Ping Zhu

What excited you most about joining our School of Arts and Humanities community?

“I’m thrilled about the interdisciplinary opportunities to collaborate with world-class scholars across various fields at UC San Diego.”

Why did you choose your field? Why should students consider studying the arts and humanities?

“I chose literature because it provides a realm of freedom and allows me to explore profound questions of being through a critical lens. Students should consider arts and humanities to develop crucial critical thinking and communication skills for themselves, their communities and the world.”

What research or project are you working on currently?

“I’m currently working on a monograph titled ‘The Cult of Labor in Modern China,’ which explores how modern Chinese reimagined labor as a humanized, moralized and ecological concept, different from the abstract concept of labor in capitalist political economy.”

What’s your favorite class to teach and why?

“I love teaching Chinese Science Fiction because it blends critical perspectives with futuristic visions, sparking rich discussions about the future of China and the world.”

What is something about yourself that is not typically included in your bio?

“I was born and grew up in Suzhou, and have lived in Shanghai, New Brunswick, Edison, Norman and Dallas before moving to San Diego.”

Ping Zhu is an expert in transnational Chinese and Sinophone literary, film and media studies. She serves as the editor in chief of the academic journal Chinese Literature and Thought Today and is an editorial board member for World Literature Today.

Prior to joining UC San Diego, Zhu taught at Rutgers University and the University of Oklahoma. She is the author of “Gender and Subjectivities in Early Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature and Culture” (2015); co-editor (with Zhuoyi Wang and Jason McGrath) of “Maoist Laughter” (2019); and co-editor (with Faye Hui Xiao) of “Feminisms with Chinese Characteristics” (2021). Zhu is currently working on a monograph titled “The Cult of Labor in Modern China.”