Simon Lam
St Antony's College
Research Topic
Shunde County from Post-war to Civil War: The Political Reconstruction of Guangdong, 1944-1949
Supervisors: Professor Rana Mitter & Dr Jennifer Altehenger
Twitter: @simonlam98
I am a DPhil Candidate in History at St Antony's College, supervised by Professors Rana Mitter and Jennifer Altehenger, and generously funded by the Swire Scholarship and the Great Britain-China Educational Trust. My thesis investigates the vision, planning and implementation of reconstruction in South China by various political actors following the destructive Second Sino-Japanese War, through a case study of Shunde County, Guangdong. It fundamentally seeks to understand why the Guomindang failed to convince its allies, adversaries and the populace to support a party-led political reconstruction of China, and conversely, why the Chinese Communist Party succeeded.
My research interests are in the history of war in modern China in all its aspects, from operational history to the societal impact of war, with a main research focus on the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. My research also encompasses more generally the social and political history of China's Republican Era, 1911-1949. The impact of warlordism on Chinese society and its continued influence into the 1930s and 1940s is a particular interest of mine.
I hold a MA in History of War from King’s College London and a BA in History and Ancient History from the University of Exeter. Prior to arriving at Oxford, I worked at the Hong Kong and South China Historical Research Programme based in Lingnan University, Hong Kong. I am currently a convenor of the Oxford International History of East Asia Seminar series, a founder and convenor of the Oxford China Reading Group, and a DPhil Associate at the University of Oxford China Centre.
I am enthusiastic about public outreach, and have been active in disseminating historical knowledge and methods in the public sphere through the AskHistorians public history project on Reddit as both a contributor and a moderator over the past few years.
