LEIGH KATHRYN JENCO

 

Curriculum Vitae

Updated September 2012

 


 

EDUCATION

 

University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

                PhD (June 2007) and MA (June 2002) in Political Science

                Fields in political theory, comparative politics, and methodology

 

Dissertation: “Individuals, Institutions, and Social Change: The Political Theory of Zhang Shizhao”

o   Winner of the 2008 Strauss Prize for Best Dissertation in Political Philosophy, APSA

o   Committee Members: Iris Young, original chair (deceased); Jacob Levy, chair; Guy Alitto, Lisa Wedeen

 

Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA

                BA in Economics (May 1999) 

International Chinese Language Program (formerly the IUP-Stanford Center),

                Taipei, Taiwan, 2003-2005. Also audited classes at National Taiwan University.

 Johns Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Nanjing, China, 1999-2000

                Graduate-level work in contemporary Chinese studies, conducted in Mandarin.

 

 

APPOINTMENTS

 

Lecturer in Political Theory, London School of Economics and Political Science

                July 2012-present

Assistant Professor of Political Science, National University of Singapore

                July 2008-June 2012

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Political Theory Project, Brown University

                July 2007-July 2008.

Lecturer, The College, University of Chicago

                Spring 2006

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

 

Books:

 

Making the Political: Founding and Action in the Political Theory of Zhang Shizhao (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010).  ISBN: 9780521760607

 Changing Referents: Theorizing Across Time and Space, book manuscript in progress.

 Chinese Thought as Global Theory: Diversifying Knowledge Production in the Social Sciences and Humanities, edited volume in progress.

 

 

Peer-Reviewed Publications:

 

“Revisiting Asian Values,” Journal of the History of Ideas, forthcoming.

 “Chinese Political Ideologies,” Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies, ed. Michael Freeden (Oxford University Press, forthcoming).

 “Culture as History: Envisioning Change Across and Beyond “Eastern” and “Western” Civilizations,” Twentieth-Century China (forthcoming, January 2013).

 “From Constitutional Listening to Constitutional Learning,” Chicago-Kent Law Review, vol. 88 no. 1 (forthcoming, 2013).

 “How Meaning Moves: Tan Sitong on Borrowing Across Cultures,” Philosophy East and West, vol. 62 no. 2 (January 2012): 92-113.

 “Re-centering Political Theory: The Promise of Mobile Locality,” Cultural Critique vol. 79 (Fall 2011): 27-59.

 “‘Rule by Man’ and ‘Rule by Law’ in Early Republican China: Contributions to a Theoretical Debate,” Journal of Asian Studies vol. 69  no. 1 (February 2010): 181-203.

“Theorists and Actors: Zhang Shizhao on ‘Self-Awareness’ as Political Action,” Political Theory, vol. 38 (April 2008): 213-238.

“‘What Does Heaven Ever Say?’ A Methods-Centered Approach to Cross-Cultural Engagement,” American Political Science Review, vol. 101 no. 4 (November 2007): 741-755.

“Thoreau’s Critique of Democracy,” Review of Politics, vol. 65 (Summer 2003): 355-81. 

 

 

Commissioned Articles and Reviews

 

“Chinese Political Thought,” 2000 word entry for Cambridge Dictionary of Political Thought, ed. Terence Ball et al. (Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming).

 

“Yi Zhongguo wei lilun de yuanyuan” [China as a source of theory], article commissioned by the Institute for Advanced Study, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; to appear in special edited volume of Chinese journal Outlook (forthcoming).

 

Review of Gloria Davies, Worrying About China (Harvard University Press, 2006). Contemporary Political Theory (forthcoming, 2012).

 

Review of Edmund K. S. Fung, The Intellectual Origins of Chinese Modernity (Cambridge University Press, 2010).   Twentieth Century China (May 2011). Published online: http://www.thechinabeat.org/?p=3398

 

“Dui xifang zhengzhi sixiang he zhengzhi lilun de fansi” [Reflections on Western political thought and political theory],  Zhongguo shehui kexue bao [Chinese Social Sciences Journal] (March 2010).

