معرفی
Yan Xu serves as Associate Professor of History and eSpelman Online Program Director at Spelman College, where she has held faculty positions since 2014. Her academic work bridges Chinese, Japanese, and global historical studies with specialized focus on military and gender dimensions.
Her educational foundation includes:
- Ph.D. and M.A. from The Ohio State University
- B.A. from Nanjing University, China
Dr. Xu's scholarship critically examines military institutions and gender dynamics within modern East Asian history, particularly analyzing how war reshapes state-society relations and women's roles. Her research integrates political history with social welfare systems, exploring YMCA programs during conflicts and soldier imagery in state-building processes. This interdisciplinary approach connects Asian studies with global war narratives through rigorous historical methodology.
Her publication trajectory reveals consistent thematic focus on 20th-century East Asian conflicts, with particular emphasis on China's wartime experiences and transnational humanitarian efforts. The 2019 monograph on soldier imagery and 2018 edited volume on YMCA wartime activities demonstrate her expertise in military welfare systems and gendered experiences of war across multiple conflict zones.
Her scholarly impact has been formally recognized through:
- 2019 Spelman Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship
As eSpelman Director, Dr. Xu oversees online history education while mentoring senior thesis students through SHIS 492. Her teaching portfolio spans foundational courses like AS 200: Introduction to Asian Studies to specialized seminars including SHIS 344: Women in Modern China and SHIS 386: Women and Gender in World War II, where she guides students in analyzing primary sources on conflict and gender.
