Baiyi Du

Biography

I am a Ph.D. Candidate specializing in Late Imperial and Modern China. I am interested in the intersection of natural resource management, economic history, and state capacity. My current dissertation investigates the administration of mineral resources and related criminal activities in 18th and 19th century South China. I am interested in the historical development of modern infrastructure, such as the role of railways in Chinese state-building.

Education

M.A. in History, University of Wisconsin Madison
M.A. in Historical Study, The New School for Social Research
B.A. in History & International Affairs, University of Colorado Boulder

Field

• East Asian History

MA Title

• “Missing Minerals and Where to Find Them: State, Fraud, and Mining in Qing Dynasty Hunan Province”

Selected Awards

• 2025 Kate Everest Levi Second-Year Paper Prize

Courses Taught as TA

• HIST 103 Survey of Chinese History
• HIST 201 The Historian’s Craft: How do Empires End? Defeat, Occupation, and Post-Imperial Japan
• HIST 146 Global History of Now
• HIST 255 Introduction to East Asian Civilizations