Duke Kunshan Professor Kang Liu Elected to the Academy of Europe

Dr. Kang Liu, Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at Duke Kunshan University and Duke University, Director of Duke Program of Research on China, has recently been elected to the Academy of Europe, also known as the Academia Europaea, in the section of Film, Media and Visual Studies. 

“This is a recognition of my work on China by European scholarly community,” said Liu. “And I know how much weight ‘China’ carries in this honor at the moment, when the world wants to know China more than any time and, likewise, China needs to know how the world sees and thinks about its new role as a global power.”

A native of China, Liu earned a B.A. in English from Nanjing University. In 1983, He attended University of Wisconsin-Madison on a Fulbright scholarship and received his Ph.D. in comparative literature in 1989. He was a Professor of Comparative Literature and Chinese at Pennsylvania State University from 1991 to 2003, and joined Duke University in August 2003 as a Professor of Chinese Media and Cultural Studies. Liu has a dual professorship at Duke Kunshan University and Duke University, and currently he is teaching Globalization and Cultural Trends in China for the 2015 Fall semester at Duke Kunshan University.

As the Director of China Research Center at Duke University, Liu authored eight books on contemporary Chinese issues, including Demonizing China (Chinese Social Sciences Academy Press, 1996), a bestselling book in Chinese. In Addition, Liu has done extensive research on issues ranging from contemporary Chinese media and culture, globalization, to Marxism and aesthetics, and published widely in both English and Chinese. His current projects include global surveys of China’s image, Chinese soft power and public diplomacy, and political and ideological changes in China. Professor Kang Liu is a highly recognized researcher and leading expert in the field of Chinese Studies.

The Academia Europaea is one of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions for outstanding researchers from all disciplines. The mission of the academy is primarily to promote a wider appreciation of the value of European scholarship and research, and to provide European research institutions and governments with information and recommendations on scientific and academic issues. Members of the Academia Europaea represent a diverse range of fields in the humanities, social, physical and life sciences as well as mathematics, engineering and medicine. The over 3000 scholars in its ranks, from 54 European and non-European countries and regions, include 60 Nobel Prize winners.