Meet the team

Director

Professor David S G Goodman

David Goodman is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Government and International Relations, University of Sydney; Emeritus Professor in the Department of China Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, in Suzhou, China; and Emeritus Professor in the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology, Sydney. During 2017-21 he was Vice President for Academic Affairs at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, where he had previously established the Department of China Studies. 2012-2016 he was a PRC Ministry of Education Distinguished Overseas Academic at Nanjing University in the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences. 2004-2009 he was DVC International at University of Technology, Sydney, where he had previously established the International Studies Program.

Professor Goodman’s research concentrates on social and political change at the local level in China in the 20th and 21st Centuries. He is currently working on a project to examine Local Governance in China, and another considering Gender, Intimacy, and Equality in China. His most recent published research includes a two volume social history of China in the last hundred years, with Marc Blecher, Yingjie Guo, Jean-Louis Rocca, Tony Saich, and Beibei Tang – Class and the Communist Party of China.  Other recent publications include David Goodman and Shigeto Sonoda (ed)  China Impact: Threat Perception in the Asia-Pacific Region; David Goodman (ed) Handbook of the Politics of China; and David S G Goodman Class in Contemporary China.

Centre Administrator

Yanping Zhang

Ping is the Centre Administrator and works closely with the Director to deliver programs and events. Prior to joining the China Studies Centre, Ping worked as freelance translator and gallery assistant at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art after completion of a Master in Art Curatorship from the University of Sydney. Ping holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communications and Sociology) from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has studied, worked and lived in London, Shanghai and Sydney and is passionate about cross-cultural communication and collaboration. Ping speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English.