Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Post-Doc, Historisches Seminar

Research Fellow, Excellence Initiative

About

I am a cultural historian, my current project explores the development of urban identity in colonial port cities.

In this study, I examine the development of four colonial port cities, Malacca, Havana, Sydney and New Orleans, from the early sixteenth century to 1900. Through this project, I am examining the idea of the colonial metropolis, as well as how each city developed its own identity.

Previously I worked on the colonial history of Malacca as a Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow at the National Library of Singapore. My focus was how this city reveals contrasting colonial philosophies between the Portuguese, Dutch and British. While at the Institute of Historical Research, I expanded the project to include Havana. 

My doctoral research focused on the idea of the Modern Woman in China and Japan between the wars. I examined the ways in which this concept was created and projected by different women. I took a case study approach to this, looking at four women each in China and Japan, writers and artists whose work reflects different responses to the enormous social changes taking place, particularly with regard to the status of women. I completed my PhD at Cambridge University where I was supervised by Hans van de Ven.

For my Masters research, I worked on the idea of "going native" and racial liminality in colonial societies. I am fascinated by histories of cultural exchange and this is a key theme in all my work.

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