Faculty
Yondenzang Akyung
Lecturer
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Tibetan language and cultureAkbar Amat
Research Interests:
Uyghur language and culture
Christopher W. Anderson
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs
Anderson Chandler Professor
Finance
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Research Interests:
International finance
Michael Baskett
Associate Professor
Film & Media Studies
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Japanese film and media; East Asian film and media; film and media history; transnational film and media; post-colonial film and media
Raj Bhala
Brenneisen Distinguished Professor
SCHOOL OF LAW
Research Interests:
International trade regulation; Islamic law; Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement; China-US trade war; Indian trade law and policyMelissa H. Birch
Executive Director
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Associate Professor
Management & Entrepreneurship
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Research Interests:
International business strategy in Latin America and East Asia; trade and regional integration; public sector management; microfinance
J. Christopher Brown
Professor
Geography & Atmospheric Science
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Environmental issues in Mongolia; mining, grazing, and urban life in Ulaanbaatar
James J. Butler
Senior Scientist
Geology
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Experience in China, Korea, and Japan; well hydraulics; direct-push methods for hydrostratigraphic characterization; ground-water flow and transport in heterogeneous formations; stream-aquifer interactions; phreatophytes
Hui Cai
Associate Professor
Chairperson
Architecture
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Research Interests:
Cultural impacts on healthcare design; Chinese hospital design; evidence-based design
Zongwu Cai
Charles Oswald Distinguished Professor
Economics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Asian economies; econometrics; financial econometrics; quantitative finance and statistics
Francesco Carota
Assistant Professor
Architecture
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Research Interests:
Urban development, Chinese urbanization, Belt and Road Initiative
Yi-Yang Chen
Assistant Professor
Piano
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Sunyoung Cheong
Assistant Professor
Visual Art
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Gender and domesticity in art and craft; Korean food as a cultural diplomacy in contemporary public art
Hyesun Cho
Associate Professor
Curriculum & Teaching
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Critical literacy in the Korean language context; TESOL practicum in Korea
Kelly H Chong
Professor
Chairperson
Sociology
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Politics of gender and conversion in contemporary South Korean evangelicalism; race and ethnicity; international migration; Asian American studies; East Asian studies
Brad Cokelet
Associate Professor
Philosophy
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Buddhist ethics; classic Confucian ethical and political philosophy; cross-cultural psychological study of moral character
Misae Nishimura Daldorph
Lecturer
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Japanese language and Japanese culture and society.
Alexander C. Diener
Professor
Geography & Atmospheric Science
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Central Asian states, Mongolia, and both Russian and Islamic borderlands; geopolitics and borders; human mobility and immobility; environment/social justice; diaspora/transnationalism; impact of urban landscape change on community, self, and personhood.
Changming Duan
Professor
Educational Pyschology
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Relationship between culture and mental health; efficacy of psychological interventions; counselling in the Chinese cultural context
Kris Ercums
Curator
Global Contemporary & Asian Art
SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART
Research Interests:
Pan-Asian visual modernity; Asian contemporary artistic practice; postcolonial science fiction; Queer studies
Robert Fiorentino
Professor
Linguistics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Language acquisition and processing; neurolinguistics; languages of research include Japanese, Chinese, and English
Sherry Fowler
Professer
Art History
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Japanese Buddhist art history especially sculpture, print, and bells
Alison Gabriele
Professor
Linguistics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Second language acquisition and process; Japanese, Chinese, and English acquisition in adult learners
Dan Galindau
Professor of the Practice
Management & Entrepreneurship
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Research Interests:
Comparative and cross-cultural management; international business and management; Chinese business practices; international business strategy
Linda Galvane
Assistant Professor
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Japanese literature and culture with attention to the various spatio-temporal, disciplinary, and modal structures of classification
Noelle Giuffrida
Research Associate
Center for East Asian Studies
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL & GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Research Interests:
Chinese art history; Daoist studies; history of collecting and museums
Patricia J. Graham
Research Associate
Center for East Asian Studies
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL & GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Research Interests:
Japanese sencha tea ceremony; Buddhist Art; Chinese material culture in Japan
J. Megan Greene
Professor
History
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Modern China and East Asia; history of the Republic of China under the KMT both in China and on Taiwan; nation and state-building projects in the areas of science and the economy, academia, and ideology.
