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If you are curious, 王 (Wáng) is the surname automatically assigned to me based on that of my father. On average, there is a “王” for every 14 Chinese you meet; it means "king" -- no indication of any royal blood, though.
悠 (Yōu) is the "first" name gifted by my mother; it literally means “leisure,” “longing,” or “long,” with the latter implication often used to modify history. It pronounces like yo in yoga in English.
[photo description: Wáng Yōu, with short black hair and in a grey sweater, smiles into the camera.]
Assistant Professor of History, Georgetown University, since 2025
Harper-Schmidt Fellow, University of Chicago, 2022-2025
Ph.D. in History, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), 2022
Graduate Certificate in Writing Pedagogy
Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities
A.M. in Social Sciences, University of Chicago, 2014
B.Econ. in Finance and Banking, Zhejiang University, 2012
International Exchange Program at Korea University, 2009-2010
Research Interests
Late Imperial China; Social and Economic History; Environmental History; Social History of Technology; Women and Masculinities; Digital Humanities
Teaching Interests
Early Modern Globalization; Infrastructure and Technology; Gender and Sexuality; Confucianism; Everyday Experiences; Rural Governance; Work and Labor; Food; Knowledge Production
[photo description: Wáng Yōu, looking downward, weeds in a flooded rice paddy; she is in a blue and white dress (which is inappropriate for the task).]
Academic advising
I am not accepting PhD students this year.
If you are interested in our MA program, welcome to take my courses! You do not need to reach out before applying. I am also delighted to answer questions about the graduate program after your admission.
For History majors at Georgetown, if you are interested in developing your senior thesis with me, I expect that you have taken at least a research seminar (3000 or above) with me. It is not a requirement, though. -- Note for AY 2026-27: I am on research leave and do not supervise student thesis.
I do tailor my course offering -- at graduate and undergraduate levels -- to student interests and needs, so please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas with me.
News!
May 2026 I have been awarded Luce/ACLS Early Career Fellowship in China Studies – Long-Term in AY 2026-27 for my manuscript-in-preparation, Collaboration Amidst Conflict: Sustaining Rural Waterscape in the Lower Yangzi Delta, 1403-1850 (More in "Research"). I have also been selected for the residency at NYU Shanghai through the ACLS-NYU Shanghai Partnership.
February 2025 Together two other wonderful scholars in the field, I am invited by the Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Hawai'i for a talk on Chinese environmental history. Our panel, "Water, Land, and Crops: Agricultures in China's Core and Peripheries (17th - 20th Centuries)," examines agricultural production in China’s core and peripheries, as well as the underlying environmental conditions, resource management strategies, and economic imperatives. My part explores the Lower Yangzi Delta, a “world of water,” and unravels how rural communities sustained their water resources through self-organized hydraulic institutions and under minimal state intervention.
June 2024 My article "Women Till and Women Weave: Rice, Cotton, and the Gendered Division of Labor in Jiangnan" comes out in Late Imperial China. (More in "Research")
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