About

Nathan Faries has taught at Bates since 2014 and has been a student of Chinese language and culture since 1997. He taught at universities in Hong Kong and Beijing for several years while completing his PhD in Comparative Literature, and he has led several short-term study trips to Beijing, Xi’an, and Hong Kong for students at Bates and other American schools. Dr. Faries teaches courses in Chinese language, modern and contemporary Chinese literature, including science fiction from China, and a first-year seminar comparing Chinese and American conceptions of diversity. Dr. Faries wrote his dissertation on the impact of narratives on Chinese religious identity and on US-China cross-cultural perception. His book on these issues, The “Inscrutably Chinese” Church, was published in 2010. He has also published essays on Su Xuelin, a Modern Chinese Catholic novelist. Two recent book chapters by Faries include a co-authored essay on portrayals of Buddhism in recent adaptations of the classic novel Journey to the West, as well as an exploration of Chinese spiritual practice as it contrasts with Western Christian spirituality. Professor Faries has translated several science fiction stories by Chinese authors, including Liu Cixin and Han Song, and these have appeared in Future Science Fiction Digest and The Digital Aesthete.