Jie Han
Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor
Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
Research Interests:
Geotechnical engineering; geosynthetics; earth-retaining structures; pile foundations; roadways
John W. Head
Robert W. Wagstaff Distinguished Professor
SCHOOL OF LAW
Research Interests:
Dynastic Chinese law; comparative law; international commerce and investment; international economic law; comparative legal history
Jeff Holliday
Assistant Professor
Linguistics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Second language acquisition including the acquisition of the Korean sound system and sociolinguistics
Thomas Huang
Associate Professor
Design
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Research Interests:
Asian materials; furniture-based sculpture
Michiko Ito
Japanese Studies Librarian
East Asian Collection
KU LIBRARIES
Research Interests:
Japan-US relations; Japanese popular culture; anime; interlibrary loan
Lei Jiang
Assistant Professor
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Immigrant students and education; education systems and policies in East Asia; multilingual education
Sean Joo
Assistant Professor
Educational Psychology
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Research Interests:
International large-scale assessments and academic performance across East Asian and Western countries
Maki Kaneko
Associate Professor
Art History
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
20th-century and contemporary art; Japanese art history
Joonmo Kang
Assistant Professor
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WELFARE
Research Interests:
Korean social policy and political ecology; climate change; community-engaged research; environmental justice; ecosocial work; sustainable community development
John James Kennedy
Professor
Chairperson
Political Science
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Grassroots elections and voting in China; Chinese family planning; Chinese single child policy; rural education and health care; single-party regimes; cadre management system
Leigh Khandro
Lecturer
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Tibetan language and culture
ChangHwan Kim
Professor
Sociology
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Korean studies; work and organization; race and ethnicity; quantitative methodology
Eungsik Kim
Assistant Professor
Economics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Macroeconomics; public economics; political economics; economic theory; financial economics (asset pricing)
Min-Young Kim
Assistant Professor
Curriculum & Teaching
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Literacy education; teacher education; translanguaging practices of Korean immigrant teachers
Ji-Yeon Lee
Assistant Teaching Professor
Korean Language Coordinator
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Korean as a foreign/heritage language; female Korean students in U.S. higher education
Jieun Lee
Visiting Assistant Professor
Linguistics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Second language acquisition of Korean language; psycholinguistics; speech perception and production
Jun Ho Lee
Assistant Professor
Management & Entrepreneurship
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Research Interests:
Corporate governance in East Asia; institutional theory
Xingong Li
Professor
Geography & Atmospheric Science
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Mapping and analysis of water resources in East Asia; spatiotemporal analysis methods
Yan Li
Associate Professor
Chinese Language Coordinator
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Chinese linguistics; second language acquisition; teaching Chinese as a foreign language; computer-assisted language learningWilliam R. Lindsey
Associate Professor
Religious Studies
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Religion in Japan; popular religious expressions and ritual in the Tokugawa period
Ahreum Maeng
Associate Professor
Management & Business Law
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Research Interests:
Social cognition and social perception; influences of social contexts on judgments and decisions; cross-cultural comparisons
David Mai
Assistant Teaching Professor
Film & Media Studies
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Affect theory; Horror studies; feminist film and critical race theory; Anime and Manga studies; multimedia education
Margarethe McDonald
Assistant Professor
Speech-Language-Hearing
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Infant language development and bilingual (Korean-English) child speech development.
