Research Topic
Sino-British relations and political development in late colonial Hong Kong, 1989-94
Supervisor: Professor Rana Mitter
Research Interests: British Imperial & Commonwealth History; History of Modern China; Global & Imperial History; Metropole-Colonial Dynamics;
Academic Profile:
I am a DPhil candidate in History at Merton College under the supervision of Professor Rana Mitter. My research analyses British decision-making on political development in late colonial Hong Kong (1989-94) through archival sources and interviews with Whitehall officials and colonial policymakers, situating the study within scholarship on late imperial decolonisation and on global and imperial history.
Previously, I completed an MPhil (Oxon.) in International Relations with Distinction under the supervision of Professor Todd Hall. I wrote my MPhil dissertation "Crash points and the Game of Chicken: The Sino-British negotiations over Hong Kong", on conceptualising a framework for how 'crash points' can be constructed in international negotiations that have been understood as a game theoretical "Game of Chicken", and used this framework to understand and explain the decisions of British policymakers at significant points during the 1983-84 Sino-British negotiations over Hong Kong.
Prior to that, I obtained a BA in History with First-Class Honours at Somerville College, University of Oxford. Under the supervision of Dr. Helena Lopes, I wrote my undergraduate dissertation "Twenty-five percent 'Macao'd' already?": Emotion and analogical reasoning in the Governor-Whitehall relationship during the 1967 Hong Kong riots", on the use of emotion and analogies by British policymakers during the 1967 Hong Kong riots. This thesis was awarded the Robert Herbert Memorial Prize for the best thesis on British Imperial and Commonwealth History by the FHS History Board of Examiners at the University of Oxford.
I have worked as a Graduate Research Assistant to Professor Jennifer Altehenger, Jessica Rawson Fellow in Modern Asian History & Associate Professor of Chinese History at the University of Oxford, and was awarded the Catherine Hughes Award (Margaret Thatcher Scholarship Trust, Somerville College) for a fully funded archival project assessing material recently donated by Baroness Shirley Williams to Somerville College. I have also worked as an interviewer for Oxford Undergraduate Admissions in History & Joint Schools at Somerville College, and as a History Aptitude Test (HAT) marker for the Faculty of History. Additionally, I have provided undergraduate tutorial teaching to second-year Oxford undergraduate students in History & Joint Schools for the Final Honour School (FHS) Further Subject paper 'China since 1900'.
Languages:
English (native/bilingual proficiency), Cantonese (native/bilingual proficiency), Mandarin (full professional proficiency)
Academic and Professional Training:
Research Design & Methods Training (MPhil International Relations, Oxford Department of Politics & International Relations)
- Archival Research
- Research Design and Approches to Research in IR
- Introductory Statistics (including training in the use of R coding software)
- Qualitative Methods
Scholarships and Prizes:
- Archibald Jackson Prize (Distinction for the IR MPhil, including on thesis and all final-year papers)
- Somerville College Alumni Scholarship
- Robert Herbert Memorial Prize (Awarded by the Oxford History Board of Examiners for the best thesis on British Imperial and Commonwealth History)
- Mary Somerville Prize
- Shaw-Lefevre Scholarship in History
- Somerville College Prize
Conference Presentations:
- British International Studies Association Annual Conference, Birmingham, June 7, 2024
- Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, Seattle, March 16, 2024
- British Association for Chinese Studies Annual Conference, King's College London, September 8, 2023
- Hong Kong History Centre Early Career Scholars Workshop, University of Bristol, June 8, 2023
Teaching Experience:
- Provided undergraduate tutorial teaching for second-year Oxford undergraduate students in History & Joint Schools for the Final Honour School (FHS) Further Subject paper 'China since 1900', Hilary Term 2024 & Hilary Term 2025
- Completed the University of Oxford History Faculty course 'Preparation for Teaching and Learning at Oxford (PLTO)', Hilary Term 2023
Seminar Positions held:
- Convenor (2023-present), Oxford International History of East Asia Seminar (IHEAS) - https://twitter.com/OxIHEAS
- Convenor (2022-2025), Oxford China Reading Group (OxCRG) - https://twitter.com/OxfordCRG
External Links:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/hkhistorian
