Lena Scheen

Lena Scheen is an Assistant Professor of Global China Studies at NYU Shanghai. Prior to joining NYU Shanghai, she taught at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam. She holds a PhD from Leiden University and was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the International Institute for Asian Studies. Scheen is a member of the Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA).
Scheen’s research explores the social and cultural impact of China’s fast urbanization, focusing on Shanghai. Her publications include Shanghai Literary Imaginings: A City in Transformation (Amsterdam University Press, 2015) and the edited volume Spectacle and the City: Chinese Urbanities in Popular Culture and Art (AUP, 2013).
Education
- PhD, Chinese Literature
Leiden University - MA, Chinese Studies
Leiden University
Research Interests
- Urbanization in China
- Shanghai History and Culture
- Chinese Literature
- Contemporary Urban Cinema and Art
- Urban Renewal
Courses Taught
- From Qing to the Republic: Social Debates in China
- Global China Studies Independent Study
- Global Connections
- Global Connections: Shanghai
- Global Orientations: Introduction to Contemporary China
- Growing Shanghai: Shrinking Detroit
- Shanghai Stories
- Social and Cultural Debates in 20th Century China