New Ph.D.’s who were affiliated with the Fairbank Center
during their dissertation fieldwork and completion
Each year, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies awards the Desmond and Whitney Shum Fellowship to a graduate student embarking on an extensive period of fieldwork in mainland China for their doctoral dissertation. In addition, we support a cohort of advanced graduate students from across Harvard’s schools and departments through a year-long affiliation with the Center. As Graduate Student Associates (GSAs), the group meets regularly for professional development workshops designed to help them prepare for the academic job market while engaging with other scholars in China studies.
Our former Shum Fellows and Graduate Student Associates (GSAs) receiving their doctoral degrees this year have explored everything from macroeconomics to Buddhist art, from 18th and 19th century Xinjiang cotton networks to the proliferation of Chinese surveillance technologies in Africa. After receiving their doctoral degrees from Harvard on May 29, these graduates are stepping into teaching positions at NYU, Iowa State, and Georgetown, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Tsinghua University.
Graduating Desmond and Whitney Shum Fellows
Chao Lang, who was also one of our Graduate Student Associates (GSAs) this year, earned a Ph.D. in History and East Asian Languages-China for her dissertation, “From Integration to Isolation: Xinjiang Cotton and Commercial Networks (1759-1890),” advised by Mark C. Elliott, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History. Starting in the fall, Chao will be a postdoctoral fellow at Tsinghua University’s Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences.
Lingxuan (Sean) Wu earned a Ph.D. in Economics for his dissertation, “Essays in Macroeconomics and Finance,” advised by Xavier Gabaix, Pershing Square Professor of Economics and Finance. Lingxuan will be an Assistant Professor of Finance at NYU Stern School of Business.
Graduating Graduate Student Associates (GSAs)
Bulelani Jili, a Meta Research Fellow, earned a Ph.D. in American and African American Studies for his dissertation, “Leasing Out Sovereignty: The Proliferation of Chinese Surveillance Technologies in Africa,” advised by William Alford, Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of Law and Director of the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. Bulelani will be an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, School of Foreign Services.
Isabel McWilliams earned a Ph.D. in History of Art for her dissertation, “In Situ Actualization: The Hyper-bodied Bodhisattvain Eighth-Century East Asian Buddhist Art,” advised by Eugene Yuejin Wang, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Professor of Asian Art. Isabel will be an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art & Visual Culture in the College of Design at Iowa State University.
Congratulations to all doctoral graduates in the Class of 2025!