Gender Research Centre, CUHK

28/10/2026

🎓💬 Upcoming Gender Seminar | Entering Academia, Studying Love: A Conversation on Career, Gender, and a Decade of Researching Online Dating

📅 Date: Wednesday, 4 November 2026
🕧 Time: 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
📍 Venue: LG204, UG/F, Wen Lan Tang (WLS), CUHK
🎤 Speaker: Prof. Yue Qian
Professor, Department of Sociology, CUHK
🎙️ Moderator: Prof. Susanne Choi
Professor of Sociology & Co-Director, Gender Research Centre, CUHK

Abstract:
Drawing on her recent Chinese-language book, 《进入学术圈》(On Becoming a Scholar), Yue Qian will share her personal journey into academia and reflect on how questions of gender have shaped the research she pursues. One line of that research began with a casual invitation from a peer researcher she met online: for the past decade, Yue Qian has studied online dating, and she will share how she came to this work and what it reveals about gender, technology, and intimacy. Rather than a standard lecture, this session is designed as a conversation. After Yue Qian’s opening reflection, ample time will be left for questions, e.g., about academic careers, navigating gender in the profession, building student-faculty and peer collaborations, or anything else on participants' minds.

About the Speaker
Prof. Yue Qian is a Professor of Sociology at CUHK whose research focuses on gender, family, work, and inequality, particularly in East Asia and North America. She has published over 70 articles in leading academic journals, including Nature Human Behaviour, PNAS, American Sociological Review, Gender & Society, and Journal of Marriage and Family. Her research has also been widely featured in international media.

🔗Registration: tinyurl.com/2rhrmcpn

21/10/2026

🎙New Interview | Professor Susanne Choi’s New Book Q***r Resistance

💫We are delighted to share that Professor Susanne Choi, Co-Director of the Gender Research Centre, CUHK, was recently interviewed by Miranda Melcher on the New Books Network about her latest book, Q***r Resistance: Contesting State, Family, and Inequality in Post-Socialist China.

In this engaging conversation, Professor Choi explores the changing intimate lives of sexual minorities in China and the shifting configuration of state, societal, and familial power. Beyond LGBTQ+ experiences, the discussion also sheds light on broader transformations of personal life in China amid tightening political control.

The interview is featured across several New Books Network channels, including Asian Politics, Chinese Studies, Sociology, the UC Press podcast, and New Books with Miranda Melcher.

🎧 Listen to the full interview here:

Support Kritika | Support H-Net | Buy Books Here | Join the NBN and NBN en Español on Patreon | Visit New Books Network en Español!

21/10/2026

📢 Wednesday Gender Seminar

📒Title: When Public-Sector Employment Becomes Unfriendly to Mothers: How State Control and the Market Economy Impede Mothering in State-Owned Enterprises in Post-Reform China

📅 Date: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
🕧 Time: 12:30–2:00 PM
📍 Venue: LG204, UG/F, Wen Lan Tang (WLS), CUHK

🎤 Speaker: Dr. Lingxi Chen (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Gender Research Centre, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, CUHK)

🎓 Moderator: Prof. Susanne Choi (Professor, Department of Sociology & Co-Director, Gender Research Centre, CUHK)

🔗Registration: tinyurl.com/2jrsds5z

20/10/2026

🎊🎉👏Congratulations to GRC Members Recognised Among the World's Top 2% Scientists in 2026!

Warm congratulations to our Co-Director, Professor Susanne Y. P. Choi, and ExCo members, Professor Ng Oi Lam and Professor Winnie So, on being named among the world’s top 2% scientists in the 2026 edition of the Updated Science-Wide Author Databases of Standardized Citation Indicators, compiled by researchers at Stanford University using Elsevier's Scopus data.

While the database recognises scholarly impact through standardised citation indicators, it does not comprehensively capture contributions made through scholarly monographs, edited volumes, and book chapters. These are important forms of academic publication for gender scholars, including many GRC members, whose contributions may therefore not be adequately reflected in citation-based rankings.

We hope that future assessments of scholarly impact will give greater recognition to book-length scholarship and other forms of academic contribution, ensuring that the valuable work of gender scholars is more fully and fairly acknowledged.

13/10/2026

👋🎉Successful Book Launch of Q***r Resistance by Professor Susanne Choi

The book launch of Professor Susanne Choi’s new book, Q***r Resistance: Contesting State, Family, and Inequality in Post-Socialist China, was successfully held on Friday, 9 October 2026, at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). The event was organised by the Gender Research Centre, CUHK, and co-organised by the Department of Sociology, CUHK.

The event began with a brief introduction by Professor Lynne Nakano, Co-Director of the Gender Research Centre and Professor and Chair of the Department of Japanese Studies at CUHK. Professor Susanne Choi, Co-Director of the Gender Research Centre and Professor of Sociology at CUHK, then delivered an engaging presentation on her new book, providing an in-depth overview of its research background, methodology, theoretical framework, and key findings. She highlighted the book’s key analytical approaches, including multi-temporal analysis, multi-domain analysis, the structure–agency nexus, hetero–homo linked analysis, and intersectionality. In particular, the book conceptualises resistance as a diagnostic lens for examining changing state, societal and familial power, and the dynamics of q***r resistance, including renegotiation of the meaning of filial piety and the development of a Chinese selfhood that centres individual desires; partial resistance to heteronormative norms and gendered scripts in the doing of intimacy; not-coming out as affective care and careful coming out as reflecting a relational mode of disclosure; and disengagement, parody, and subversion of heterosexual marriage.

