Melissa A. Hosek

Melissa A. Hosek earned her Ph.D. in Chinese from the department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Stanford University. She specializes in modern Chinese literature with interests in environmental humanities, STS (science, technology, and society), and the digital humanities. Her dissertation, "The Ecological Imagination: Nature, Technology, and Criticism in Chinese Science Fiction: 1976-Today," examines how modern Chinese eco-perspectives are informed by and condition ideas about science and technology. She analyzes a wide range of notable science fiction films, novels, and short stories to argue that ideas about ecology are deeply entangled with ideas about scientific progress, but can also serve as a vehicle for critiquing scientific development.

Melissa is also interested in higher education pedagogy and Chinese language teaching and learning. She earned certificates in Language Program Management and ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interviewing from Stanford's Language Center. She has taught classes in Mandarin Chinese, film studies, Chinese literature, and East Asian Studies. In the field of digital humanities, she has developed several projects and received the Graduate Certificate in Digital Humanities from Stanford's Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis. Her other research interests include materialism, science fiction studies, critical theory, and nationalism.