Contact Information

Office: Scott Hall 323 (College Avenue Campus)
Office Hours: TTh 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Phone: (732) 932-5592
FAX: (732) 846-0468
E-mail: peli@rci.rutgers.edu

Course Information

Fall 2001

01:098:322 Interdisciplinary Topics on East Asia — Asian American Immigration: Living History

Spring 2001

01:165:220 Chinese Classics and Thought
01:098:444 Seminar on Asian Societies: Asian American History and Literature

Biography

Born in Nanjing, China, raised and educated in the United States, Peter Li received his B.A. from the University of Washington and Ph.D. in Chinese Literature from the University of Chicago. At present Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature and formerly Director of the Committee on Asian Studies at Rutgers University, he has combined a life of teaching and scholarship with his interest in Asian American education. He is an author, contributor and editor of books and articles on Chinese literature, culture, and politics and Asian American studies.

He served for a number of years on the Board of Directors of the Chinese Language Teachers Association and was the book review editor of the Journal of the Chinese Language Teachers Association.

In 1985 he was the Chairman of the Six East Coast Asian American Education Conference held at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Together with Marjorie H. Li he edited and compiled a volume on Understanding Asian Americans: A Curriculum Resource Guide (Neal-Schuman, 1990).

Political and social events in China focused his attention on the pro-democracy movement in that country. After the June 4th Incident in 1989, he edited a book on the Tiananmen Square Incident entitled Culture and Politics in China: The Anatomy of Tiananmen Square (Transaction Publishers, 1991).

From 1991-1992 he was the Central Region Coordinator of the New Jersey Multicultural Studies Project funded by the Department of Higher Education of the State of New Jersey. In 1994-1995 he received a Rutgers University Dialogues Grant to research "Multiculturalism Beyond Political Correctness" and compiled a report on: "The State of Multicultural Education at Rutgers University" (1995).

For many years he has been the Faculty Advisor to numerous Asian American student organizations on campus and has been supportive and instrumental in the establishment of the Asian American Cultural Center at Rutgers University (1999). He also lectured extensively throughout the state to local high schools and colleges on multicultural issues and Asia.

In 1996-97 he was the recipient of the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation Fellowship for the a critical study of the modern Chinese writer, Lao She (1899-1966), the author of numerous novels, plays and short stories about the common folk in China: "The Life and Times of Lao She: Culture, Art and Politics."

Since 1997 he has assumed the position of editor-in-chief of the interdisciplinary journal focusing on cross-cultural and transnational issues in Asia, entitled EAST ASIA: An International Quarterly.

Selected Publications

A. Books

"The State of Multicultural Education at Rutgers University" (1995).
Culture and Politics in China: The Anatomy of Tiananmen Square. New Brunswick:
Transaction Publishers, 1991. Co-editor.
Understanding Asian Americans: A Curriculum Resource Guide. Neal Schuman, 1990. Co-
editor.
Modern Chinese Fiction: A Guide to Its Study and Appreciation: Essays and Bibliographies.
Boston: G.K. Hall, 1981. Contributor.
Tseng P'u. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980. Author.
Classical Chinese Fiction: A Guide to Its Study and Appreciation. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1980.
Co-author.
Peter Li, William Lyell, editors. "Lao She Centenary Symposium Volume." (Ready for press)
Peter Li. "The Life and Times of Lao She: Culture, Art and Politics." (In progress)

B. Some Recent Articles and Reviews

"The Asia Pacific War, 1931-1945: Japanese Atrocities and the Quest for Post-War
Reconciliation." In East Asia: An International Quarterly 17.1 (Spring 1999),
108-137. Book review article.
"War and Modernity in Chinese Military Fiction." In Symposien, Tagungen, Konferenzen,
1997.
"Lao She." In Encyclopedia of the Novel. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Entry.
"Mao Dun." In Encyclopedia of the Novel. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Entry.
"Lao She and Chinese Folk Literature." In Chinoperl, 1996. Refereed article.
"Identity and Nationhood in Lao She's Teahouse." Chinese Studies, 1995. Refereed Article.
"Chinese Language." In Asian American Encyclopedia. New York: Marshall Cavendish, c1995.
Entry.

Asian Languages and Cultures Scott Hall Room 330 Tel: 732/932-7605 Last updated on May 3, 2001