Shu-mei Shih (; born April 1, 1961) is a Taiwanese-American literary theorist. She is Professor of Comparative Literature, Asian Languages and Cultures, and Asian American Studies at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and was the president of the American Comparative Literature Association from 2021 to 2022. In 2018, she was also appointed as Honorary Chair Professor of Taiwan Languages, Literature and Culture at

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) is a National university, national comprehensive university in Taipei and New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university enrolls approximately 17,000 students each year. Approximately 1,600 students are Intern ...

and is the current director of the UCLA-NTNU Taiwan Studies Initiative of the UCLA Asia Pacific Center.

Early life and education

Shih was born in 1961 in South Korea as a

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

citizen to Chinese immigrant parents who escaped from

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

around 1947 during the second phase of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

(1945–49). She completed her primary and secondary education in Chinese-language schools sponsored by the Republic of China government in Korea. In 1978, Shih passed her college entrance examination and went to National Taiwan Normal University, where she studied English with Shakespearean scholar Tsu-wen Chen. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Department of English in 1982. After a year of teaching middle school in Taipei, Shih acquired an M.A. from the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. She then moved to the

where she earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature.

Career

Shih joined the University of California, Los Angeles in 1993, and was promoted to professor in 2000. From 2019 until 2022 Shih was the Edward W. Said Professor in Comparative Literature, and as of 2023 she holds the Irving and Jean Stone Chair in Humanities. Shih is known for her work in the field of

Sinophone Sinophone, which means "Chinese language, Chinese-speaking", typically refers to an individual who speaks at least one Varieties of Chinese, variety of Chinese (that is, one of the Sinitic languages). Academic writers often use the term Sinophone ...

studies, a field that takes as its object of study "Sinitic-language communities and cultures outside China as well as ethnic minority communities and cultures within China where Mandarin is adopted or imposed."

Honors and awards

Shih was elected to the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities in 2013. In 2018, National Taiwan Normal University named Shih as a distinguished alumni.

Selected publications

* * * * *Review of ''Sinophone Studies'' *

References

External links

* * , April 15, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shih, Shu-mei Living people 1961 births University of California, Los Angeles faculty National Taiwan Normal University alumni American people of Taiwanese descent University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of California, San Diego alumni Postcolonial theorists