
Chair of Asian Languages, Literatures, and Cultures and Associate Professor of Chinese
Education
M.A. Seton Hall University
M.A. Ohio State University
Ph.D. Ohio State University
Areas of Expertise
Drama and theatre in twentieth-century China; Modern and contemporary Chinese literatures and cultures; Performance studies; Film studies; Chinese pedagogy
Courses
CHIN 253 / COMP 254 / ASIA 257 SEM
"Illness" in Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature and Culture (not offered 2024/25)Scholarship/Creative Work
Books
Backstaging Modern Chinese Theatre: Intellectuals, Amateurs, and Cultural Entrepreneurs, 1910s-1940s. University of Michigan Press (July 2025) [https://press.umich.edu/Books/B/Backstaging-Modern-Chinese-Theatre2]
Selected Articles and Book Chapters
“Juren (Men and Women of Theatre) in the Confucian Temple: Techniques, Prompts, and Plays to Serve the Nation, 1934-1945.” In Asian Theatre Journal, vol. 38, no.1 (Spring 2021), pp. 245-274.
“Gao nianji hanyu jiaoxue zhong de ‘du’ yu ‘xie’” (高年级汉语教学中的 “读” 与 “写” Reading and Writing in Advanced-level Chinese). In CLTA (Chinese Language Teachers Association) Newsletter, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 13-14.
“Spoken Drama of, for, and by the Peasants: Crossing the River and Ding County Experimental Theatre (1932-1937).” In David Der-wei Wang ed., A New Literary History of Modern China. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2017, pp. 414-419.
“When S/He is not Nora: Hong Shen, Cosmopolitan Intellectuals, and Chinese Theatres in 1910s China and America.” in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, vol. 27, no.2 (Fall 2015), pp. 51-105.
“Hong Shen: A Life in Theatre and Film.” In Kirk A. Denton ed., The Wedded Husband. A Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Publication, 2014, pp. 3-11.
“The Sun is Not for Us, but this Play is for the World”, Staging China, 2012. http://www.stagingchina.leeds.ac.uk/library/the-sun-is-not-for-us-china-2012/
Book Reviews
Review of Chinese Drama and Society by Teresa Chi-Ching Sun (Hamilton Books, 2019). China Review International: A Journal of Reviews of Scholarly Literature in Chinese Studies (Forthcoming)
Review of The Cultural Revolution on Trial: Mao and the Gang of Four (Cambridge University Press, 2016). Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, 2017. http://u.osu.edu/mclc/book-reviews/manhe/
Review of The Avant-Garde and the Popular in Modern China: Tian Han and the Intersection of Performance and Politics by Liang Luo (University of Michigan Press, 2014). Frontiers of Literary Studies in China, vol.9, no. 2 (2015), pp 337-342.
Translation
“Wei zhi you shi: yibu xieshi de zhongguo ticai ju” (The Wedded Husband: A Realistic Chinese Play) by Hong Shen. In Kirk A. Denton ed., The Wedded Husband. A Modern Chinese Literature and Culture Publication, 2014, pp. 50-72.
Theatre Production
The Wedded Husband: A Chinese Realistic Play, staged on November 16-17, 2013, Roy Bowen Theatre, Drake Performance Center, 1849 Cannon Dr., Columbus, OH, 43210.
Awards, Fellowships & Grants
2019 Cheng & Tsui SIG (Special Interest Group) Award, The Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA)
2019 Grant for co-organizing “A Pedagogy Workshop on Teaching East Asian Performing Arts at Liberal Arts”, The Alliance to Advance Liberal Arts Colleges (AALAC) Workshop Award
2013 Research and Creative Activity Grant, the College of Arts and Sciences, The Ohio State University for producing The Wedded Husband (Three Acts).
2012 Worldwide University Network (WUN), International Research Collaboration Grant on “Performing China on the Global Stage”, operated by Leeds University, UK.
2011 Graduate Teaching Assistant Reward, Graduate School, The Ohio State University.
Professional Affiliations
Association for Asian Performance, Association for Theatre in Higher Education, Association for Asian Studies, Chinese Language Teacher Association
Current Committees
- Asian American Studies Program Advisory Committee
- Compensation Committee from Steering Committee