Ya Zuo

Ya Zuo is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair in the Department of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University (2012) and specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of Middle and Late Imperial China. Her interdisciplinary research spans the history of science, technology, medicine, Chinese philosophy, and emotions. Notable works include her monograph *Shen Gua’s Empiricism* (2018) and her current project on a cultural history of tears in China. She is President of the Society for Song, Yuan, and Conquest Dynasties Studies and has received numerous awards, including the Regents’ Humanities Faculty Fellowship (2020).

Research interests emphasize historical epistemology, sensory history, and the interplay between Confucian thought and empirical inquiry. Courses taught include the history of Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese thought, and emotions in history. Her grants include leadership in the *Emotions in History* interdisciplinary project at UCSB and collaborative work on Song-Yuan studies. She advises graduate students Xiaosong Gao and Ruixue Zhou.

• Education: B.A., Peking University; Ph.D., Princeton University
• Key Publications: *Shen Gua’s Empiricism* (Harvard, 2018); *Shen Kuo de zhishi shiji* (2024), and articles on Song Dynasty emotions, Chinese book history, and Neo-Confucian theory.

Professional activities include editorial roles for *Global Chinese Histories Series* and grant-funded research on premodern emotions and knowledge systems.