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Eileen Chengyin Chow

Associate Professor of the Practice of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
2204 Erwin Rd, Box 90414, Durham, NC 27708
2204 Erwin Rd, Box 90414, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Eileen Cheng-yin Chow is Associate Professor of the Practice in Chinese and Japanese Cultural Studies at Duke University, and one of the founding directors of Story Lab at Duke. She is Director of Graduate Studies for Duke Asian Pacific Studies Institute, as well as its interim director of APSI for 2025-26. She is also a founding/core faculty member of Duke Asian American and Diaspora Studies.

Elsewhere, Eileen is Director of the Cheng Shewo Institute of Chinese Journalism at Shih Hsin University in Taipei, Taiwan, and she co-directs the Biographical Literature Press and its longstanding Chinese-language history journal, Biographical Literature. Eileen serves on the executive board of the LA Review of Books, and as co-editor of the Duke University Press book series, Sinotheory. Among Eileen’s ongoing collaborative projects this year include co-editing the Routledge Introduction to Modern and Contemporary East Asian Literature; serving as dramaturg for Jingqiu Guan's multimedia dance project on rail travel and the Asian diaspora; and also, with Mae Ngai (Columbia), editing the unpublished writings of pioneer Asian American author Louis Chu.

Eileen received her A.B. in Literature from Harvard (with academic sojourns at the Sorbonne, National Taiwan University, and the University of Perugia), and her Ph.D in Comparative Literature from Stanford.

Find her on most socials at @chowleen.

Office Hours


https://calendly.com/eileenchow

or feel free to contact me at eileen.chow@duke.edu

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Associate Professor of the Practice of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies · 2021 - Present Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences

In the News


Published September 24, 2025
The Judith Deckers Prize Announces 2025 Finalists
Published June 30, 2025
Teaching What AI Can’t Touch: A Humanist’s Reflections on AI in the Classroom
Published October 21, 2024
Announcing the Inaugural Cohort of the Duke Faculty Academy

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Recent Publications


The Golden Screen The Movies That Made Asian America

Chapter · October 24, 2023 From a New York Times bestselling author, this groundbreaking book celebrates and examines the history of Asian Americans on the big screen, exploring how iconic films have shaped Hollywood, representation, and American culture. ... Cite

Tolstoy Together: 85 Days of War and Peace with Yiyun Li

Chapter · August 10, 2021 A reader's companion for Tolstoy's epic novel, War and Peace, inspired by the online book club led by Yiyun Li. ... Cite

A New Literary History of Modern China

Chapter · May 22, 2017 Featuring over 140 Chinese and non-Chinese contributors, this landmark volume, edited by David Der-wei Wang, explores unconventional forms as well as traditional genres, emphasizes Chinese authors’ influence on foreign writers as well as ... ... Cite
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Education, Training & Certifications


Stanford University · 2000 Ph.D.