Following the presentation, Professor Travis Kong from the Department of Sociology at The University of Hong Kong and Professor Lucetta Kam from the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing at Hong Kong Baptist University offered insightful commentaries on the book. Both concurred that the book is not just about changing q***r lives but also a sociological study of social change in post-Socialist China. Their reflections highlighted the book’s significant theoretical contributions, its vivid and engaging writing style, and its accessibility to audiences beyond academia, underscoring its potential to inspire both scholarly discussions and broader public engagement with issues of gender and sexuality.

The speakers then joined the audience for a lively discussion about the book’s central themes and Professor Choi’s academic journey, offering further reflections on the possibilities of social change within constraining political conditions and the potential of everyday resistance to foster change, at least in the private sphere.

The book launch attracted 174 registrants from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and Malaysia. The event also drew interest from individuals with diverse academic and professional backgrounds, including university students, faculty members, and NGO staff.

We warmly welcome you to stay connected and join our upcoming events!❤️

08/10/2026

📚✨ Just Tomorrow! Join Us for Professor Susanne CHOI's Book Launch!

Don't miss the opportunity to join the launch of Professor Susanne Choi's new book, Q***r Resistance: Contesting State, Family, and Inequality in Post-Socialist China!

🎤 Speaker:
Professor Susanne Choi (Co-Director of Gender Research Centre; Professor of the Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

💬 Discussants:
* Professor Travis Kong (Professor of the Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong);
* Professor Lucetta Kam (Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University)

🎙️ Moderator:
Professor Lynne Nakano (Co-Director of Gender Research Centre; Professor and Chair of the Department of Japanese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

📅 Date: Tomorrow, 9 October 2026 (Friday)
🕓 Time: 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm
📍 Venue: LT 2, Esther Lee Building, CUHK
🏫 Format: Onsite only

🔗 Register now:
https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13738760
📩 Enquiries: [email protected] | (852) 3943 8775

We look forward to welcoming you tomorrow! 📚✨

05/10/2026

📢 Happening This Friday—Book Launch Reminder!

Only a few days to go! Join us this Friday for Professor Susanne Choi’s new book launch, Q***r Resistance: Contesting State, Family, and Inequality in Post-Socialist China.

📚 Speaker
Professor Susanne Choi
Co-Director, Gender Research Centre; Professor, Department of Sociology, CUHK

💬 Discussants
Professor Travis Kong, Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Lucetta Kam, Department of Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University

🎤 Moderator
Professor Lynne Nakano
Co-Director, Gender Research Centre; Professor and Chair, Department of Japanese Studies, CUHK

🗓️ Date: Friday, 9 October 2026
⏰ Time: 4:00–5:30 pm
📍 Venue: LT2, Esther Lee Building, CUHK
🏫 Format: Onsite only

🔗 Register now:
https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13738760

Enquiries:
✉️ [email protected]
☎️ (852) 3943 8775

We look forward to seeing you this Friday! 📚✨

28/09/2026

📚 Book Talk Reminder!

Our upcoming book talk on Q***r Resistance: Contesting State, Family, and Inequality in Post-Socialist China is just around the corner!

Join us for a thought-provoking discussion with Professor Susanne Choi on her new book, which examines how q***r individuals in post-socialist China challenge and negotiate the intertwined forces of the state, family, and inequality.
We look forward to welcoming you there! 📚✨

Speaker:
Professor Susanne Choi (Co-Director of Gender Research Centre; Professor of Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Discussants:
* Professor Travis Kong (Professor of the Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong);
* Professor Lucetta Kam (Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University)

Moderator:
Professor Lynne Nakano (Co-Director of Gender Research Centre; Professor and Chair of the Department of Japanese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

🗓️Date: 9 October 2026
⏱️Time: 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
🏘Format: Onsite only
🖲️(Updated) Venue: LT 2, Esther Lee Building, CUHK

Registration:
https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13738760

Enquiries:
✉️ [email protected]
☎️ (852) 3943 8775

22/09/2026

🏟 Important Notice: Book Launch Venue Change

The venue for Professor Susanne CHOI's upcoming Book Launch on her new book, Q***r Resistance: Contesting State, Family, and Inequality in Post-Socialist China, has been changed to LT 2, Esther Lee Building, CUHK.

Please take note of the new location. We look forward to welcoming you there! 📚✨

Speaker:
Professor Susanne Choi (Co-Director of Gender Research Centre; Professor of Department of Sociology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Discussants:
* Professor Travis Kong (Professor of the Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong);
* Professor Lucetta Kam (Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing, Hong Kong Baptist University)

Moderator:
Professor Lynne Nakano (Co-Director of Gender Research Centre; Professor and Chair of the Department of Japanese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Date: 9 October 2026
Time: 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Format: Onsite only
(Updated)Venue: LT 2, Esther Lee Building, CUHK

Registration:
https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13738760

Enquiries:
✉️ [email protected]
☎️ (852) 3943 8775

16/09/2026

📢 New Publication!

👏We are delighted to share that Dr. Lingxi Chen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Gender Research Centre, has published a new article in Work, Employment and Society:

“When Public-Sector Employment Becomes Unfriendly to Mothers: How State Control and the Market Economy Impede Mothering in State-Owned Enterprises in Post-Reform China”

Public-sector employment is often regarded as family-friendly for working mothers. Drawing on organizational ethnography and interviews with 21 mothers employed in state-owned enterprises in post-reform China, Dr. Chen's article challenges this view by showing how state control, the market economy, and their interactions can generate job demands that conflict with family needs, employment insecurity, and ineffective on-site childcare support, rendering public-sector employment unfriendly to mothers.

🔥The article enhances scholarly discussions on gender, work, family, and public-sector employment, while offering important insights for the design and implementation of work-family policies.

🔗 Read the article: