This fall, the Asian Languages and Literature Department and East Asian Studies Program welcomed Shengqing Wu as an assistant professor. Wu, a native of Hangzhou, China, is an expert on modern Chinese literature and East Asian culture. This semester, she is teaching two courses, one in fourth-year Chinese and the other focusing on gender politics in modern Chinese literature.

“I feel very lucky to be teaching at Wesleyan,” Wu said. “The caliber of students, level of engagement and conversation in class, and quality of work make it a real pleasure to educate. To roughly translate Confucius, ‘As the student learns and improves so does the teacher,’ and that is very true on this campus.”

Wu said that the University’s commitment to excellence in a liberal arts education and the prestige of the Mansfield Freeman Center for East Asian Studies largely attracted her here.

“At Wesleyan, I have been very impressed with the great scholar potential of many students and the impressive language and Eastern Asian studies programs,” Wu said. “Prior to teaching here, I have only worked at state universities with a wide range of students with varying levels of aptitude. This environment is refreshing.”

Wu earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chinese literature with an emphasis on the late imperial era at Fudan University in Shanghai.

She came to the United States in 1996 to study Western theories on literature, culture and gender at the University of California, Los Angeles. At UCLA Wu expanded her research to include Chinese prose narrative, poetry and intellectual history.

Her dissertation was titled “Classical Lyric Modernities: Poetics, Gender, and Politics in Modern China (1900-1937)” and emphasized new and traditional literary forms in the early 20th century. In the future, Wu hopes to teach classes on Chinese film and culture at the University.

“In the 21st century I think that it is very significant for this next generation to understand Chinese culture and the language for many reasons,” Wu said. “As China begins to play an increasingly important role in the global economy, I predict that the U.S. status as the largest and sole world power will be challenged. College students should prepare for a political, economic and social change of relationship with China within their lifetime.”

Wu describes her adjustment to life in Middletown as relatively easy. She is taking advantage of the University’s proximity to New York and Boston and exploring on-campus lectures and additional activities.

“Wesleyan has a lot to offer beyond the classroom,” Wu said. “I am enjoying going to lectures, performances and other Wesleyan-sponsored events. However, I do live very close to campus and sometimes the students are a little too noisy for me.”

Wu hopes students recognize the importance of international studies.

“When American students learn about Chinese culture and any culture besides their own, they are extending their sphere of global knowledge,” Wu said. “Additionally, by learning about other cultures they can better understand and analyze their own ethos and sets of beliefs.”

As reported in the Wesleyan Connection, Wu is the author of many essays and a book in Chinese and has worked as an editor for the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. Her research paper “’Old Learning’ and the Re-Feminization of Modern Space in the Lyric Poetry of Lü Bicheng (1883-1943)” appeared in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture. She is currently working on her book manuscript tentatively titled “The Treasured Pagoda in Ruins: Poetics and Literati Communities in Modern China.”