Fran Zhao 赵洁敏

Field: Chinese Literature
Advisor: Wei Shang
Email: f.zhao@columbia.edu

Fran Zhao is a PhD candidate specializing in premodern Chinese theater. Her dissertation project examines Ming (1368–1644) court theater through the lenses of ritual, politics and infrastructure. Her other research interests include cartography, and the sensorial and experiential culture of East Asian religions.

A lifelong learner, she also has extensive experience teaching a wide range of subjects in multiple modalities, including Chinese history, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), East Asian Buddhism, and visual communication practices. Her student demographics range from primary school children to senior civil servants. She was the Lead Teaching Fellow and Teaching Observation Fellow with the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning, and produced the podcast series “Teaching and Learning in Asian Studies.” She constantly strives to create environments and experiences that nurture students’ professional and personal development.

Fran also supports her community by helping academics communicate visually. Her maps and illustrations have been published by the Harvard University Press, Routledge, and Brill.

BSocSci (Hons) in Geography, minor in GIS – NUS, Singapore

MA (Research) in History – NUS, Singapore