I am excited to join such a dynamic set of academic experts and students working on China, and am looking forward to contributing to the work they do. This is a crucial moment in understanding the huge challenges involved in geopolitics, as China becomes more prominent. I have worked across different frameworks and disciplines in my research on China, and I am confident that our joint interdisciplinary work will contribute to the broader expert and public understanding of this crucial area.
Professor Astrid Nordin
05 May 2021
Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations Appointed to the Lau China Institute
Professor Astrid Nordin has been appointed as the Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations after an international search
The Lau China Institute at Kings College, in the Faculty of Social Science and Public Policy, is delighted to announce that after an international search, Professor Astrid Nordin has been appointed as the Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations.
Professor Nordin comes to the Institute after a successful career working at the intersection of contemporary Chinese politics and international relations. She has produced a diverse body of high-quality research, which develops conceptual tools that draw on Chinese and other global traditions of thought, and uses these to understand global challenges as they relate to China’s growing global role - from the Belt and Road Initiative, through sustainable cities, to practices of censorship and resistance. As Professor of World Politics at Lancaster University she was Founding Director of the University China Centre. She is a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Social Futures, and a Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
The Lau China Institute, with over 70 post-graduate and doctoral students, and six full time academic staff, is one of the key global centres for the study of all aspects of contemporary China. Professor Kerry Brown, Director of the Institute, said:
"The appointment in this key new position of Professor Nordin means that the Institute can speak even more effectively to the urgent and complex national and global debates about China's role in the world and how best to conceptualise this. Professor Nordin brings with her unique perspectives and an impressive research and teaching record. This will help us ensure that we continue to produce the highest quality insights and understanding on China. Our aim is to be a national, European and global research institute. This will ensure that we are able to achieve this."
Professor Evelyn Welch, acting principal of King's College, said:
"We are delighted that Professor Nordin is coming to join us at King’s. We are excited by the range of interests and the quality of her work, and are certain that she will thrive in the environment here. King's Lau China Institute has existed for over a decade, and is making an increasingly important contribution to the global debate on and with China, about key issues from climate change, to public health, to geopolitics and the global economy."
Professor Nordin will take up her appointment on the 1st June.
In this story
Director, Lau China Institute
Former Senior Vice President (Service, People & Planning)