Dr Angela Becher MSc, M.A. (Bochum); MA, PhD (London)

Personal Statement

My research interest in China resulted at first from my fascination with the Chinese language. At Ruhr-University Bochum (Germany) I completed two degrees, one in East Asian Studies and one in Economics and I studied Chinese language and legal philosophy at Sichuan University, Chengdu (China). On my return to Bochum I worked as research assistant in the Richard-Wilhelm Translation Centre [for Chinese Literature] and later as teaching fellow in the department of East Asian economics. I went on to live and work in Barcelona, which is why –alongside Chinese– my heart also beats for the Catalan language. At the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, I obtained a Master’s in Sinology, followed by a Doctorate on contemporary Chinese art and film. At SOAS I also convened the School’s first ever course on Contemporary Chinese Art. I worked at the University of Manchester as Lecturer in Chinese Cultural Studies before joining the University of Liverpool in 2019 where I am responsible for the Chinese Studies section and the department's links to our partner university XJTLU in Suzhou, China.

I would be interested to hear from potential research students with interests in Chinese cinema, contemporary art, modern and contemporary Chinese literature and popular culture. Projects relating to new media (including AR, VR) and Chinese visual cultural production are particularly welcome.

Prizes or Honours

• Early Career Researcher Prize 2020 (British Association for Chinese Studies, 2020)

Other Personal Distinctions

• Invited lecture (East Asian Studies Research Seminar, University of Manchester, 2017)
• Panel invitation (Ecologies of Art: A Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art Debate, SOAS, London, 2016)
• Invited lecture (China Centre, University of Oxford , 2016)
• Invited lecture (Christie’s Education, London, 2016)
• Panel invitation (Placing Culture in Urban China workshop, University College London (UCL), 2015)
• Invited lecture (Department of the History of Art and Archaeology, SOAS, London , 2015)
• Invited lecture (Royal Asiatic Society, London, 2014)