Bio

I am a Visiting Faculty at Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Grand Valley State University. As a historian of modern China and Japan, my research focuses on propaganda, popular culture, and political mobilization. I teach courses in history, Asian studies, religion, and Chinese language. My current projects examine how the Chinese Communist Party used stage drama as propaganda during the revolutionary period and Chinese media responses to the Sino-Vietnamese conflict.

Areas of Interest

Early Modern and Modern Chinese History (17th century to the present); Early Modern and Modern Japanese History (17th century to the present); History of Religion; World History; History of Popular Culture; History of Propaganda; Military History; Mandarin Chinese at All Levels

Education

2003 Bachelor of Arts, English Linguistics and Literature, Shenyang Institute of Technology
2013 Master of Education, Curriculum and Teaching Methodology, Liaoning Normal University
2017 Master of Arts, History, The University of Toledo
2023 Ph.D., History, The University of Toledo

Publications

Wang, L. 2025. "Revolution on Stage: Communist Dramas in China, 1927–1949." Journal of Chinese Military History, 14(2), 139-160. https://doi.org/10.1163/22127453-bja10030

Wang, Lei. 2025. “A Just War in Print: Chinese Official Newspapers and Propaganda During the Sino-Vietnamese Conflict.” Studies on Asia 10(2), 22–42.