Lezhi Wang

Lezhi’s research interests lie in the Chinese diaspora in colonial Southeast Asia. After years of learning the Dutch language and spending an exchange semester in Utrecht, the Netherlands, he encountered a letter in the Dutch National Archive that inspired him to study the particulars of overseas Chinese identities in Southeast Asia. Penned by Hokkien headmen in Dutch Batavia, the letter revealed a rupture of identity developing between the Chinese in diaspora and back home.  Through his research, he hopes to complement and complicate the existing theories about the nature of Chinese immigration in archipelagic Southeast Asia.

Education

University of Wisconsin-Madison Program: BA, History with Honors;

Certificates (Minors) in European Studies, German Language; Exchange at Utrecht University in 2017