Abstract

Dr. Andrea Janku is a lecturer for the History of China at SOAS . She completed her Ph.D. on political editorials in the late Qing press in Heidelberg. This was part of a larger project on the development of a modern public sphere in late imperial and modern China. After completion of her Ph.D. she held a position as an assistant professor (Classical Sinology) at the Institute of Chinese Studies in Heidelberg. Dr. Janku’s current interests include the environmental history of China, the history of famine, and the history of social and political communication. Her publications include a monograph, Nur leere Reden: Politischer Diskurs und die Shanghaier Presse im China des späten 19. Jahrhunderts* (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003); and many articles, including: “Preparing the Ground for Revolutionary Discourse: From the Jingshiwen Compilations to Journalistic Writings in Nineteenth Century China,” T’oung Pao 90 (2004.1-3); “Sowing Happiness: Spiritual Competition in Famine Relief activities in Late Nineteenth Century China,” Minsu quyi, No. 143 (March 2004), special issue on “Disasters and Religion,” edited by Paul Katz. Another article, “Heaven-sent Disasters in Late imperial China: the Scope of the State and Beyond.” In Christian Pfister and Christoph Mauch, eds. Natural Disasters, Cultural Responses: a World History, is forthcoming.