Chao Ren

Fields of Study

• Modern South and Southeast Asia
• Colonialism and Empire
• Environment, Science, and Technology
• History of Capitalism
• Legal History

Awards

• International Dissertation Research Fellowship, Social Science Research Council
• Pattana Kitiarsa Prize for Best Graduate Student Paper, Southeast Asia Council, Association for Asian Studies
• Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan
• Small Grants for Legal History Research, American Society for Legal History
• History Project Research Grant, Joint Center for History and Economics, Harvard University
• Alfred D. Chandler Jr. Travel Fellowship, Harvard Business School
• Rackham Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award
• Sidney Fine Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award

Publications

• "The Spectre of Ma Phyu? Loyalty, Competence, and the Spatial Dynamics of Imperial Administration in Colonial Burma." Modern Asian Studies, Volume 58, April 2024.
• "Global Circulation of Low-End Expertise: Knowledge, Hierarchy, and Labor Migration in a Burmese Oilfield." History of Science, Volume 61, Issue 4, December 2023.
• "From the Allegheny to the Irrawaddy: American Oil Drillers in Colonial Burma." Journal of Energy History/Revue d’Histoire de l’Énergie, No. 9, December 2022.