Student responses to an end-of-semester survey

At Vanderbilt, I teach an array of subjects related to Chinese literature. The courses I offer cover both the pre-modern and modern periods in Chinese history (36 centuries), and involve Chinese literature in all its principal genres. Using literature as a lens, I lead students to explore such themes as self and society, gender and writing, and romance and violence. I have two primary goals in teaching: to broaden students’ experiences by learning about China (from the mainland to the diasporic communities), and to improve their abilities to read, to think, to express, and to communicate.

I consider my classroom as a space for me and my students to explore together. For that purpose, I give students ample opportunities to communicate with each other through group work, leading the discussion, and different types of presentations. As my students and I have together discovered, Chinese literature is not far away from Vanderbilt campus. Instead, we frequently notice connections between what we read and what is going on around us.

In the past decade, I have taught in the impoverished communities in southwest China, schools for the children of migrant workers in Beijing, and elite institutions in the United States. I have worked with students speaking different languages, of different ethnicities, and from various social backgrounds. I hold the belief that teaching is a way of communication, one between me, my students, and the ever fresh voices in Chinese literature.

Current Courses:

ASIA 2605 Romancing the Nation in Modern Chinese Literature ASIA 2605 Romancing
ASIA 2606 The Martial Tradition in Chinese Literature ASIA 2606
ASIA 2607 Self and Society in Pre-Modern Chinese Literature ASIA 2607 
ASIA 2608 Chinese Drama: 13th-20th Centuries ASIA 2608 
ASIA 2609W Writing and Gender in Traditional China 2609W 
ASIA 2610 Overseas Encounters: Reading the World through Students Abroad ASIA2610