CHINESE FACULTY

Hua Xu
(M.A., University of Texas at Austin,1986. B.A., Xuzhou Normal University, 1982). Xu joined the University of Arkansas in 1992 and currently is a Clinical Associate Professor and serves as Director of the Chinese Program in the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures. She received the UA Outstanding Mentor Award in 2002, and was the finalist for the annual John and Lois Imhoff Award of Outstanding Teaching and Student Mentorship at UA in 2006 and 2007, respectively. She started and developed the Chinese Program at UA from two small classes to thirteen different sections of classes today, which will become fourteen classes in spring, 2010. Each year in the past few years, she has sent an average of 8 students to China in various study abroad programs. She is currently interested in comparative linguistics between English and Chinese, and in second language teaching methodology.

Hongjian Wang
(Ph.D., comparative literature, University of California, Riverside, 2012. M.A., comparative literature, University of California, Riverside, 2009. B.A., British and American literature, Nanjing University, 2006.) Dr. Hongjian Wang is an assistant professor in the Chinese program. She joined the faculty of WLLC in 2012 with a strong resonation with the department’s mission in teaching and research. Her research interests cover twentieth-century Chinese literature, film, theater and cultural history, nineteenth-century British and French literature and art. She is enthusiastic in contributing to the development of China studies at UA through teaching and research. Right now, she is working on her first book based on her dissertation which is entitled “Performing Perversion: Decadence in Twentieth-Century Chinese Literature.” She is also looking into the popular performing arts in the recent three decades in mainland China with a focus on the sarcastic skits on the annual national gala during the Spring Festival.

Hui Shu (Sophie)-- Instructor
(Ed.D., University of Arkansas, 2008. MA, Sichuan University, China, 2004. B.A., Chongqing University, China, 1999). Dr. Shu joined the University of Arkansas in 2011 and currently serves as an instructor of the Chinese minor program. She started to teach Chinese courses in the University of Arkansas since spring 2006. She assisted and witnessed the development of the UA Chinese program. She has taught basic language courses (from Elementary to Advanced levels), Chinese Conversation, and Chinese Culture and Film. She takes in charge of Chinese Language Lab, providing help for all students who are currently taking Chinese courses. Her teaching/research interests include the use of media and technology in Chinese language and culture teaching, the promotion effect of Chinese culture awareness on Chinese language teaching, and the relationship between student learning style and effective language teaching.