Christine Isabella Welch

After studying Chinese and Chinese literature at Northwestern University in Chicago for four years, and studying abroad at the Beijing Foreign Language University for one semester, I traveled to Kaohsiung Taiwan as a Fulbright ETA for one year in 2011. I was then accepted into the National Taiwan Normal University Chinese Literature Masters Program. Under my advisor, Prof. Xu Junya, I wrote my thesis in Chinese on representations of Taiwanese aborigine women, especially shamanesses, in 17th century travel journals, both Chinese and European. At the UW Madison, under the auspices of Professor Rania Huntington and the Collaborative Training Grant, I continue my research on travel, gender, and Daoist tropes, especially how these combine at the mythos of the Immortal Isle of Penglai.