Professors Information
Email: cahess[at]sophia.ac.jp
Tel: 03-3238-4047
Office: 10-518
HESS Christian
Associate Professor
Chinese History
B.A., University of California, Davis
M.A., Ph.D., University of California, San Diego
Research and Teaching Interests：
My main area of specialization is modern Chinese history, with particular interests in urban history, Japanese imperialism and colonialism in China, and the regional history of Northeast China under Chinese, Japanese, and Russian regimes. My current book project examines the history of the port city of Dalian (Japanese Dairen). As one of the largest and most modern ports in Northeast Asia, Dalian was a crucial part of a contested region fought for by Russian, Japanese, and Chinese powers from 1895 to 1950. Running through my study is transnational narrative that highlights the diverse cast of political and economic powers at play in the city and the important similarities and differences in their respective projects to control it. My second project, funded by an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) International Network grant, is a theme-driven exploration of comparative urban history in East Asia. At Sophia I teach a wide range of courses on Chinese History and China and East Asia in a comparative framework.
Selected Publications
- “Sino-Soviet City: Dalian Between Socialist Worlds, 1945-1955” Journal of Urban History Vol.44, no.1 (January 2018): 9-25.
- “Securing the City, Securing the Nation: Militarization and Urban Police Work in Dalian, 1949-1953” in Toby Lincoln and Xu Tao, eds., The Habitable City in China: Urban History in the Twentieth Century (Palgrave, 2017): 71-90.
- With James Farrer, Chuanfei Wang, David Wank, Monica de Carvalho, Lenka Vyletalova, “Japanese Culinary Mobilities Research: The Globalization of the Japanese Restaurant” Food and Food Ingredients in Japan Vol. 222 no.3 (2017): 257-266.
- “The Fate of Japanese Settlers in Manchuria” in David Chandler, Robert Cribb, and Li Narangoa, eds., End of Empire: 100 Days in 1945 that Changed Asia and the Word (NIAS Press, Copenhagen, 2016). http://www.endofempire.asia/0812-the-fate-of-japanese-settlers-in-manchuria-4/
- “Revolutionary Real Estate: Envisioning Space in Communist Dalian” in J. Cook, J. Goldstein, and S. Schmalzer, eds. Visualizing China: Image, History and Memory in China, 1750-Present (Lexington, 2014): 185-202.
- “The Rise of the Chinese Communist Party: Myths and Misconceptions” in Naomi Standen, ed., Demystifying China: New Understandings of Chinese History (Rowman and Littlefield, 2013): 179-186.
- “Gateway to Manchuria: The Port City of Dalian under Russian, Japanese and Chinese Control, 1898-1950” Comparative: Journal of Global History and Comparative Social Research, 22.5 (December 2012): 47-59.
- “From Colonial Port to Socialist Metropolis: War, Imperialism and the Making of New Dalian” Urban History 38.3 (December 2011): 373-390.
- “Sulian ren zai Lüshun he Dalian de huodong, 1945-1955”(Soviet activity in Lüshun and Dalian, 1945-1955), in Shen Zhihua and Douglas A. Stiffler, ed. Cuiruo de lianmeng: lengzhang yu ZhongSu guanxi yanjiu(A fragile alliance: The Cold War and Sino-Soviet Relations) (Shanghai: Shehui kexue chubanshe, 2010): 28-47
- “The Use of History in Chinese International Relations” in Shaun Breslin, ed., Handbook of China’s International Relations (London: Routledge, July 2010): 47-54.
- “Big Brother is Watching: Local Sino-Soviet Relations and the Building of New Dalian, 1945-1955’” in Jeremy Brown and Paul G. Pickowicz ed. Dilemmas of Victory: The Early Years of the People’s Republic of China(Harvard University Press, 2007):160-183.
COURSES
Faculty of Liberal Arts
| Course No. | Title |
| HST261 | HISTORY OF CHINESE CIVILIZATION |
| HST303 | TOPICS IN HISTORY 2 |
| HST367 | CHINESE CULTURAL HISTORY |
| HST463 | ISSUES IN CHINESE HISTORY |
Graduate Program in Global Studies
| Course No. | Title |
| JS534Z | MODERN EAST ASIAN HISTORY |
| JS731Z | ADVANCED STUDIES IN MODERN EAST ASIAN HISTORY |