At the UCI-OYCF Annual Meeting held over Memorial Day weekend in Irvine, we were honored to have Susan Cole, General Joseph Stilwell’s great-granddaughter, join us to speak on General Stilwell's legacy and to announce this year’s OYCF-Stilwell Fellowship recipients:
Junyi Han 韩君怡 and Dehuai Zou 邹德怀. The fellowship will support their project, “Between Allies and Neighbors: Wartime Everyday Sino-American Encounter.” Junyi Han is a Ph.D. candidate in History at Yale University. Dehuai Zou is a Beijing-based historian and collector who has dedicated over a decade to preserving visual records of Sino-American exchange. Han and Zou, in collaboration, will curate a 3-month public-facing exhibition at Yale University to trace everyday Sino-American encounters across the twentieth century.
We congratulate the 2026 OYCF-Stilwell fellows and look forward to the insights and contributions they will bring to the OYCF and wider community.
The Overseas Young Chinese Forum (OYCF) is pleased to announce the eight recipients of the 2026 OYCF-Chow Fellowship for Field Research in China. This fellowship supports outstanding doctoral students whose research advances the understanding of contemporary Chinese society through rigorous fieldwork.
We extend our warmest congratulations to the following scholars:
Amanda DeMarco 艾曼雅, History, University of California, San Diego, "Renew and Reform: A Social History of Renewable Energy in Rural China Since 1979"
Acton Jiashi Feng, Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles, "Embedded Intimacy: The Embeddedness of the Marital Decision Process in Contemporary Urban China"
Ka Shing So, History, State University of New York, Binghamton, "Shadow Economy: Smuggling, the Gold Trade, and Everyday Life in Cold War Hong Kong"
Yiming Wang, History, Northwestern University, "Gendering Chinese Anti-Communism: Masculinities, Feminisms, and Kuomintang Propaganda, 1920s–50s"
Qi Yi 易琦, Anthropology, University of Michigan, "Sacred Commodities in Motion: Fragmented Labor and Spiritual Access in Transnational Trade between China and Thailand"
Hongyun Yu 于红运, Anthropology, Rice University, "Shadow Builders of Law’s Empire: An Ethnography of Legislative Expertise and the Production of Law in China"
Heyu Zhang 张禾雨, Anthropology, Emory University, “Return to the Future: Rural Youth Return Migration and the Making of Another China”
Zhehang Zhang 张浙航, Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, “Zones of Illegibility: Capital Flows, Transnational Labor, and Development in Global China”
These fellows exemplify academic excellence, interdisciplinary inquiry, and a deep commitment to advancing field-based research in China. We look forward to the insights and contributions they will bring to the scholarly community.
We are pleased to announce the 2026 recipients of the Student Engagement Grants in the Program Grants category:
Student Engagement Grant (SEG) supports students in creating social groups that engage in educational activities related to China. For more details and to apply, visit https://oycf.net/Students.
We are pleased to announce that the 2026 OYCF Annual Meeting is open for registration. This year's meeting, titled "History, Politics and Policy: Chinese One-Child Policy 35 Years 历史，政治和政策：中国独生子女政策35年" will be co-hosted by UC Irvine Long US-China Institute and held in Irvine, CA over Memorial Day Weekend (May 22-24).
Focusing on the 35-year trajectory of the Chinese one-child policy, one of the twentieth century’s most ambitious social engineering projects, two panels of leading voices from academia and media examine its institutional logic, far-reaching consequences, and the diverse actors who shaped its evolution. Two additional panels highlight emerging research by early-career scholars and foster intergenerational dialogue among Chinese scholars reflecting on their experiences as overseas doctoral students in shifting historical and geopolitical contexts. We welcome scholars, educators, students, and the broader community to join us for a full day of engaging discussions and exchange.
For the line up of our invited speakers and registration info, visit here.
We welcome scholars, students, community members to join us for a full day of engaging discussions and exchange.
The Overseas Young Chinese Forum (OYCF) is pleased to announce the call for application for the 2026 OYCF-Stilwell Fellowship on US-China Relations.
Supported by the OYCF-Stilwell Education Fund, this fellowship program was established in 2024 to advance understanding between the U.S. and China. The fellowships support students, scholars, professionals and practitioners who engage in research and/or public-facing projects that explore US-China exchange. These projects include scholarly or policy writing, documentaries, plays, podcasts, and other activities that contribute to mutual understanding and people-to-people exchange between the US and China.