 

“Chinese Liberalism,” 2000 word entry for Encyclopedia of Political Theory, ed. Mark Bevir et al. (Sage Publications, 2010).

 

Review of Will Kymlicka and Baogang He, Multiculturalism in Asia, and Daniel Bell, Beyond Liberal DemocracyPerspectives on Politics 7.1  (March 2009).

 

Review of Burton Watson, trans. The Analects of ConfuciusPolitics and Religion, 1.1 (April 2008).

 

“A Political Theory for Them – But Not For Us? Western Theorists Read the Chinese Tradition.” Review essay of Bell and Hahm, Confucianism for the Modern World; Metzger, A Cloud Across the Pacific; Makeham, New Confucianism; Jiang, Ruxue zai Guowai de Chuanbo yu Yingxiang. Review of Politics 69 (Spring 2007).

 

 

INVITED TALKS

 

“Zhishi de liudong: Jie yu pubianxing yu teshuxing zhijian; huozhe, Meiguo ren ruhe neng rentong Zhongguo de zhishi?” [The Movement of Knowledge: Between Universalism and Particularism; or, How Can an American Identify with Chinese Knowledge?] (delivered in Mandarin Chinese)

·         Dimensions of Modern Identity: Individual, Society, State and Tianxia conference, East China Normal University, Shanghai, June 2012 [full accommodation]

 

“What is ‘Republican’ about Early Republican Chinese Thought?”

 

“Power and Agency in Modern Chinese Political Theory: Or, What is Right with Li Dazhao?”

 

The Problem of the Culturally Unprecedented: Cultural Difference as Historical Discontinuity after May Fourth”

 

“New Communities for New knowledge: Qun (“group”) in the Thought of Liang Qichao and Yan Fu”

 

“Re-visiting ‘Western’ and ‘Asian’ Values”

 

“Theorizing in the First Person: The Present and Future Uses of the History of Thought”

 

“Histories of Thought and Comparative Political Theory”

 

“Toward a Non-Eurocentric Anti-Eurocentrism,” University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore, February 2011

 

“Re-centering Political Theory:  The Promise of Mobile Locality”

 

“Culture in Time: May Fourth Debates over the Historical Precedents of New Culture”

 

“Culture in Political Theory: A Typology and Critique”

 

“Zhongguo sixiang zuowei pubian lilun de qianzai keneng: yi Zhang Shizhao wei li de jiantao” [On the potential universality of Chinese thought: A discussion using Zhang Shizhao as an example] (delivered in Mandarin Chinese)

 

“Comments on the Disciplinization of Philosophy in China”

·         The Formation and Development of Academic Disciplines in China workshop, Chinese University of Hong Kong, July 2009. [full accommodation]

 

“How Meaning Moves: Tan Sitong on Borrowing Across Cultures”

 

“Qingmo minchu sixiang jia dui bijiao zhengzhi lilun xue de gongxian” [The Contribution of Late Qing and Early Republican Thinkers to Comparative Political Theory] (delivered in Mandarin Chinese)

 

“‘Creating Government Lies in Individuals’: Zhang Shizhao and the Paradoxes of Founding”

 

“Equality and Equal Participation in Chinese Political Thought”

 

 “The Relevance of Talent: A Chinese View on Political Action”

 

“Zhang Shizhao and the Paradoxes of Founding”

 

“Liberalism and Rule of Law in Republican China”

 

 

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

 

“Political Theory and the Contribution of Chinese Studies,” Association for Asian Studies meeting, Toronto, April 2012.

 

“Metaphors of Cross-Cultural Encounter: ‘Translator’ versus ‘Learner,’The Politics of Images: History and Change conference, Hosei University, Tokyo, May 2011

 “Cultural Borrowing Through Time: A Chinese Debate,” Association of Political Theory annual conference, October 2010; Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference, March 2011.

