Academic Background 

I am an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the American University of Paris. Here is my university profile: https://www.aup.edu/profile/zgao

I am a psychologist with an interdisciplinary academic background, holding a Ph.D. in the historical, theoretical, and critical studies of psychology. I have also conducted postdoctoral research in sociology and anthropology.

Research Expertise 

My research typically connect psychology with, on the one hand, politics—representing pressing real-world concerns—and on the other, epistemology, which allows for critical reflection on the knowledge-making enterprise. This triangulated framework informed my doctoral research which examined how psychological experts formulated specific discourses about the human mind under China's communism. This framework also extends to my recent projects, including invetigations into the transnational identity of the Chinese diaspora, the cultural politics of indigenous psychology, and the psychology of de-globalization. 

I have published over 20 journal articles and book chapters. My work has appeared in Review of General Psychology, Theory & Psychology, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Social Anthropology, Narrative Inquiry, History of Psychology, History of Science, and others. I have edited special issues of the journals Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science (Springer) and journal Theory & Psychology (Sage) as well as an edited volume (Palgrave Macmillan). I serve on the editorial board of Theory & Psychology. Additionally, I am a co-organizer of the 2025 Three Societies Meeting (ESHHS, CHEIRON, and SHP) in Paris. 

For a complete list of my publications, please refer to my Google Scholar. 

Awards 

Distinguished Early Career Contributions in Qualitative Inquiry Award, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods, Division 5 of the American Psychological Association, 2022

Early Career Award, Society for the History of Psychology, Division 26 of the American Psychological Association, 2022

Outstanding Early Career Psychologist Award (outside the US), International Psychology, Division 52 of American Psychological Association, 2020

Young Scholar Award, Cheiron: The International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences, 2019

Certificate of Academic Excellence, Canadian Psychological Association, 2019

Contact: zgao <-at-> aup.edu