Paul B. Foster is Associate Professor of Chinese in the School of Modern Languages at Georgia Tech. He is the author of Jin Yong’s Martial Arts Fiction and the Kungfu Industrial Complex (Lexington Press, 2023), Ah Q Archaeology: Lu Xun, Ah Q, Ah Q’s Progeny and the National Character Discourse in Twentieth-Century China (Lexington Press, 2006), as well as a number of journal articles and conference papers. Dr. Foster’s current research is on Chinese Sci-Fi, exploring Liu Cixin’s “Three Body Problem” and researching the issues of posthumanism and dystopia in Chinese sci-fi.
Dr. Foster teaches the spectrum of Chinese language and culture courses at Georgia Tech and enjoys introducing students to contemporary Chinese culture through varied media. This includes language courses using authentic materials for the study of language and culture: pop music, martial arts fiction, The Art of War, kungfu film, and modern Chinese literature (Lu Xun). Dr. Foster is designer and Co-director of Georgia Tech’s intensive Chinese summer language program hosted at Shanghai Jiaotong University—Chinese Language for Business and Technology (LBAT). He also designed the University System of Georgia Summer Study in China, and served as Program Director and/or On-site Co-director during the summers of 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002. Dr. Foster is faculty advisor to both the Chinese Student Association and the Hong Kong Student Association. He was recipient of Ivan Allen College’s E. Roe Stamps Excellence in Teaching Award for Junior Faculty, 2002-2003.
Dr. Foster received his Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Literatures from the Ohio State University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.
