Hellođź‘‹! I am an anthropologist of money and finance. Particularly, I'm interested in the politics of money and finance. My research is guided by questions regarding the competing economic imaginaries about what money and finance is, and how these knowledge and practices have defined and shaped our social relations with each other, with market, and with the nation-state.

Ultimately, my research seeks to answer: what are the possible ways of organizing our society in terms of achieving greater equality (of race, gender and class)?

Research

My master thesis (Ma 2020) is an ethnography of a group of microfinance workers in China. I follow their everyday work routines in order to understand their “intermediary” positions in the global chain of financialization and development. You can check out my thesis here

My current dissertation research is about the digital money landscape in China. This project investigates the dynamics among state, market and society in the emergence of digital monies in China.

Ethnography

I have strong curiosity and interest in the ways ethnography could be made. Here are some projects I have produced as I explore the ways to make ethnography.

  • Food Story (2018) is a portrait of a Chinese restaurant in Toronto’s Chinatown (Youtube Link).

Teaching

As an international student in Canada, being a Teaching Assistant is both a means of making a living and a pedagogical training trajectory for professional development in academia. However, teaching is a totally new skill that is not taught and even though we all know so well how to learn, teaching is still a mystery and needs a lot of decolonization. Particularly, teaching and researching as a non-native English speaker is a path with both challenges and rewards. And there seems to be more challenges in the early stage (especially entering a new country and entering a new role at the same time).

Here I share the resources I have collected along the way as a Teaching Assistant Consultant at University of Victoria on issues related to working as a TA, such as:

  • How to work as an international TA (specifically for TAs who have English as Additional Language and English is the primary teaching and working language in the institution)?
  • How to take care of yourself (Mental health and well-being)
  • What is teaching and learning?
  • Why and how to build an inclusive and accessible classroom?