Selina J. Gao

Education 

• Ph.D., The University of Western Ontario, 2010
• M.A., Beijing University, 2003
• Double B.A., Beijing University, 2000

Publications 

• Books:
  • Saving the Nation through Culture—The Folklore Movement in Republican China, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, April 2019. This work received an ASPP (Awards to Scholarly Publications Program) Publication Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
  • Zhongguo ershi shiji tongjian(Comprehensive Mirror of 20^thCentury China) [《中国二十世纪通鉴》], 1911-1915, Vol. 3, co-authored with Manhong Ji [冀满红], Yongsheng Li [李永胜]and Jianyun Dong [董剑云], Beijing: Xianzhuang shuju (Thread-Binding Books Publishing House)[线装书局], September 2002. This work was nominated for the Sixth Chinese National Book Award [第六届国家图书提名奖].
• Digital Publications and Exhibits
  • “Women and Modernity: The Evolving Depiction of Chinese Beauties in Cigarette Cards,” Pogue Library Special Collections, Murray State University, Summer 2023. This project was sponsored by a CHFA (College of Humanities and Fine Arts) Research and Creative Activity Grant from Murray State University.
  • “Tobacco Patriotism: Chinese Nationalism Reflected in Cigarette Cards during the Anti-Japanese War of Resistance,” Pogue Library Special Collections, Murray State University, Forthcoming. This project was sponsored by a CISR (The Committee for Institutional Studies and Research) Competitive Grant from Murray State University.
• Peer Reviewed Articles
  • “In the Shadow of War: Nationalism and Folk Studies in Wartime Beijing and Shanghai,” Journal of Nationalism, Memory & Language Politics, Vol. 18, No. 1, June 2024.
  • “Folklore Goes to War: Folksongs, Yangge and Storytelling in Communist Bases during the Second Sino-Japanese War,” IAFOR Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 47-64, 2023.
  • “Strengthening National Identity and Cultural Cohesion: Wartime Folklore Studies in Southwest China,” Reconstructing the Past: Journal of Historical Studies, Vol. 1, No.1, pp. 5-14, Spring 2023.
  • “Compromise and Defence: Great Britain and the Burma Road Crisis,” China and Asia: A Journal in Historical Studies, Vol. 3, No.1, pp. 5-34, 2021.
  • “United with the Countrymen: Folklore Studies at Peking University, 1918-26,” Frontiers of History in China, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 552-578, December 2020.
  • “Refining Modern Beauties: Chinese Women in Cigarette Cards, 1900-37,” East Asian Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 237-254, September 2018.
  • “China’s Encounter with the West: Sino-French Relations before the Arrow War,” Yonsei Journal of International Studies: Politics & Culture, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 84-105, Spring-Summer 2017.
  • “The Architectural Symbolism of Chinese Imperial Power: The Magnificent Design, Distinct Colors and Lucky Numbers of the Forbidden City,” Education About Asia, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 9-17, Winter 2016.
  • “Promoting ‘Low Culture’: The Origin of the Modern Chinese Folklore Movement,” Canadian Journal of History, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 3-30, Spring-Summer 2015.
  • “Bangqiu: MLB’s Role in Baseball's Comeback in the People’s Republic of China,” co-authored with Sean J. McLaughlin, The International Journal of the History of Sport, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 332-350, February 2015 (Published online: 09 Jun 2014).
  • “Brushed Past: U.S.-CCP Relations, 1941-45,” co-authored with Sean J. McLaughlin, Yonsei Journal of International Studies: Law & Order, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 39-63, Spring-Summer 2014.
  • “Chinese Women’s Clothing in Transition during the 20^th Century,” Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 8-28, Spring 2013.
  • “Sun Zhongshan yu meizhou hongmen zhigongtang” (Sun Yat-sen and the Freemason Organization in America)[《孙中山与美洲洪门致公堂》], in Sun Zhongshan yu xinhai geming(Sun Yat-sen and the Revolution of 1911)[《孙中山与辛亥革命》], edited by Xu Wanmin, pp. 511- 533, Beijing: Beijing tushu chubanshe (Peking Library Press)[北京图书出版社], October 2002. This work received Third Prize in the National Academic Paper Contest for “Sun Yat-sen and the Xinhai Revolution—Remembering the Xinhai Revolution on its 90^thAnniversary” [孙中山与辛亥革命九十周年有奖征文全国三等奖], China, Sep. 2001.
• Translations and Short Articles:
  • Translation of Chang Jui-te’s “Bombs don’t Discriminate? Class, Gender, and Ethnicity in the Air-Raid-Shelter Experiences of the Wartime Chongqing Population,” in James Flath and Norman Smith (eds.), Beyond Suffering: Recounting War in Modern China (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011), pp. 59-79.
  • “Why They Served. Patriotism, Vengeance and Idealism: Why Canadians Fought in the First World War,” with Sean J. McLaughlin, The Observer (Sarnia, Ontario), November 8, 2008, C1. 
  • “Zouguo bainian (1951-1960),” (A part of one Century of Activity—Walking Through a Hundred Years, 1901-2000 [1951-1960]), Beijing Youth Daily, 30^th edition, December 12 & 13, 2000.

Courses Taught  

• Understanding the Pre-modern World
• Understanding Our Contemporary World
• World Civilization II
• Introduction to Historical Studies
• History of East Asia
• Modern East Asia
• Modern China in the Global World
• East Meets West: The Transformation of Chinese Culture
• Modern China
• Modern Japan
• History of Modern China
• China in Revolution
• Mao’s China and Afterwards
• Communist China from Mao to the Present
• Beijing: Its Heritage and Modern Life
• Historical Data from Early Modern China
• An Approach to Modern Chinese History: The Intellectuals and the State
• War and Revolution in 20^th Century China
• Studies on Sino-Russian Relations

Research and Teaching Interests:

• Popular Culture;
• Visual and Material History;
• Intellectual History;
• Women’s Studies;
• Chinese Social and Political History;
• Sino-foreign Relations.