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About Me

My name is Kankan Xie (or 谢侃侃 in Chinese), Assistant Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University, China. I am interested in various historical and contemporary issues of the broadly defined "Nusantara" (Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore) and beyond.

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My research projects deal with topics such as leftwing movements, Dutch colonialism, nationalism & decolonization, ethnicity & identity politics, governance & rural development, China & Southeast Asia in the Cold War.

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Education
Dissertation Committee

Ph.D. | University of California, Berkeley | 2012 -- 2018

Southeast Asian Studies; DE in Dutch Studies

M.A. | Cornell University | 2010 -- 2012

Asian Studies

B.A. | Beijing Foreign Studies University | 2006 -- 2010

Peter Zinoman | History | Chair (2017--  )

Jeffrey Hadler | Southeast Asian Studies | Chair (2012--17)

Eric Tagliacozzo| History (Cornell)

Jeroen Dewulf | Dutch Studies

Sylvia Tiwon | Southeast Asian Studies

Malay Language & Literature

Qualifying Exam Fields ​
Language Skills

Mandarin | Native 

English | Fluent

Indonesian | Fluent

Malay | Fluent

Dutch | Advanced

Cantonese | Advanced

Southeast Asian History | Jeffrey Hadler | Southeast Asian Studies

Comparative Communism| Peter Zinoman | History

Dutch Colonialism | Jeroen Dewulf | Dutch Studies

International Relations | T.J. Pempel | Political Science

Teaching Experience

Peking University, China | Assistant Professor

SFL03918370 (graduate): Modern History of Island Southeast Asia (Fall 2019)

SFL03910013 (graduate): Graduate Writing Seminar (co-taught) (Fall 2019)

SFL03534731 (undergrad): Malay (A) (Fall 2019)

University of California, Berkeley | Graduate Student Instructor

SEA 10B: Intro to Southeast Asian Civilization: People, Power, and Performance (with Sylvia Tiwon, Spring 2018) 

SEA 10B: People and Politics of Island Southeast Asia (with Annette Clear, Spring 2014)

Chinese 1A: Elementary Chinese (Fall 2014)

Chinese 1X: Elementary Chinese for Heritage Students I (Fall 2013)

Chinese 10X: Elementary Chinese for Heritage Students II (Spring 2013) 

Cornell University | Teaching Assistant

Chinese 2201: Intermediate Chinese (Fall 2011)

Selected Fellowships and Awards 

Young Scholar Grant, National Social Science Fund, China, 2020-2025
Overseas Chinese Studies Research Grant, The Chinese Institute of Overseas Chinese Studies, 2020-2022
Curriculum Development Grant, Graduate School, Peking University, 2019
New Faculty Start-UP Grant, Peking University, 2019-2021

The Elvera Kwang Siam Lim Fellowship in Chinese Studies​, Center for Chinese Studies, UC--Berkeley, 2016 --18
The Lee Kong Chian Research Fellowship, National Library Board, Singapore, 2016 --17
The John L. Simpson Memorial Research Fellowship, Institute of International Studies, UC--Berkeley, 2016 --17
Transparency for Development (T4D) Research Fellowship, Ash Center, Harvard Kennedy School, 2015 -- 16
The Magistretti Award, South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC--Berkeley, 2017
Brill Fellowship, Scaliger Institute, Leiden University Library, 2016
The Milton L. Barnett Scholarship, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell University, 2011

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