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My CV (Publication, honors, awards)

Publication ·    Mandarin Chinese translation of Jill Lepore’s These Truths: A History of the United States . Taipei: Marco Polo Books, October 6, 2020. (Co-translate with Feng-en Tu) ·    “ The Revolutionary Memories of New York Loyalists: Thomas Jones and William Smith.” Journal of the American Revolution Annual Volume 2020 (Westholme, 2020) ·    “Variety of Enlightenment: Review of Gertrude Himmelfarb, The Roads to Modernity: the British, French and American Enlightenments.” Shih Yuan 23 (2011.9).    ( Shih Yuan is a peer-reviewed journal in Taiwan.)   Awards, Grants, and Fellowships ·    Student Paper Prize, 62 nd Missouri Conference on History, The State Historical Society of Missouri, 2020. (The best student paper presented on 62 nd Missouri Conference on History.)   ·    Travel fund from Missouri Humanities Council, 2019. ·    American History Forum Fund, Department of History, Saint Louis University, 2019. ·    Visiting Researcher, David Library of
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The Crisis of the Democratic Party

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Even though Biden seems to be able to get the presidency, I still think the Democrats are in a huge trouble. The fact that even under the help from mainstream media (The Democrats will say the media filters the fake news and misleading information while the Republicans will say the media blocks anti-Biden / pro-Trump information and is practicing censorship), the Covid-19, and the polarized opinions toward Trump's presidency , Democrats could only win the election with such a small margin, tells us that if the Democratic establishment fails to learn any lesson and make some changes, the Democrats will lose by a landslide in next election. Trump's personality and his image of strong/extreme leadership attracts many people as well as leads many other people to his opponent. I feel suspicious whether Biden will get that many votes if Trump is not there, or if Pence, instead of Trump, was the candidate. The point might be, to which side the moderate will vote. Therefore, we need to
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What We Need Now is the Conservative Virtue of Prudence

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's passing stirred ferocious discussion on whether President Trump should nominate a replacement, or this vacancy should be filled after the inauguration day. People have been comparing what happened in 2016 with what happens now. Democrat-leaning people believe that since the Republican-dominated Senate blocked Obama's nomination in 2016, they should not confirm Trump's nomination right now. The Republican-leaning people, on the other hand, believe that they need more conservative voices in the Supreme Court, and argue that President Trump should nominate a new judge and the Republican-dominated Senate should confirm the nomination. I think Trump has every right to nominate a Supreme Court judge, and the Senate has every right to confirm the new judge. Constitutionally speaking, their term has not ended, so there is nothing unconstitutional about exercising those powers. However, the question is, should they? This issue reminds me of the imperial
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Acknowledgement of My Dissertation

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It took me eight years to complete this doctorate program. I have finally defended my dissertation last Friday. My feeling is pretty complicated. While I am happy that I can close this chapter of my life, I am also eager to find a job to take a good use of this hard-earned degree. After I submit this dissertation to ProQuest, probably no one will read the acknowledgement. But I think it is a very important part of this dissertation. While it does not make any argument on Loyalism, it reflects my gratitude toward those who have helped me up to this point. I cannot complete this research and write this dissertation without these people's help. So, I would like to share this acknowledgement here as an expression of gratitude toward those who have helped me.    I have taken a long journey to write this dissertation. So many people have helped me so much in this journey, and they deserve my most sincere gratitude. First of all, I want to honor my late mentor and advisor, Dr. Michal Jan
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A Little Thought on Crime and Race: Reflection on "13th" on Netflix

I watched a documentary entitled "13th" on Netflix this afternoon. It made me ponder a lot of things. I don't always agree with all the angles in this film, but I really learned a lot from it and even when I could not completely agree with its interpretation, it still made me ponder something I never considered before. Some people might argue that a war on drug should not be equal to a war on the African Americans, and if African Americans were arrested and imprisoned in the war on drug, it is because they get involved in drug, and it is really bad. I can never support or justify selling, carrying, and taking drug. But, how did so many African Americans get into drug business? In answering this question, many people might show some racial stereotype towards African Americans. However, do the African Americans get the financial benefits of the drug business? Who are those who actually get profit from drug business? Why are the poor African Americans the ones get caught and
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2020 Missouri Conference on History Student Paper Prize

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It actually happened a while ago. I just realized that I have not updated this blog for a really long time. So, after posting my LinkedIn article here in my last post, I decided to also update another achievement of my academic life.  I received this prize on my birthday. I cannot think of a better birthday gift than receiving the Student Paper Prize at 2020 Missouri Conference on History! English is not my native language, so I have been working on my writing constantly. This award is such a great honor to me! I am thankful for my advisor  Lorri Glover . Dr. Rozbicki had been helping me refining my writing ever since I came to SLU, and Dr. Glover has been kind and helped me a lot after Dr. Rozbicki passed away last year. She has  offered me useful and meaningful advice on my dissertation writing. She is also very kind to give me her ticket to the award luncheon, which I wasn't planing to attend until being notified winning the award. She is also very kind to buy the luncheon ticke
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Why Is a History PhD a Good Fit in the Job Market?

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I am a PhD candidate defending my dissertation next month. Facing the uncertain academic market, I have to rethink my value in the market. I have read many arguments on the value of humanity and liberal arts education. But I have no intention to join the meaningless disputes between humanity as the most valuable subject and it as the least useful discipline. For me, humanity teaches me to tell the nuance of human affairs, not just generalize them. So I will not say humanity training is most important. I just want to reflect on my own experiences and try to tell you why a history PhD like me is a great candidate in today's job market. I have been thinking about this topic for a while. Now I have finished writing my doctoral dissertation, I finally have time to take a deeper look at it. Do I have to be a history professor? Will the skills I have learned in this process be valuable in other fields? Even after I complete my degree, I still can choose, whether I want to be a history pro
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