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Join Us for the Pre-HRC Spring Conference Gender Lecture Series
We’re excited to invite you to a series of dynamic sessions at the Pre-2025 Undergraduate Humanities Research Spring Conference: Gender and Sexuality. Prepare to immerse yourself in groundbreaking research, join vibrant discussions, and network with visionary scholars and peers!
• Speaker: Hyeyoung Woo, Professor of Sociology, Portland State University
• When: Tuesday, April 15, 2025, from 11:00 AM to 12:15 PM BJT
• Where: Lib 1113 on campus or Zoom (Meeting ID: 927 8924 0248)
Delve into the complexities of work–family balance, with insights from Korea and beyond.
• Where: Zoom (Meeting ID: 999 5172 1330)
Explore the evolving dialogue between digital identities and beauty standards.
• Speaker: Xiaofei Kang, Professor of Chinese Religion and History, George Washington University
• Where: Zoom (Meeting ID: 963 513 912)
Uncover the complex relationship between gender and religion in modern China.
• Speaker: Amy Adamczyk, Professor of Sociology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• When: Thursday, April 17, 2025, at 7:30 PM BJT
Gain a global perspective on reproductive rights and changing societal attitudes.
Mark your calendars and join us for these inspiring sessions—we can’t wait to explore these vital topics with you!
Women and Religious Questions in Modern China
The “religions question” and the “woman question” are both central to the discourse of Chinese modernity. This talk highlights a group of elderly and illiterate rural women in southwest China, who play a crucial role in shaping religious practices, ethnic identities, and local politics. Their story challenges male-dominated, textual oriented approaches to religious studies. By shifting the focus to the oral, informal, and marginalized, we place women at the center of Chinese religious life and advocate for deeper dialogues between gender and religious studies in the study of Chinese modernity.
Speaker’s Bio:
Dr. Xiaofei Kang is Professor of History and Religion at George Washington University, USA. She holds a Ph.D. in Chinese history from Columbia University. She teaches courses on religions in East Asia, and her research focuses on gender, ethnicity, and Chinese religions in traditional and modern China. She is the author of The Cult of the Fox: Power, Gender, and Popular Religion in Late Imperial and Modern China (Columbia University Press, 2006). She co-authored (with Donald S. Sutton) Contesting the Yellow Dragon: Ethnicity, Religion and the State in the Sino-Tibetan Borderland (Brill, 2016), and co-edited (with Jia Jinhua and Ping Yao) Gendering Chinese Religion: Subject, Identity and Body (SUNY Press, 2014). Her recent book, Enchanted Revolution: Ghosts, Shamans, and Gender Politics in China (Oxford, 2023) examines the intertwined discourses of religion, gender and the Chinese revolution. The book has been awarded the Joseph Levenson Book Award for 2005.
This event offers a unique opportunity to broaden our perspectives on the intersection of gender and religion in China. We look forward to your participation.
“Internet Celebrity Face” and the Aesthetics of Cosmetic Surgery
This paper explores the cultural politics of the cosmetological industry in China via the growing entrenchment of what I call fixed facial templates: the practice of producing near-identical faces via surgery, treatments and tweakments. I zero in on one hyper-dominant template: that of the so-called “internet celebrity face” or wanghonglian网红脸. Ubiquitous across China’s social media ecosystem, female wanghong project a persona which is appealing but also aesthetically exacting: groomed, cute, immaculate. Although this is a persona shaped by total habitus – physique, style, mannerisms, diction, vocal tone – it’s also powerfully centered on the face, or rather on a fixed facial template whose main traits are a pointed chin, straight brows, double eyelids, and a high-bridged nose. In this talk, I explore the spread of this facial template and the volatile social reactions that it stirs. To do this, I close-read a corpus of cosmetic surgery diaries posted on major cosmetological apps from 2017-2021, demonstrating that these image-text testimonials are marked by powerfully split feelings about fixed facial templates. People crave “internet celebrity face”, but many also openly despise it – and I argue that this tension is key to the power that the vast cosmetological industry leverages over its subjects. Pushing this point further, I go on to unpick the relationship between art history and the fixed facial template, showing that many artists across time and space have produced aesthetic visions of the golden ratio which set down hard ground rules for female beauty. These older practices of portraiture, I suggest, have a great deal to tell us about the beauty premium in the contemporary moment. I conclude by exploring “internet celebrity face” beyond the operating theatre, as a pervasive biopolitical visual grammar performed increasingly for the camera, and thence for the online world, via makeovers, filters, and beauty apps which “adjust” selfies to fit cookie cutter facial patterns. As our social universe is ever more mediated by the smartphone and its camera, the relationship between visual culture and our lived experience of the human face is becoming increasingly coercive.
