Ping-hui Liao

Ph.D. (University of California, San Diego)

Professor of Literary and Critical Studies

Chuan Lyu Endowed Chair in Taiwan Studies

Professor Liao received his Ph.D. degree in Comparative Literature from the Literature Department, UCSD in 1987, having studied under eminent scholars such as Michel de Certeau. In addition to receiving competitive fellowships and grants from agencies like the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Science Council of Taiwan, Professor Liao served as a visiting scholar or professor at such prestigious institutions as Princeton University (1991-1992), Harvard-Yenching Institute of Harvard University (1996-1997) and Columbia University (2001-2002). He has won numerous awards such as the May Fourth Prize for the Best Literary Critic of the Year in 2004 and the Wu Yung-fu Prize for the Best Literary Critic of the Year in 2007. He has served as President of the Comparative Literature Association in Taiwan (1994-1996) as well as a committee member and editorial or advisory board member for many journals and scholarly associations in Taiwan and overseas. Since 1987, Professor Liao has been teaching at National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, promoted from the rank of Associate Professor to his most recent position as Distinguished Professor of Literary and Critical Studies. Liao is an internationally recognized authority in Taiwan Studies, specializing in Taiwan cultural history (from the Japanese colonial period to the current era of globalization), East-West comparative literature, inter-arts studies (fiction, film, poetry, painting, and opera), popular culture, and critical theory (poststructuralism, postmodernism, postcolonialism). His vision regarding his teaching agenda is an ambitious one of extensive collaboration with faculty across disciplines and fields throughout the UC system in order to develop new undergraduate and graduate courses on Taiwan literature, cinema, and modernity in East Asia.