Nora is a historian of modern East Asia, specializing in the period from 1600 to 2000. Her research examines the social interactions among diverse communities in the Qing Empire, the Republic of China, and the People’s Republic of China, with particular attention to the ways power and identity shaped social and economic development. She also engages with broader questions on the roots of inequality and the processes of modernization, and she conducts her research across nine languages.
She is a member of the European Research Council funded GloCoBank project at the University of Oxford, which explores the global history of banking and finance. GloCoBank seeks to compile and analyze extensive datasets and combining them with archival research, thus creating a comprehensive resource for studying the patterns and dynamics of international banking. As part of her role in GloCoBank, Nora is leading publications on East Asia’s banking and correspondent networks, with forthcoming six outputs in the form of book chapters and journal articles.
Her current projects extend beyond GloCoBank with four major areas: the material culture of Qing, Republican, and contemporary China; legal pluralism and borderland governance in the Qing Empire; the origins of East Asia’s payment systems and international trade; and the environmental, political, and economic history of Jiangbei.
Nora's first academic monograph, "Living the Qing Way: Objects, Power, and Identity in Late Imperial China" which is in preparation with Cornell University Press, scrutinizes the cultural and ethnic identity of the elite in the Qing Empire. Focusing on material culture, it examines the Qing elite's possessions, as recorded in confiscation inventories, to provide insights into their identity, through dress, household goods and cultural and literary activities. The findings challenge the theory of Han assimilation, suggesting that the Manchu elite preserved a distinct cultural identity separate to their Han peers. It also uncovers evidence of a unified hybrid Qing culture shared by Manchu and Han senior officials that was distinct from the Manchu and Han cultures that persisted among the populace. Signs of this "unified" Qing culture existed more widely in the public sphere. In the domestic sphere, it was evident only in the homes of wealthy senior officials. The remaining elite Han and Manchus continued to adhere distinctly to their ancestral ways of living.
Nora's second book, "Encounters: The Qing Empire in 50 Objects" contracted with Routledge, offers an engaging exploration of the Qing China through a curated selection of fifty objects that define its history, culture, and legacy. This book aims to provide both general readers and students with an accessible yet comprehensive look at one of China’s most influential periods. Each object serves as a tangible connection to the past, offering insights into the daily lives, politics, art, technology, and social changes during the Qing Dynasty. The richness of material culture from the Qing dynasty and ancient China provides the foundation for this book, which aims to rewrite Qing history through objects. This book seeks to encompass the entire Qing period, including elites and commoners, women, men, and transgender individuals, across all territories. Most research angles focus on one or a few aspects of the Qing dynasty and relatively short time periods. Examining 50 objects opens multiple windows for the audience to witness historical changes through private and public displays of power, identity, emotions, and belief.
Nora is also working on a Manchu textbook, "The Manchu State in Its Own Words: A Textbook and Sourcebook" (UCL Press), the first pedagogical work of its kind to teach Manchu entirely through original script rather than romanization to English-speaking learners. Drawing on a curated selection of institutional documents from the Qing archives, the book introduces students to the Manchu language through the political, administrative, and rhetorical forms that defined early modern empire. Designed for both classroom and independent use, the volume offers a dual function: as a language primer grounded in philological precision, and as a primary source reader tracing the transformation of Qing governance across genres and reigns.
Nora received her Ph.D. in Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2022. Before joining UCL as a member of the permanent research and teaching faculty, lecturer/assistant professor in 2024, she taught at both the LSE and the University of Oxford.
In her free time, Nora enjoys both music and archery. She has played the piano for about twenty years and the violin for six. She formed a rock band in high school, playing piano, drum, and guitar. At Mount Holyoke, she joined the violin ensemble. More recently, she has taken up the oud. Alongside music, she practices both modern and Qing-style archery. In modern archery, she has reached the Purple Star level with a score of 575 out of 600.
Mount Holyoke Violin ensemble (2017)
