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 Canadian scholar with an interdisciplinary background. I hold 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 explores the formation of human subjects within political, social, and epistemic systems. I have pursued this question through three lines of inquiry. The first examines the history of psychology under Chinese communism, focusing on how psychology contributed to the formation of socialist subjects. The second investigates how contemporary geopolitical forces influence identity in national, racial, and cultural terms. The third turns to theoretical questions, drawing on poststructuralism to examine the epistemological and methodological foundations of social inquiry.

I have published more than twenty journal articles and book chapters. I have also (co-)edited special issues of Theory & Psychology and Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, as well as a book volume in the Palgrave Studies in Indigenous Psychology series. I serve on the editorial boards of Theory & Psychology, History of Psychology, and the Palgrave Encyclopedia of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, and on the Executive Board of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology. I also co-organized the 2025 Three Societies Meeting (ESHHS, Cheiron, and SHP) in Paris. My work has received awards in theoretical psychology, the history of psychology, international psychology, and qualitative inquiry.

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