Shirley Ye

Ye studies modern German and Chinese history in transnationalperspective. Her dissertation examines the material and ecological innovations and demands that German shipping interests made upon China's littoral, rivers, and ports, and how Chinese negotiated the changing natural and built environments. Ye is also interested in how war and piracy threatened the business of shipping, and the role commodities played in creating regional- and long-distance port citynetworks. Committed to multi-lingual and multi-archival research, Ye spent 2008-2009 in Germany and will continue her work in China and Taiwan during 2009-2010.