Dr. Xuefei Ren selected as a Public Intellectuals Program VII Fellow

July 12, 2021

Dr. Xuefei Ren, Associate Professor of Sociology, has been selected by the National Committee on United States-China Relations to be a Public Intellectuals Programs VII Fellows for 2021-2023.

Launched in 2015 and funded by the Carnegie Corp., the Program selects "outstanding members of the next generation of American China specialists" in academia and other spheres to venture outside of their professions and into areas of foreign policy and public education. 

"The two-year program is designed to enrich the twenty-one new fellows’ understanding of policymaking processes in both the United States and China; help them establish useful relationships both with their academic colleagues and with policy practitioners; encourage them to move beyond the confines of their own disciplines; and nurture their ability to engage with the public at a national, regional, and local level. PIP is implemented through a series of activities. These include workshops in Washington, D.C., and the West Coast; an international study tour; opportunities to participate in National Committee delegations as scholar-escorts; and public education initiatives."

Dr. Ren's work focuses on urban development, governance, inequality and the built environment in global perspective. She is the author of three award-winning books: Governing the Urban in China and India: Land Grabs, Slum Clearance, and the War on Air Pollution (2020), Urban China (2013) and Building Globalization: Transnational Architecture Production in Urban China (2011).

"I hope to make a small contribution to improving US-China relations, with a series of public outreach events,
 Dr. Ren said.