Prof. Kang-i Sun Chang is recognized as a scholar of classical Chinese literature with a focus on comparative studies of poetry, literary criticism, gender studies, and cultural theory/aesthetics. She has published nine books in English and over thirty books in Chinese. In February 2012, she received the DeVane Medal for excellence in undergraduate teaching and scholarship. (Awarded by the Yale Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa). In April 2015, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts of Sciences. In June 2021 she retired from 39 years of teaching and has since actively involved in the activities at Yale's Henry Koerner Center for Emeritus Faculty. Born in Peking (today's Beijing) in 1944 but grew up in Taiwan in the 1950s as the daughter of a political prisoner during the White Terror, Chang came to the U.S. in 1968 and later found in America a place that her heart could call home. Chang is currently trying to finish a memoir, tentatively titled "Saved by America: A Memoir of the Daughter of a Political Prisoner," reminiscing her life in the U.S. for more than half a century. Throughout the whole book, Chang takes a unique multifaceted approach, combining personal and intellectual trajectories with historical, political, and cultural studies.
