| Prof. Dr. Anja D. Senz
Anja D. Senz studied Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology at Trier University, as well as Chinese Language and History at Sun Yatsen University in Guangzhou. She obtained her doctoral degree from University Duisburg-Essen and has been a professor for contemporary China at Heidelberg University since 2014. She held the position of Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Teaching at Heidelberg University from 2019 to 2023.
anja.senz@zo.uni-heidelberg.de
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| Dr. Sophie Bettag
Dr. Sophie Bettag graduated from Heidelberg University with a teacher's degree in English, German and Chinese studies, where she also completed her doctoral dissertation on narratives of decline amongst Donald Trump voters. She is currently researching images of China in Indian medial discourse in the framework of the EMERGE project, and is furthermore a member of the Korea team.
sophie.bettag@zo.uni-heidelberg.de |
| Dr. Ja Ok Kwon
Dr. Ja Ok Kwon is a research assistant at the Centre of East Asian Studies at Heidelberg University. Her research focuses on the sociology of development, labour, and gender in East Asia, as well as transnational labour migration. She is the author of the monography State, Rural Women, and Domestication in Korea: The Aspiring Middle Class, London and New York: Routledge (2024).
jaok.kwon@zo.uni-heidelberg.de
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| Dr. Zhu Yi
Dr. Zhu Yi obtained a degree in German and Media studies at Trier University and successfully completed her doctoral dissertation on agenda building processes in authoritarian political structures at Free University Berlin. Her areas of research are media and perception analyses, socio-economic dynamics in China and the global effects thereof, as well as Europe-China relations. She is currently co-editor at the Echowall project and works for the EU project ChiNature.
yi.zhu@zo.uni-heidelberg.de |
| Xiaoying Jin
Xiaoying Jin finished her Bachelor's degree in Public Administration and Japanese Studies in Beijing, as well as a Master's programme (MSc) in East Asian Relations at Edinburgh University. She is currently working on her doctoral thesis on mobility and entrepreneurship among Chinese migrants from North-East China – including the Korean-Chinese community (Joseonjok) in Europe. She also supports the Korea project and the East Asia Today lecture series.
xiaoying.jin@uni-heidelberg.de |
| Shixin Liang
Shixin Liang obtained her Master's degree in East Asian and European Art History at Heidelberg University. She is interested in the history of photography in East Asia, including the "Provoke"-movement of the 1960es. She is currently working on a doctoral thesis on the development of tourism, consumer culture, and Chinese family photography, with a special focus on socio-economic and technological changes in China.
shixin.liang@zo.uni-heidelberg.de |
| Patricia Slawek
Patricia Slawek completed her Chinese Studies curriculum (B.A. and M.A.) at Heidelberg University and is interested in social media and the social effect thereof, in rural China in particular. She is currently working on her doctoral thesis on digital transformation processes outside of urban centres. She furthermore teaches courses on specialised Chinese language use in the fields of contemporary politics, economy, and society.
patricia.slawek@zo.uni-heidelberg.de |
| Belinda Uebler
Belinda Uebler studied Chinese Studies, Human Geography, and Political Science in Frankfurt a.M. and Heidelberg, with a special focus on the environmental policies of the PR China. She is currently completing her doctoral thesis on the topic of local transformation processes in the framework of the Chinese coal phase-out and working for the EU project EuroHub4Sino.
belinda.uebler@zo.uni-heidelberg.de |
| Leonie Mensching
Leonie Mensching is studying for a Bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies, specialising in China and public law, at Heidelberg University. She is particularly interested in international relations with and within East Asia, and cultural differences in a political context. In 2025, she spent a semester abroad at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul to gain an insight into the Korean perspective on the world. She is currently supporting the team as a student assistant.
leonie.mensching@zo.uni-heidelberg.de |
