Welcome
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. I received my M.A. in Political Science from Duke University and my B.A. in Political Science from Wuhan University.
My central research agenda explores how authoritarian regimes shape the evolution of the religious field and how religious groups adapt to repressive political environments, with a primary focus on China. Beyond this core focus, I also work on projects related to state–society relations and public opinion under authoritarian rule. My research draws on experimental methods, archival research, and quantitative analysis.
My dissertation book project, Surviving and Reviving: Religion and Politics in Authoritarian China, explains the puzzling rise of Protestant Christianity in China; a chapter from the project won the Best Student Paper Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. My research has appeared in the Journal of Democracy. I will be on the academic job market in the 2026–27 academic year.
Dissertation committee: Xiaobo Lü and John Gerring (co-chairs), Kenneth F. Greene, Amy Liu, Anna Grzymała-Busse, and Fenggang Yang.