Speaker’s Bio:
Margaret Hillenbrand is a professor of modern Chinese literature and visual culture at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on literary and visual studies in contemporary China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Joking, Swearing, Translating Two Days on Intercultural Translation
Have you ever wondered why some jokes don’t translate well into another language? Or how profanity in different languages and dialects can impart incisive wisdom or even express poetic beauty? Two Days on Intercultural Translation opens the gateway to the hilarious, tricky, and thought-provoking world of cross-cultural storytelling.
Two Days on Intercultural Translation invites you into the fascinating, hilarious, and sometimes tricky world of cross-cultural storytelling. Featuring award-winning translators and poets Jessica Cohen, Jennifer Kronovet, Ken Liu, Austin Woerner, and Jenny Xie, this two-day event explores the challenges and artistry of translating humor, swearing, and everything in between.
Get ready for insightful discussions where language gets messy, witty, and wonderfully complex!
Event Details
Day 2:
April 8 | 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM | HUM Space
A reading and Q&A featuring:
- Austin Woerner– Austin Woerner is a Chinese-English literary translator who taught for many years at Duke Kunshan and is currently a Teaching Fellow in Translation Studies at the University of Leeds.
- Jenny Xie– Jenny Xie is the author of two poetry collections, Eye Level and The Rupture Tense, finalists for the National Book Award. She teaches at Bard College, and lives in New York City. She is currently a Writer-in-Residence at NYU Shanghai.
April 8 | 6:00 – 7:30 PM | Performance Cafe
Ever wanted to teach people the funniest joke or the strangest swear from your language or dialect? Join our open mic and share the humor and spice with the world!
Hope to see you there!
Musical Afternoon April 12: Encounters of Traditional Chinese and Western Music
RAS History Club
Register
When: April 12, 2025, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Where：L1-A02, Building 13, 888 Dongan Road
Shanghai, China Metro lines 7/12 Middle Longhua Road (龙华中路站) Exit 5
东安路888号尚海湾13幢一楼L1-A02室（靠近尚敦家具旁）
Join DKU Professor Max Amici for a talk on his string quartet Encounters, inspired by the Chinese folk melody Lanhuahua (兰花花) from Shaanxi Province’s Xintianyou style. Professor Amici will discuss the challenges and techniques of integrating this traditional tune into a modern Western composition, focusing on the use of chromatic counterpoint.
No prior experience with music is necessary to enjoy the talk, which will be illustrated with many musical excerpts.
This talk is a must for anyone interested in understanding a creative, artistic process that crosses Western and Chinese cultures.
SPEAKERS
Maximiliano Amici – Maximiliano Amici earned his Ph.D. in music composition at Duke University in 2021. Focusing his research on the exploration of new artistic and theoretical paths for contemporary composition, he strives to contribute to bringing new music to larger audiences. His music is published by DoNeMus and has been recorded by the Italian Symphony Orchestra, The Ciompi Quartet, and Imani Winds, among others. He began teaching at Duke Kunshan University in 2021, where he is currently an Assistant Professor of Music and Composition.
Having It All: Understanding Work & Family Dynamics in Contemporary Korea
Join us for another installment in the HRC Gender Studies Lab Lecture Series alongside Portland State University’s Professor Woo. In Korea, educational attainment has risen for all, but women’s employment is M-shaped and marriage/fertility rates are down. The complex social-gender mix is unique. During this event, we’ll compare gender health in Korea, Finland & US for working-age adults. Explore work-family-health links among young Koreans. Discover how underrepresented Korean women face gender inequality. Insights await!
Speaker: Hyeyoung Woo, Professor of Sociology, Portland State University
Time: April 15, 11 AM – 12:15 PM
Location: LIB 1113 or Online (Zoom meeting ID: 927 8924 0248)
Scan below to read more:
Stochastic Volatility X DKU: Conversation with Three Top Female Podcasters
In celebration of 2025 DKU Library Book Fair, the Duke Kunshan University (DKU) Library, in collaboration with Gender Studies Lab of the Humanities Research Center (HRC), the Environmental Research Center (ERC), and the Cultures and Movements Major, presents a feature event titled “Stochastic Volatility X DKU | A Conversation with Three Top Female Podcasters.”
