Asia Pacific Reader Department Liaison

James is currently pursuing a doctorate in the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto. His research focusses on contemporary Chinese photography, aesthetic theory, and the intellectual history of modern and contemporary China. James' dissertation examines the discursive space of contemporary Chinese photography, with a particular emphasis on the evolving debates concerning the role of photography in addressing problems of history, politics, and subjectivity among photographers and critics in China from the late 1970s until the present. James has previously taught modern and contemporary East Asian Art in the Department of Art, is Editor-in-Chief of the Asia Pacific Reader, and an Editor of the East Asia Forum, published through the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto.

Rhema delights in her complementary majors of International Relations and Asia-Pacific Studies. As a lowly research drudge at the Munk Centre, she conducts research on international trade and development policy. Rhema’s personal interests lie in Chinese foreign policy, economic development and the ongoing crisis in Burma. She is endowed with extreme curiousity, a tendency to analyze everything, and a propensity to scheme (for good). Her one wish is to be rid of her unmistakable English accent when attempting to speak Mandarin.