 “The Ambivalent History of "Western" and "Asian" Values,” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, September 2010.

 

“‘Culture’ in Political Theory: A Typology and Critique,” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, September 2009.

 

Convener and Discussant for panel “The West as Category and Concept,” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, September 2009.

 

“Area Studies and the Re-centering of Political Theory,” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, March 2009.

 

“The Past is not a Foreign Country: Time and Space in Cross-cultural Comparison,” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, August 2008; and Global Political Theory seminar, National University of Singapore, September 2008.

 

“Theorizing Culture, Not History: The Contributions of Zhong ti/Xi yong to the Theorization of Cross-Cultural Exchange,” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, April 2008.

 

 “Comparative Political Theory: An Endeavor for Area Studies, not Postcolonial Studies,” Roundtable for Comparative Political Theory, American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, September 2007.

 

“From the ‘Western Learning’ to the Western Canon: How to do Transcultural Political Theory,” Association for Asian Studies, March 2007.

 

 “From Difference (yi) to Commonality (tong): Zhang Shizhao’s Challenge to the Idea of Public Space,” Association for Political Theory Conference, November 2006.

 

“Re-casting Liberalism: Rule by Man and Rule by Law in Early Republican China,” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, April 2006.

 

“Talent and Virtue in the Liberal Thought of Zhang Shizhao,” Asian Political and International Studies Association annual conference, Hong Kong, November 2005.

 

“’What Does Heaven Ever Say?’ The Challenge of Chinese Classicism to the Western Model of Cross-Cultural Dialogue,” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, September 2005.

 

“Thoreau’s Critique of Democracy,” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, August 2002.

 

 

 AWARDS

 

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Promising Researcher Award, National University of Singapore ($5000 SGD; approx. $3500 USD), 2010-2011.

Leo Strauss Award for Best Dissertation in Political Philosophy, awarded by the American Political Science Association, 2008.

Foundations of Political Theory Best Paper Award, for the best paper presented on a political theory panel by an untenured scholar at the 2002 annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, 2003

Nominee, Westview Press Award, for best paper given at the 2002 meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association

Joseph Cropsey Prize for best Master’s Thesis in Political Philosophy at the University of Chicago, 2002

Taiwan Ministry of Education Public Involvement Award, for active involvement in academic and social life in Taiwan, 2005

 

 

FELLOWSHIPS and GRANTS

 

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Connections Grant. Co-Investigator for conference project “De-Parochializing Political Theory” ($33,440 CAD), 2012;

                http://law.uvic.ca/demcon/2012Conference/index.html

American Council of Learned Societies Grant, funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. Sole Principal Investigator for workshop “Chinese Thought as Global Social Theory” held at the Asia Research Institute, Singapore, December 2011 ($15,000 USD plus publication subvention);

http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?categoryid=6&eventid=1133

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Grant.  Co-Applicant for research project “East Asian Perspectives on Political and Legal Order,” ($74,990 CAD), 2010-2012.

Shibusawa Ei’ichi Memorial Foundation Grant. Co-Applicant for research project “East Asian Perspectives on Political and Legal Order,” (¥2,000,000 JPY; approx. $25,000 USD), 2009-2012.

