Dr. Xiaoping Fang

Biography

Xiaoping Fang is an Associate Professor in Chinese Studies at Monash University. He received his PhD in history from the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2002, majoring in modern Chinese history, science, technology, and medicine. He has worked at prestigious institutions including the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge, UK, the Asia Research Institute at NUS, the China Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney, and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. His current research interests revolve around the history of medicine, health, and epidemics in twentieth-century China, with a focus on the sociopolitical history of Mao's China post-1949. Fang is committed to reinterpreting public health movements and medical programs in China, which have often been stereotyped in research. His work covers a long temporal span and takes a bottom-up perspective based on archival documents, local gazetteers, and oral history materials collected through intensive fieldwork. He combines sociological and anthropological theories to make empirical and theoretical contributions to the understanding of medical history. His research communicates the enduring relevance of historical analysis to contemporary health policy audiences and the general public. Fang is the author of 'Barefoot Doctors and Western Medicine in China' and 'China Cholera Pandemic: Restructuring Society under Mao', the latter winning the 2022 Outstanding Academic Title award from CHOICE. He has published articles in several journals, including China Quarterly, Modern China, and Medical History.

Research Interests

Experience

Awards