PhD Candidate | Modern China, Christianity, and Rural Society
Aixin Yi is a historian of modern China working at the intersection of Christianity, rural society, and social reform. Advised by Dr. Eugenio Menegon, she is completing a dissertation on Christian rural reconstruction in Sichuan and Chongqing during the War of Resistance against Japan (1937–1945). Her research examines how Protestant organizations pursued agricultural development, cooperative movements, education, and social services in rural China, and how these efforts were connected to broader wartime projects of nation-building.
Yi’s recent scholarship also examines women’s participation in Christian social service. Her article, “Women at the Frontlines of Faith: Christian Service and Rural Reconstruction in Wartime Sichuan,” appeared in the Journal of the Study on Religion and History in 2025. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Tsinghua University and an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Duke University. She enjoys bringing historical scholarship to wider audiences and was a finalist in Boston University’s 2026 Three Minute Thesis competition, where she presented her dissertation research to a general audience.