National University of Singapore Faculty Start-up Grant. Sole Principal Investigator for research project “Comparative and Cross-cultural Political Theory” ($18,105 SGD; approx. $13,000 USD), 2008-11

William Rainey Harper Dissertation-Year Fellowship, University of Chicago, 2006-7

Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory Pre-Doctoral Fellow, University of Chicago, 2006-7

Institute for Humane Studies Summer Research Fellowship, Arlington, VA, 2006

Blakemore-Friedman Foundation Award for study at the International Chinese Language Program, Taipei, Taiwan, 2003-5

Taiwan Ministry of Education Fellowship for advanced language study in Taiwan, 2004-5

Humane Studies Fellowship, Institute for Humane Studies, for graduate study, 2000-3, 2005-6

Junior Fellow, Olin Center for Inquiry into the Theory and Practice of Democracy, University of Chicago, 2001-3

University Fellowship, University of Chicago, 2000-2003, 2005-6

Excellence and Equal Cost Scholarship (near-full academic merit scholarship), Bard College, 1995-9

 

 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES and SERVICE

 

At NUS:

o   Associate Editor, Asian Journal of Political Science, 2009-2011.

o   Member, Graduate Committee, Department of Political Science, 2009-10

§  Contributed to revision by committee of entire graduate curriculum in AY09-10

§  Redesigned graduate-level course descriptions and requirements for political theory subfield

§  Served as department delegate to Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines-Diliman, Philippines, May 2010

o   Student Mentor, Department of Political Science, 2009-2012

o   Member, Comparative Politics (China) Search Committee, 2009-10, 2010-2011

o   Coordinator (with Brad Williams), Political Science Staff Seminar Series, 2008-9

o   Member, Committee on NUS China Policy, 2009

o   Coordinator (with Terry Nardin), Global Political Theory workshop, September 2008

 

External Service and Activities:

§  An international project to hold a series of workshops in Asia focused on East Asian political thought and comparative political theory: http://www.ethics.utoronto.ca/index.php?id=6&iid=11

§  Funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Shibusawa Ei’ichi Memorial Foundation, Tokyo.

 

TEACHING

 

London School of Economics and Political Science

GV2G3 Foundations of Political Theory

GV498 Multiculturalism

 

National University of Singapore:

PS 2204 / EU 2204 Modern Western Political Thought (introductory lecture)

PS 2253 Chinese Political Thought (introductory lecture)

PS 3880A Modern Chinese Political Thought (third-year seminar)

PS 4201 Contemporary Political Theory: Theories of Culture (fourth-year honours seminar)

PS 4219 Comparative Political Thought (fourth-year honours seminar)

PS 5201 Seminar In Political Theory: Postcolonial Theory (graduate seminar)

 

Brown University:

POLS 0820N Political Thinking for a Global World (first-year seminar)

POLS 1820 Methodologies of Political Theory (senior seminar)

 

University of Chicago:

SOSC 15300 Classics of Social and Political Thought III (core curriculum seminar)

 

STUDENTS SUPERVISED (National University of Singapore)

 

Masters Thesis: 

Nadiah bte Ridzuan, “Women, Islam and Feminism in Postcolonial Malaysia and Singapore,” 2010-2012

 

Honours Theses:

Lou Zi Wei, “Small Things, Small World: Subalternity in Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things,” 2011-2012

Low Teck Soon Jeremy James, “Houses Divided: Culture and the Problem of Secession in Liberal States,” 2011-2012

Or Yue Ying, “They Called Us A Threat! : Images of Japan and the Construction of Chinese Identity in Sino-Japanese Relations,” 2011-2012

Yeung Xintian, “The Hotpot: Group Boundaries and National Identity,” 2010-2011

Reema Bhagwan Jagtiani, ““No Country for Women?”: Explorations of Islamic Feminism in Malaysia,” 2010-2011

Nurdiana bte Basir Ahmad, “Cultural Hybridity and the Right of Exit,” 2010-2011

Lim Aik, “Confucianism in Singapore: Ethics and Politics of a Global City-state,” 2009-2010

Tan Jen Vin Teddy, “Are there Epistemological Grounds for the Concept of Universal Human Rights as Enshrined in the UDHR of 1948?,” 2009-2010

 

 

LANGUAGES

Native speaker of English; Advanced reading proficiency in Literary (Classical) Chinese; advanced speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in modern Mandarin Chinese; intermediate reading proficiency in modern Japanese.