labor, and expertise in global commodity chains. She holds affiliations with Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and is based at the Tozzer Anthropology Building.

Her current book project, *Precious Economies*, investigates gemstone valuation across Pakistan and Afghanistan through multi-sited fieldwork and archival research. This work explores how imperial histories and contemporary scientific expertise shape the material economy of precious stones.

Lin’s publications span topics including Kathak dance as cultural politics, ethics of fieldwork in conflict zones, and diasporic identities of Chinese communities in Pakistan. Her interdisciplinary approach integrates geosciences, labor studies, and transnational cultural analysis.

Her research has been featured in journals like International Quarterly for Asian Studies, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, and Asian Anthropology. Though no awards are explicitly mentioned, her contributions highlight critical engagements with global South contexts and anthropological methodologies.