We are delighted to welcome the three hosts of Stochastic Volatility (随机波动)—Zhiqi Zhang, Shiye Fu, and Jianguo Leng—for an in-depth conversation. Described by TIME as “the largest feminist-themed podcast in China”, Stochastic Volatility has captivated over three million subscribers across various platforms since its inception in 2020.
This time, the hosts come with their new book series, “Stochastic Library” (Gender: Female, Praise Without Silence), which delves not only into the challenges faced by women but also into broader social realities. During this dynamic conversation, the trio of esteemed female media professionals will reveal exclusive behind-the-scenes insights into the creation of the new publications, discuss the remarkable rise of their podcast. Anchored by unique gender and environmental narratives, the discussion will also explore the multifaceted spectrum of contemporary gender issues and their interaction with the environment.
Time: April 22, Tuesday, 4:00-5:15pm
Venue: LIB 2001
Registration: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3DlKmjjqMZEkmfY
Or scan here to register:
Language: The session will be delivered in Chinese and simultaneous interpretation into English will be provided.
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Moderators
Dr. Binbin Li
Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Duke Kunshan University
Dr. Binbin Li is the Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Environmental Research Center at Duke Kunshan University. She holds a secondary appointment with the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. She got her PhD in Environment from Duke University and focuses on the synergy between biodiversity conservation and sustainable development under climate change.
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Mengjie Zou
Interim University Librarian at Duke Kunshan University
Mengjie Zou is the current Interim University Librarian and Research and Instruction Librarian at Duke Kunshan University. She joined Duke Kunshan University in 2014 and received her Master’s degree in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh.
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Speakers
From left to right: Jianguo Leng, Zhiqi Zhang, Shiye Fu
Zhiqi Zhang
Host of Stochastic Volatility
Media professional and podcast producer. She received her Master’s degree in Anthropology from Columbia University, and her Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Tsinghua University. Former journalist at Jiemian Culture.
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Shiye Fu
Host of Stochastic Volatility
Media professional and podcast producer. She received her Master’s degree in Anthropology from Columbia University and Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Wuhan University. Former journalist at The Paper and Jiemian Culture.
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Jianguo Leng
Host of Stochastic Volatility
Media professional. She received her degree from the School of Journalism and Communication at Renmin University.
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About Stochastic Volatility
Stochastic Volatility (随机波动) was founded in March 2020 by Zhiqi Zhang, Shiye Fu, and Jianguo Leng, and has amassed over 3 million subscribers across all platforms. More than just a Chinese-language culture podcast, Stochastic Volatility is a multifaceted content platform featuring collaborative writing, visual projects, an interactive mailbox, and more.
In 2024, their publication Grid (格) was released and was shortlisted for the Tokyo TDC Annual Design Awards. Their upcoming book series, Stochastic Library, is set to launch in April 2025.
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New Publications
Title: Gender: Female (Stochastic Library 01)
Author: Stochastic Volatility
Publisher: New Star Press
Year of Publication: 2025
Overview:
Have you ever felt like you’re not “new” enough?
Does learning feminist theory make a real difference in our daily lives?
How do newly awakened women navigate a world that still feels stagnant?
This is the first installment of the Stochastic Library series. As women who are both old and new, how do we confront the specific challenges of life? Gender: Female delves into gender identity and the emotions it brings—confusion, anger, disappointment, and inspiration. Topics include gender-based violence, sex education, mother-daughter relationships, cyborg feminism, women in creative fields, and more. Featured guests include Liu Wenli (researcher in children’s sex education), Yan Yi & Yan Yue (stand-up comedians), and writers Zhang Yueran, Dan Bao, and Ni Zhanju, among others. Together, they explore women’s experiences, creative expressions, and the possibilities of gender equality—past, present, and future.
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Title: Praise Without Silence (Stochastic Library 02)
Author: Stochastic Volatility
Publisher: New Star Press
Year of Publication: 2025
Overview:
In an age of uncertainty, how do we find our bearings?
How can we move beyond binary oppositions to understand the world in context?
When meaning feels lost, do we still have a civic or intellectual responsibility?
