Lu Kou

Academic Program Affiliation(s): Asian Studies, Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures

Biography:

Lu Kou received his doctorate in East Asian languages and civilizations from Harvard University, with a secondary specialty in classical philology. His dissertation, “Courtly Exchange and the Rhetoric of Legitimacy in Early Medieval China,” examined the power of words to fashion state legitimacy in early medieval China (4th to 7th centuries), a period of political division and fragmentation in which several rival states vied for dominance. His areas of expertise include premodern Chinese literature and culture, medieval court culture, classical tales and their adaptations, and historiography. He comes to Bard from Williams College, where he was a visiting assistant professor of Chinese in the Asian Studies Department. Courses taught at Williams include the Fantastic in Chinese Literature, Masterpieces in Modern Chinese Literature, and advanced and intermediate Chinese. Professor Kou, a native of Beijing, is currently at work on a manuscript, Rhetoric, Legitimacy, and Courtly Writings in Early Medieval China and European Middle Ages. He has presented at numerous conferences and workshops on subjects such as “Detainees and Letters to Request Release in Early Medieval China” (Harvard University); “The Emperor’s New ‘Stories’: Telling ‘Truth’ and Writing History in Early Medieval China” (Brandeis University); “War of Words: Diplomacy and Literature in Early Medieval China” (Washington University); and “Praising Foreign Gifts in Early Medieval Courts” (American Oriental Society Western Branch, Portland, Oregon).

BA, Peking University; MA, PhD, Harvard University. At Bard since 2019.

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Office: 304