I am one of 21 scholars from top institutions in China and overseas selected by the Peking University Institute for Humanities and Social Science (北京大学人文社会科学研究院) for a residential fellowship to spend Fall 2026 there as a Visiting Professor (邀访学者). I will spend the semester in residence, participating in Institute activities and engaging in dialogue with other fellows, and advancing collaborations with scholars at Peking University and other institutions in Beijing.
The Institute was founded in 2016 to promote interdisciplinary research in the humanities and social sciences and foster international exchange and cooperation, and the visiting program is one of its signature activities. Visiting Professors from overseas institutions in past years include Peter Bol, Andrew Abbott, Hilde De Weerdt, Angela Leung, Michael Szonyi, and Xueguang Zhou.
An introduction to the Institute’s Fall 2026 class is available at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4Xm5pEMU2-Z6YqlxhflX2w.
The Institute’s web page, with details about its history and mission and past visitors, is here: http://www.ihss.pku.edu.cn/
This is especially exciting for me since this is my fifth extended stay at Peking University. The first was in summer 1987, between my sophomore and junior years in college, when I came with James Lee. We stayed at 勺园 while doing research at the First Historical Archives, at its original location inside the west gate of the Forbidden Study. From December 1989 to May 1990, I studied Chinese at the 汉语中心 at Peking University. In summer 1993, I stayed at 勺园 while conducting research for my dissertation at various libraries around Beijing. In summer 2005 I resided at the Packard Center while doing research with James Lee. I have also made shorter visits to Peking University on a number of other occasions for meetings and talks.