Thomas McDonald
Lecturer
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Japanese language, literature, and culture
Keith McMahon
Professor
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Ming and Qing fiction; eroticism and the structure of sexuality in late imperial China; culture of opium smoking in 19th-century China and Euro-America; male and female character types in literature and history; history of imperial marriage in dynastic China
Amy McNair
Professor
Art History
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Material culture of the Tang dynasty; Chinese calligraphy; Chinese Buddhist sculpture
Mario A. Medina
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Associate Professor
Infrastructure Research Institute
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
Research Interests:
Energy efficient and sustainable buildings; thermal and material sciences laboratory; China
Utako Minai
Associate Professor
Linguistics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
First language acquisition, including Japanese, Chinese, and English; developmental psycholinguistics; child language acquisition
Ayako Mizumura
Assistant Director
Academic Program and FLAS Coordinator
Center for East Asian Studies
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Research Interests:
Sociology of Japan; Japanese culture; Interracial marriages and Asian military wives; globalization in East Asia
Yuka Naito Billen
Assistant Teaching Professor
Japanese Language Coordinator
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Japanese language pedagogy, acquisition, and processing; Japanese as a heritage language
Yoonmi Nam
Professor
Visual Art
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Visual and contemporary art; printmaking; Japanese woodblock printing; lithographyYue Pan
Lecturer
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Chinese language; Chinese grammar and pedagogy
Stephen Politzer-Ahles
Associate Teaching Professor
Linguistics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Chinese linguistics; psychological processing of Chinese tone
Eric Rath
Professor
History
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Pre-modern Japanese culture; East Asian culinary heritage and dietary culture
Paul Scott
Professor
French, Francophone, and Italian Studies
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
French language and culture; South Korean science-fiction television shows; South Korean speculative fiction
Hyunjin Seo
Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development
Oscar Stauffer Professor of Journalism
SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATIONS
Research Interests:
Digital media; international communication; civil engagements; South Korean and East Asian media
Kapila Silva
Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
Architecture
SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Research Interests:
Social, cultural, and psychological aspects of architectural design and urban design; urban design and development policy in developing countries; urbanism and heritage conservation in East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region; visual culture in Buddhist and Asian societies
Kwangok Song
Assistant Professor
Curriculum & Teaching
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Korean-as-a-heritage-language education for K-12 students; bilingual literacy practices in Korean immigrant communities; how Korean community members as heritage language teachers support immigrant children’s heritage language learning and contribute to community viability.
Yu Song
Assistant Professor
Health, Sport & Exercise Sciences
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Biomechanics of Chinese traditional sportsMiwha Stevenson
Research Associate
Center for East Asian Studies
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL & GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Research Interests:
Art and archeology of early northeast Asia
Maya Stiller
Associate Professor
Art History
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Korean history, literature, and religion; Korean art history
Akiko Takeyama
Professor
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Director
Center for East Asian Studies
INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL AND GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT
Research Interests:
Gender, sexuality and subjectivity; capitalism, class, and labor; cultural anthropology; feminist history; Japanese studies
Michael Taylor
Professor
Geology
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Tectonic development of the Himalayas and Tibet; active faults and earthquake geology
Hong Tien Vu
Associate Professor
SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM & MASS COMMUNICATIONS
Research Interests:
Global communication; digital technology; news media; East and South East AsiaCrispin Williams
Associate Professor
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Excavated and transmitted early Chinese texts; Chinese palaeography and historical phonology; early Chinese language and culture
Ketty Wong
Associate Professor
Musicology
SCHOOL OF MUSUC
Research Interests:
Ballroom dancing in China; identity and nationalism; Latin American and Ecuadorian art and popular music
Hui "Faye" Xiao
Professor
Chairperson
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Modern and contemporary Chinese literature; Chinese cinema youth culture; Gender studies
Kyoim Yun
Associate Professor
East Asian Languages & Cultures
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Korean studies; anthropology and folklore; rituals and festivals; regional and national identity; Happiness studies
Cecilia Zhang
Chinese Studies Librarian
East Asian Collections
KU LIBRARIES
Research Interests:
Diversity and equality in East Asian library collections; digital archives; visual and pop culture in East Asia; contemporary social movements in East Asia; diversity and equality in East Asian library collections
Jiakun "Jack" Zhang
Assitant Professor
Political Science
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
International relations; international political economy; East Asian politics; Chinese foreign policy; U.S.-China Relations; trade wars
Jie Zhang
Professor
Linguistics
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Phonology and phonetics; psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic processing of tones in Chinese
Yan Bing Zhang
Professor
Communication Studies
LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES
Research Interests:
Cultural values and age stereotypes in China; advertising, media effects, and intergenerational communication in China
Yong Zhao
Courtesy Professor
Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SCIENCES
Distinguished Professor
Educational Psychology
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION & HUMAN SERVICES