Wesleyan portrait of Ying Jia  Tan

Ying Jia Tan

Associate Professor of History

Frank Center for Public Affairs Room 215, 238 Church Street
860-685-2259

Associate Professor, East Asian Studies

Frank Center for Public Affairs Room 215, 238 Church Street
860-685-2259

Associate Professor, Science in Society

Frank Center for Public Affairs Room 215, 238 Church Street
860-685-2259

ytan@wesleyan.edu

BA University of California, Berkeley
MA Stanford University
MPHIL Yale University
PHD Yale University

Ying Jia Tan

Ying Jia Tan's research focuses on the history of energy in Modern China. His book Recharging China in War and Revolution, 1882-1955 (Cornell University Press, 2021) explores the politics of Chinese power consumption as electrical industries developed during seven decades of revolution and warfare. Thanks to generous funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, through The Sustainable History Monograph Pilot, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellopen.org) and other repositories.

He is currently working on a second book project on the plastic industry in Chinese East Asia in the twentieth century. 

During the 2023/2024 academic year, he is a faculty fellow with the College of the Environment ThinkTank.

 

Ying Jia Tan is a historian of science and technology with allied interests in environmental history and the history of cartography. He teaches traditional and modern Chinese history, as well as courses on maritime East Asia, cartography, and the Anthropocene. 

Academic Affiliations

Office Hours

Professor Tan's office is at PAC 215. Office hours are by appointment only.

Courses

Spring 2025
CEAS 207 - 01
Found. of East Asian Cultures

CHIN 305 - 01
Mandopop

HIST 225 - 01
Maritime East Asia