This second installment of the Stochastic Library series features in-depth conversations on the research and writings of scholars such as Huang Xincun, Wang Min’an, Wu Hong, Chen Danqing, Wang Dewei, and Wang Yan. The book also addresses contemporary concerns, including discussions with Luo Xin on history’s relevance to the present and societal shifts before and after the pandemic, and with Sun Ge on insights following Japan’s nuclear wastewater crisis. These dialogues reveal enduring intellectual threads and offer pathways from theory to real-world impact.
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We look forward to meeting you in the resonance of soundwaves and words.
Event Report – Women’s Literature and Representation: A Roundtable Discussion
Reported by Yuting Zeng, Class of 2026.
On the evening of March 24, 2025, a roundtable discussion was held under the theme of “Women’s Literature and Representation,” co-hosted by Yuqing Wang and Yuting Zeng. The event featured three invited speakers: Professor Wenting Ji, Professor Zairong Xiang, and Professor Don Snow, each contributing insights from their research on tanci fiction, mythological retellings, and regional songbooks respectively. The discussion drew over twenty attendees, including students and faculty, and created a space for critical thinking across disciplines.
The event opened with brief introductions to the panelists and the texts under discussion: Destiny of Rebirth 再生缘, The Legend of the White Snake 白蛇传, and Chaozhou Gece 潮州歌册. These works, though differing in form and origin, all center on women’s voices—whether through authorial agency, regional oral storytelling, or symbolic mythology.
Structured in three parts—contextual framing, gender and power, and narrative technique—the discussion touched on diverse issues: the preservation of women’s stories in oral traditions, cross-dressing and gender performance in female-authored fiction, and the metaphorical richness of The Legend of the White Snake across its multiple versions.
Professor Snow generously shared precious archival materials from Chaozhou Gece, offering participants a rare glimpse into the manuscript culture and oral storytelling traditions of southern China. He explained how these narrative songs—often composed and circulated by women—were preserved through oral performance and later published by local shufang (书坊, bookshops or print houses), providing an alternative, regional archive for women’s voices.
Professor Ji explored how cross-dressing in Destiny of Rebirth operates not just as a plot device, but as a lens for negotiating gender identity and social constraints. Her analysis emphasized the significance of female authorship in shaping narrative techniques that depart from male-dominated conventions in scholar-beauty romances.
Professor Xiang offered a concise introduction to queer theory, helping participants understand how queerness operates not only through characters or identities but also as a lens to read narrative structure, desire, and transformation. He then guided the audience through a range of versions of The Legend of the White Snake, from folk narratives and vernacular novels to stage plays and modern adaptations. By mapping the shifts across these forms, Professor Xiang demonstrated how the White Snake story has continually transformed to reflect evolving cultural and gender expectations.
The Q&A session invited further reflection on the texts’ relevance today, drawing links between premodern literary forms and ongoing questions of gender identity, representation, and cultural memory. This roundtable was not just a conversation about literature—it was an invitation to rethink narrative power, gendered histories, and the act of reading itself. Through intersecting perspectives, the event underscored how texts from the past continue to shape and challenge our understanding of women’s roles, both real and imagined.
To Grow Affinity with Whom? Shifting Modes of Engagement of Chinese Buddhism in East Africa
Location: LIB1117
Time: Mar. 31, 2025, 4:30-5:25pm & 5:30-7:00pm
Speaker: Yu Qiu
4:30pm workshop: Between Worlds, Beneath Gazes: Gendered Fieldwork in Afro-Chinese Encounters
5:30pm talk: To grow affinity with whom? Shifting modes of engagement of Chinese Buddhism in East Africa
The GSL Workshop Series is proud to present these events! Join to listen to Zhejiang University social anthropologist Yu Qiu, whose primary research focuses are: intimacy, migration, ethics, and identity politics, with fieldwork experience in Nigeria, Tanzania, and China. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Open Times, and Journal of African Cultural Studies.
Scan to Sign Up!
Pizza & drinks provided.
Between Worlds, Beneath Gazes: Gendered Fieldwork in Afro-Chinese Encounters
Time: March 31, 4:30 PM
Location: LIB1117
Speaker: Yu Qiu
The GSL Workshop Series is proud to present this event! Join the talk for Yu Qiu, a social anthropologist at Zhejiang University. Her research focuses on intimacy, migration, ethics, and identity politics, with fieldwork experience in Nigeria, Tanzania, and China. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Open Times, and Journal of African Cultural Studies.
Scan to Sign Up!
Pizzas & drinks provided.
