Hello! I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at Colorado College.
I work at the intersection of political science, public policy, and urban studies. My main research agenda centers on political control and urban governance, with a regional focus on China. In particular, I study how urban space impacts the power dynamics between the state and society, and how the state’s pursuit of political control and stability, in turn, reshapes the built environment. This dynamic has implications for issues related to migration, inequality, and authoritarian resilience.
My broader interests include state-society relations under authoritarian regimes, particularly in areas such as (a) censorship and propaganda, (b) local-central government dynamics, and (c) prospects for civic engagement in policymaking under conditions of state control.
I adopt mixed methods in my research, including remote sensing data analysis, text data analysis, design-based inference, and interviews.
My works have appeared in the China Quarterly, the Journal of Contemporary China, and in edited volumes by the University of Pennsylvania Press. A manuscript from my book project has been accepted by the American Journal of Political Science.
Education
Cornell University
PhD · Government · 2025
Harvard University
MA · Regional Studies–East Asia · 2018
Peking University
LLB · Philosophy, Politics and Economics · 2016
Research Keywords
Political control and resistance
Urban governance
Legibility and Spatiality Authoritarian politics Contemporary ChinaContact
1025 N Cascade Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
sma2024 [at] coloradocollege [dot] edu
Department's Web Page Google Scholar ORCIDProfile photo credited to Elissa Liu