Jennifer Rudolph

Jennifer Rudolph's main area of research is modern Chinese political history.  While her first book dissects institutional change in late imperial China, in her second, she explores identity politics in the Taiwan Strait. In it, Rudolph explores co-optations of a 17th-century pirate-merchant Zheng Chenggong. Through the centuries, Zheng has lived on, with regimes ruling, or desirous of ruling, Taiwan portraying him as a traitor, Confucian god, Chinese nationalist, Japanese nationalist, and the Moses of Taiwan. Professor Rudolph incorporates her research into her teaching to help students recognize historical accounts as part of ongoing debates about national identity, regionalism, and politics. Her teaching interests are broad and include the political, social, environmental, and cultural history of China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Rudolph directs WPI's China Hub and is the Director of the Hangzhou IQP Project Center. She and China Hub colleagues have received multiple grants to build a China program at WPI that includes Chinese language courses, project opportunities, a Chinese Studies Minor, and joint programs with Chinese partner institutions.