One to two fellowships, ranging from $5,000-10,000, will be awarded in each cycle through a selective process. Fellowship recipients will be announced on the OYCF website as OYCF-Stilwell Fellows, along with their project titles.
For eligibility and application details, visit https://oycf.net/stilwell.
Applications must be received by April 15, 2026 for full consideration.
OYCF is delighted to announce that the application period for the 2026 OYCF-Chow Fellowship for Field Research in China is now open.
This fellowship, generously funded by Gregory C. and Paula K. Chow, provides graduate students in humanities and social sciences from U.S. or Canadian universities with an opportunity to conduct fieldwork in China for their thesis projects. Successful applicants can receive up to $5,000 in financial support.
Priority will be given to research projects focusing on contemporary economic, social, cultural, or political issues in China. However, historical or comparative studies with a substantial amount of fieldwork in China are also eligible for consideration.
The names of fellowship recipients will be officially announced on the OYCF website as distinguished OYCF-Chow Fellows.
Don't miss this chance to advance your research and contribute to the understanding of critical issues in China. Apply now!
Dear OYCF Members, Friends and Supporters, Happy New Year 2026! As we step into a new year, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to you for being part of our community. Your continued support, engagement, and friendship make our work possible, and we are grateful to begin another year together. As you start planning, we invite you to save the dates for OYCF’s 2026 Annual Meeting, which will take place in Irvine, California, over Memorial Day weekend, May 23–24, 2026. The program will start in the late afternoon of May 23 and end with a dinner reception on May 24. In collaboration with the Long US-China Institute at UC Irvine, we have tentatively set this year's theme to be "History, Politics, and One-Child Policy Making in China". Additional programmatic activities will be announced later. The annual meeting is always a special opportunity to connect in person, reflect on our shared mission, and look ahead to what’s next. We’re excited to gather together and will share more details about the agenda, location, and registration in the coming months. For now, please mark your calendars—and once again, thank you for being part of the OYCF community. We look forward to all that 2026 will bring. With warm wishes for a happy, healthy, and inspiring New Year, OYCF Board Overseas Young Chinese Forum
At the OYCF 2025 Annual Meeting which took place last weekend in San Diego, we were pleased to announce the first awardee of the OYCF-Stilwell Fellowship: Huan YAN, an independent scholar specializing in the history of China-Burma-India theatre during WWII, who is based in China. The fellowship will support Mr. Yan’s research project, “二战中缅印战区史迪威将军统帅下 的各组织机构” (“A Study and Research on the Essential Organizations Under the Command of General Joseph W. Stilwell in the China - Burma - India Theater During WWII”).
OYCF 2025 Annual Meeting will be held in San Diego on August 15-17. This year's theme is "Rethinking Chinese Education: Challenges, Traditions, and Innovations in a Changing World 重思中国教育：在全球变动中的挑战、传承与创新". For the line up of our invited speakers and registration info, visit here.
The Overseas Young Chinese Forum (OYCF) is pleased to announce the six recipients of the 2025 OYCF-Chow Fellowship for Field Research in China. This fellowship supports outstanding doctoral students whose research advances the understanding of contemporary Chinese society through rigorous fieldwork.
Lingxiao Chen, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, Emory University
Everyday Nationalism in Chinese Entertainment: Cultural Governance, Celebrity Agency, and Audience Reception.
Zhuoma(Drolma) Gadou, Ph.D. Candidate in Geography, University of Colorado
The End of Yaks? Tibetan Pastoralism at a Crossroads in a Globalized Industrial Food Regime.
Jingyi Guo, Ph.D. Candidate in Mass Communications & Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Pennsylvania State University
Homemakers of the Datafied State: Women’s Labor in Data-Driven Governance in China.
Zhaorui Lu, Ph.D. Candidate in History, University of California, Irvine
Small-Feet Detectives, Gossipy Aunties: A Gendered History of Grassroots Urban Governance in China, 1949 to the Present.
Yixue Yang, Ph.D. Candidate in History and Science Studies, University of California, San Diego
Threads of Gendered Knowledge: Silk, Soil, and Rural Women in China’s Export Economy, 1949–1980.
Andrea Zhu, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
Greening Infrastructure Development: Transnational Environmental and Climate Finance Advocacy at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Contact us at info@oycf.net
