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Xine Yao (B.A. Trinity College at the University of Toronto, M.A. Dalhousie University, M.A. Cornell University, Ph.D. Cornell University) is Associate Professor in American Literature to 1900 in the English department at University College London. She works on intersections of affect, race, gender, and sexuality in relation to science and law through long 19th century American literature. Her research has been published in American Quarterly, J19: The Journal of Nineteenth-Century Americanists, The Journal of Asian American Studies, Occasion, and American Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion and has several essays forthcoming in collections. Xine is currently on the Advisory Group of the Sarah Parker Remond Center for the Study of Race and Racialisation at UCL headed by Professor Paul Gilroy; she is also a member of the UCL Race Equality Steering Group.
Her first book is Disaffected: The Cultural Politics of Unfeeling in Nineteenth Century America (Duke University Press, 2021) in the Perverse Modernities series edited by J Halberstam and Lisa Lowe. Disaffected won an inaugural Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award as well as the Arthur Miller First Book Prize Honourable Mention from the British Association of American Studies. A section won the 2018 Yasuo Sakakibara Prize from the American Studies Association for best paper to be presented at the annual conference.
Dr. Yao is a BBC Radio 3/AHRC New Generation Thinker.
“#staywoke: Digital Engagement and Literacies in Anti-Racist Pedagogy” was finalist Finalist for the 2019 Constance M. Rourke Prize for best article to appear in Volume 80 (2018) of American Quarterly.
Dr. Yao is honoured to be a judge for the inaugural Orwell Prize in Political Fiction. She is one of the collaborators awarded the 2019 UCL Grand Challenges Grant, Theme: Embedded Inequalities for “Trans Studies, Trans Lives: Past, Present, and Future”, UCL’s first trans symposium bringing together interdisciplinary trans studies research and lived experiences along with creative work from the trans community at UCL and beyond. She won the 2019 UCL Student Choice Teaching Award for Diverse and Inclusive Education.
Her postdoctoral, PhD, and MA work has been funded by competitive national grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her archival research has been supported by travel grants to the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the College of the Library of Physicians of Philadelphia. She is the co-host of PhDivas, a podcast about academia, culture, and social justice across the STEM/humanities divide.
This portfolio features highlights from her work. You can download their complete CV here.
