Now that the fall semester is underway, we would like to take a moment to formally welcome our new and returning class of Visiting Scholars and Visiting Fellows of Practice at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. These experts in their respective fields were chosen from a pool of impressive candidates to join our 2024-25 cohort of new affiliates.
For this fall semester, we are pleased to welcome five new Visiting Scholars (three more will join in the Spring) and five Visiting Fellows of Practice. Several of our scholars work on a broad array of historical issues—the examination system, maritime customs, and neighborhood committees—while others focus on contemporary issues, including digital platforms, media, and the welfare state. Our practitioners bring real-world insights from their experiences in business, finance, and non-profit foundations. Please join us in warmly welcoming them all into our China Studies community!
Visiting Scholars 2024-25
Shiuon Chu (徐兆安) is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Taiwan. A historian of late imperial and modern China, Dr. Chu is working on the institutional resilience of the examination system.
Andrew S. Erickson (艾立信) is Professor of Strategy in the China Maritime Studies Institute at U.S. Naval War College. His current research projects examine China’s naval development in comparison to that of other sea powers, and China’s maritime force structure, operational doctrine and leadership objectives over time.
Zimeng Pan (潘紫萌) is Professor in the Department of International Studies and Director of the Research Center for Discourse and Society at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. Prof. Pan’s research examines how China’s national image is constructed through media discourse. Her current project focuses on how Chinese professionals are responding to China’s new Patriotic Education Law.
Jianhai Yang (杨建海) is Associate Professor in the Department of Insurance at Beijing Technology and Business University. Yang’s research project explores the mechanisms that improve the income and welfare state of the elderly in rural areas—such as increasing government investments, sustaining filial piety ethics, and championing land reform.
Jishun Zhang (張濟順) is Professor Emeritus of the Si-Mian Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities of East China Normal University. Prof. Zhang’s expertise is modern China with a focus on Shanghai’s history. Her current research is on “The Lane Revolution and Its Legacy: Revisiting Shanghai Neighborhood Committees in Mao’s Era.”
Visiting Fellows of Practice 2024-25
Li Gong (龔莉) is a member of the Chief Editorial Committee of the second and third editions of the Encyclopedia of China. Her current research addresses the development of China’s encyclopedias since the beginning of economic reforms. Dr. Gong was a visiting professor of digital communication at Wuhan University of Technology and of journalism and communication at Xiamen University.
Chia-Chiun Shih Chen (陳嘉君) is the chairperson of the Shih Ming-Te Cultural Foundation. Her research project examines how the widespread systematic deployment of informants and secret police during the White Terror Period (1949-1991) affected Taiwanese democratization and political culture.
Shujun Li (李曙軍) is an entrepreneur and philanthropist with expertise in China’s economy, digital economy, and financial sector. His project on the impact of diversity on economic development and social stability in modern China explores the influence of ethnic and ideological diversity on economic prosperity, social stability, and policy development.
Quan (Tony) Liu (刘泉) is Chairman and Founder of Beijing United Information Technology Co., Ltd. His expertise includes China’s technology sector, digital economy, and entrepreneurship. His research project focuses on exploring future opportunities and challenges of business cooperation between Chinese and American enterprises in the context of today’s U.S.-China relations.
Mitchell Presnick (柏力) is founder of Super 8 Hotels China, an economy hotel chain with more than 1100 locations, and APCO Worldwide China, a public affairs firm. Presnick, who spent 35 years in Beijing and Hong Kong, has expertise in U.S.-China business relations, U.S. investment policy, MNC investment in China, and economic policy. His research project explores the opportunities and challenges inherent in this new era of China’s relations with developed countries.