John Wagner Givens is an Associate Professor in the International Studies Department at Spelman College. He earned his Doctorate in Politics from the University of Oxford and his Masters in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley. He has been interviewed by Grid News, Georgia Public Broadcasting and Chinese Central Television and has published in a variety of venues including: China Quarterly, Global Policy Journal, The Review of Policy Research, Fordham Urban Law Journal, Wisconsin International Law Journal, New Global Studies, Journal of East Asian Studies, War on the Rocks, and Newsweek.

John has conducted research and published on a variety of topics including online politics in Asia, the Malaysian media, legal advice websites, smart cities, and Chinese politics, law, and foreign policy. He works as an expert witness on China-related legal cases, particularly asylum and criminal cases.