Through the generosity of the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Foundation and with the support of our faculty, the Chao Center for Asian Studies hosts a number of distinguished scholars annually for guest lectures that are free and open to the public.
Upcoming TASS speakers include:
October 16, 2025 | 4pm CT - Andrew Schonebaum, University of Maryland, College Park
Water, Connoisseurship, and Curiosity in Early Modern China
Sewall Hall 301 and via Zoom
October 24, 2025 | 4pm CT - Eric Schluessel, The George Washington University
Piety and Capitalism in Chinese Central Asia
Sewall Hall 301 (open to the general public) and via Zoom (open to Rice students, faculty, and staff)
Previous TASS speakers include:
April 16, 2025 - Gray Tuttle, Columbia University (recording available)
April 11, 2025 - Leo Ching, Duke University
March 27, 2025 - Eiichiro Azuma, University of Pennsylvania
November 8, 2024 - Andrew Schonebaum, University of Maryland, College Park (recording available)
October 4, 2024 - Susan Hwang, University of California, Santa Barbara (recording available)
March 28, 2024 - Christopher T. Fan, University of California, Irvine (recording available)
March 1, 2024 - Vernadette Gonzalez, University of California, Berkeley (recording available)
October 25, 2023 - Allison Alexy, University of Michigan (recording available)
April 5, 2023 - Sonya Lee, University of Southern California (recording available)
March 29, 2023 - Josen Masangkay Diaz, University of San Diego (recording available)
January 27, 2023 - Kathlene Baldanza, Penn State University
September 15, 2022 - Victor Seow, Harvard University
April 8, 2022 - Stephen F. Teiser, Princeton University
March 8, 2022 - Neferti X. M. Tadiar, Barnard College, Columbia University (recording available)
February 25, 2022 - Ismail F. Alatas, New York University (recording available)
October 25, 2021 - Daniel Katz, University of Houston-Clear Lake (recording available)
October 15, 2021 - Juli Qermezi Huang, University of Edinburgh (recording available)
April 1, 2021 - Nerissa Balce, Stony Brook University (recording available)
March 15, 2021 - Anthony Acciavatti, Yale University (recording available)
November 5, 2020 - Tansen Sen, New York University, Shanghai (recording available)
October 9, 2020 - Ravinder Kaur, University of Copenhagen (recording available)
September 18, 2020 - Monika Zin, Leipzig University (recording available)
October 10, 2019 - Mark W. Frazier, The New School for Social Research
September 26, 2019 - Janelle Lamoreaux, University of Arizona
April 10, 2019 - Rhacel Parrenas, University of Southern California
March 28, 2019 - Wen-Fang Mao, National Chung Cheng University
September 13, 2018 - Anne Blackburn, Cornell University
March 1, 2018 - M. Whitney Kelting, Northeastern University
October 2, 2017 - Barbara Mittler, University of Heidelberg (additional lecture)
April 13, 2017 - Todd A. Henry, University of California, San Diego
October 20, 2016 - Kenneth Swope, University of Southern Mississippi
April 15, 2016 - Valerie Hansen, Yale University
March 17, 2016 - David Germano, University of Virginia
February 12, 2016 - Louise Young, University of Wisconsin-Madison
December 3, 2015 - Shu-ching Shih, Author
October 8, 2015 - Yenna Wu, University of California, Riverside
September 21, 2015 - Anjali Duva, Author