Projects per year
Personal profile
Personal profile
Emily Williams is a cultural historian of modern China, with a particular interest in Maoist material culture and collections of red relics in contemporary China. She is the author of Collecting the Revolution: British Engagements with Chinese Cultural Revolution Material Culture (Rowman Littlefield, 2022), and editor (with Loredana Cesarino) of China from the Margins: New Narratives of the Past and Present (Routledge, 2024). She teaches modules in Chinese modern history, society, and aesthetics. She welcomes PhD proposals in these areas.
Emily received her Ph.D. from Birkbeck College, University of London in 2016, and taught at Birkbeck College, Christies Education London, and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London before joining XJTLU in 2018.
Research interests
Cultural heritage
Twentieth-century Chinese history
Legacies of the Mao era in contemporary China
Mao-era visual and material culture
Material Culture History
Experience
Fudan Fellow - Department of History - Fudan University Shanghai - 2017
Senior Teaching Fellow in Modern Chinese History - SOAS, University of London - 2016-2017
Lecturer in Arts of China - Christies Education London - 2016-2017
Research Assistant - Chinese Poster Collection, University of Westminster - 2012-2014
Teaching
CCS110 - Aesthetics, Art and Design in China
CCS312 - Cities in Chinese History
CCS004 - Introduction to China Studies
CCS409 - Final Year Project (MA Thesis Supervisor)
CCS305 - Final Year Project (BA Thesis Supervisor)
CCS105 - Twentieth Century China
CCS203 - China: Social stratification and change
Education/Academic qualification
Fellow - Higher Education Authority - 2020
Ph.D. - Birkbeck College, University of London - 2016
M.A. - Goldsmiths College, University of London - 2010
M.A. (hons) - University of Edinburgh - 2007
Research areas
- Chinese history
- Collecting
- Material Culture Studies
- Cultural Heritage Studies
- Chinese aesthetics
- Modern History
Person Types
- Staff
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or
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Enamelware in China: Multimodal Discourse, Material Culture and Heritage
Tse Crepaldi, Y. (PI), Williams, E. (Team member) & Corti, E. (Team member)
1/09/26 → …
Project: Collaborative Research Project
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The making of Hongyadong in Chongqing as urban infrastructural project
Hidalgo, M. (PI) & Williams, E. (CoPI)
3/03/26 → …
Project: Other
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Collecting the Red Era in Contemporary China
Williams, E. (PI)
1/09/19 → 31/12/24
Project: Internal Research Project
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From Evidence to Intimacy: Curatorial Strategies and Memory Space in Xi’an Museums
Williams, E., 2026, In: China Perspectives. 2026, 144, p. 7-17 11 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Revolutionary Filial Piety: Red Collecting and the Creation of Intimacy
Williams, E., 1 Jan 2026, Gender, Intimacy, and Class in a Changing China: The Individual and Social Change. Gill, F. (ed.). Taylor and Francis - Balkema, p. 95-111 17 p.Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
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Everyday socialism or the socialist everyday? Dong Zhongchao’s visual encyclopaedia of ordinary Maoist living
Williams, E., 1 Nov 2025, In: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art. 12, 2-3, p. 175-199 25 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Invisible Identities: Artworks inspired by Liu Bolin
Williams, E. (Developer), 6 May 2025Research output: Practice-based research output › Exhibition/ Event/ Festival › Curated works: Physical Exhibition/ Event/ Festival
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’Defining ‘Red’ in Contemporary China: Locating a Chinese-English Divide
Williams, E., 1 Dec 2025, Real Colors and Cultures: Interdisciplinary Explorations. Ludwig, S., Bideaux, R. K., Liu, C. & Karliczek, A. (eds.). Berkeley; Mulhouse; Jena: Salana, p. 130-140 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Activities
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Heritage In Motion: Traditions, Innovation, and the Contemporary World
Brillhart, A. (Organiser), Zhang, X. (Organiser), Bandyopadhyay, S. (Participant), Dong, Y. (Chair), Williams, E. (Chair), Lewis, A. (Chair), Wang, Q. (Chair) & Azadian Qomi, M. (Participant)
28 Aug 2026 → 29 Aug 2026Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participating in an event e.g. a conference, workshop, …
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Suzhou Philosophy and Social Sciences Association“Social Science Experts Go to the Grassroots” Series“Suzhou in the Eyes of International Experts” (the Fourth Stop: Gusu District): Inheritance and Innovation of Suzhou’s Intangible Cultural Heritage
Xu, Y. (Participant), Song, Y. (Organiser), Fitzgerald, A. (Participant), Yonto, D. (Participant), Leong, W. K. (Participant), Williams, E. (Participant), Zhu, X. (Participant), Lin, Q. (Participant) & Gu, C. (Participant)
12 Jun 2026Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising an event e.g. a conference, workshop, …
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Beyond Jianchuan: Red Collection Museums in Contemporary China
Williams, E. (Speaker)
14 Nov 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Presentation at conference/workshop/seminar
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Constructing a Revolutionary Heritage for the New Era: The Redevelopment of Suzhou's Wusa Road
Williams, E. (Speaker)
29 Aug 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Presentation at conference/workshop/seminar
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Preservation, Production and Reproduction
Brillhart, A. (Organiser), Zhang, X. (Organiser), Tang, B. (Member of programme committee), Schnabel, M. A. (Participant), Han, J. (Chair), Kuang, X. (Chair), Williams, E. (Chair), Chen, G.C.-F. (Chair), Traynor, K. (Chair), Lu, X. (Chair), Bandyopadhyay, S. (Participant), Tao, Y. (Participant), Winter, T. (Participant), Baek, M. J. (Participant), Vichnevetskaia, A. (Participant), Zhu, Y. (Participant), Wu, K. (Participant), Zhang, Y. (Participant), Hu, W. (Participant), Han, Z. (Participant), Zhang, L. (Participant), Li, Y. (Participant), Corti, E. (Participant), Zhu, Y. (Participant), Azadian Qomi, M. (Participant) & Cui, N. (Participant)
29 Aug 2025 → 30 Aug 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising an event e.g. a conference, workshop, …