Education
Ph.D. Northwestern University, 2020 (expected), German literature and critical thought.
Dissertation: “Transplanting Languages: Botanical Poetics of Paul Celan and Yoko Tawada”
Committee: Anna Parkinson, Peter Fenves, Erica Weitzman
B.A. Brown University, 2013
Cum laude, comparative literature and German studies.
Research and Teaching Interests
20 and 21st century German literature, contemporary migrant literature, literary and cultural plant studies, critical theory.
University Employment
2021-now. Assistant Professor and Junior Research Associate. SI-Mian Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities.
2020-2021 Global Impacts Fellow. Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.
2019. Visiting Research Fellow. Waseda University, Tokyo.
2017-2018. Research Fellow, Paris Program in Critical Theory.
2017 - 2018. Assistant Director and Instructor. Northwestern Global City in The Center of Europe Summer Program, Berlin.
2015 - 2017. Teaching Assistant and Language Instructor. Department of German, Northwestern University.
Publications
Peer-reviewed Journal article
Jan Cao (2022) “The Collector, the Glitcher, and the Denkbilder: Toward a Critical Aesthetic Theory of Video Games,” Games and Culture, 1-17.
Jan Cao (2021) “From “Purpurwort” to Forgiveness: A Tawadian Translation of Celan’s Psalm.” The German Quarterly Vol. 94, Issue 3, 298-314.
Jan Cao (2020) Mathematising the limit of time: Heidegger, Derrida, and the topology of temporality, Journal for Cultural Research, 24:1, 28-41, DOI: 10.1080/14797585.2020.1741776.
Jan Cao (2019) Benjamin’s Chinese Painter: Copying, Adapting, and the Aura of Reproduction, The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, 94:1, 39-56, DOI: 10.1080/00168890.2018.1548423
Literary translations
Ford, Ford Madox, You xie ren mei you [Some Do Not], Volume 1 of Duilie zhi mo [Parade’s End]. Trans. Jan Cao. Shanghai: Joint Publishing, 2017.
Ford, Ford Madox, zai wu dui lie [No More Parades], Volume 2 of Duilie zhi mo [Parade’s End]. Trans. Jan Cao. Shanghai: Joint Publishing, 2017.
Manuscripts In Preparation
Jan Cao. “Concentration, Distraction, Immersion: Attentiveness in the Age of Digital Games.” Revise and resubmit.
Jan Cao. “Demonic Plants and Magical Language: Benjamin and Tawada Reading Ottilie.” Submitted.
Talks and Presentations
Invited Talks
“Transnational Framework of Benjamin’s Denkbilder,” research workshop, Beijing Normal University, China, November 21-22, 2021.
“火星からの翻訳者：ツェランの「頌歌」の多和田式翻訳” (Translator from Mars: A Tawadian Translation of Celan’s “Psalm”). Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. Oral (in Japanese). June 2019.
Conference Presentations
"Fruity Language: Tawada's Post-catastrophic Storytelling," American Comparative Literature Association, Chicago, IL, April 2020. (Cancelled due to COVID-19; presented instead at the Comparative Literary Studies Graduate Colloquium, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, March 2020.)
“From “Purpurwort” to Forgiveness: A Tawadian Translation of Celan’s ‘Psalm’,” German Studies Association Annual Conference, Portland, OR, October 2019.
“Concentration, Distraction, Immersion: Attentiveness in the Age of Digital Games.” Literature and Games Conference, Guangzhou, China. Oral. May 2018.
“Walter Benjamin’s Chinese Painter: A Portal,” International Walter Benjamin Society Conference, Oxford, UK. Oral. September 2017.
“Kafka’s Expressionless Language: Justice and Violence in ‘In der Strafkolonie,’” New York University Graduate Conference, New York, NY. Oral. April 2016.
“The Promise of Happiness Reconsidered,” Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute in European Studies, Europa University Viadrina, Frankfort/Oder, Germany. Oral. July 2015.
Teaching
Main Instructor
Fall 2022. “Introduction to Literary Theory.” (In Chinese)
Spring 2020 and Spring 2016.. GER 101-3: “Beginning German III.”
Winter 2020 and Winter 2016. GER 101-2: “Beginning German II.”
Fall 2019 and Fall 2015. GER 101-1: “Beginning German I."
Summer 2018. GER 102-SA: “Intermediate German.”
Summer 2017. GER 205-SA: “Focus Writing: Migration und Literatur.”
Teaching assistant
Winter 2017. PHIL 220/CLS 217: “Introduction to Critical Theory.”
Fall 2016. CLS 220/GER 236: “Kafka and Nietzsche.”
Spring 2016. PHIL 314/GER 346/HIST 300: “Historical Epistemology.”
Awards, Fellowships and Grants
2021-2022. University Research Grant, East China Normal University.
2020-2021. Buffett Institute Global Impacts Fellowship, Northwestern.
2018. Digital Humanities Research Grant, Northwestern.
2017 - 2018. Paris Program in Critical Theory Fellowship, Northwestern.
2017 and 2018. Conference Travel Grants, Northwestern.
July 2015. Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute Fellowship, University of Minnesota and DAAD.
November 2014. The Graduate School Career Development Grant, Northwestern.
2014 - 2017, 2019 -2020. PhD Fellowship and Assistantship, Northwestern.
2013. Adolph Conrad Ely Prime Prize for Excellence in German Studies, Brown University.
2012. InternXchange Program Fellowship, DAAD.
2011. Asa Clinton Crowell Prize, Brown University.
2009 - 2013. Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies, The Tin Ka Ping Foundation.
Leadership Positions
2015 - 2017. Department of German, Student Representative.
2011 - 2013. Brown University German Club Coordinator.
Professional Society Memberships
German Studies Association
American Association of Teachers of German
Delta Phi Alpha German Honorary Society
Languages
English (bilingual proficiency), Mandarin Chinese (bilingual proficiency), German (fluent), Japanese (fluent/JLPT N1), French (Intermediate), Ancient Greek (elementary)
Ph.D. Northwestern University, 2020 (expected), German literature and critical thought.
Dissertation: “Transplanting Languages: Botanical Poetics of Paul Celan and Yoko Tawada”
Committee: Anna Parkinson, Peter Fenves, Erica Weitzman
B.A. Brown University, 2013
Cum laude, comparative literature and German studies.
Research and Teaching Interests
20 and 21st century German literature, contemporary migrant literature, literary and cultural plant studies, critical theory.
University Employment
2021-now. Assistant Professor and Junior Research Associate. SI-Mian Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities.
2020-2021 Global Impacts Fellow. Buffett Institute for Global Affairs.
2019. Visiting Research Fellow. Waseda University, Tokyo.
2017-2018. Research Fellow, Paris Program in Critical Theory.
2017 - 2018. Assistant Director and Instructor. Northwestern Global City in The Center of Europe Summer Program, Berlin.
2015 - 2017. Teaching Assistant and Language Instructor. Department of German, Northwestern University.
Publications
Peer-reviewed Journal article
Jan Cao (2022) “The Collector, the Glitcher, and the Denkbilder: Toward a Critical Aesthetic Theory of Video Games,” Games and Culture, 1-17.
Jan Cao (2021) “From “Purpurwort” to Forgiveness: A Tawadian Translation of Celan’s Psalm.” The German Quarterly Vol. 94, Issue 3, 298-314.
Jan Cao (2020) Mathematising the limit of time: Heidegger, Derrida, and the topology of temporality, Journal for Cultural Research, 24:1, 28-41, DOI: 10.1080/14797585.2020.1741776.
Jan Cao (2019) Benjamin’s Chinese Painter: Copying, Adapting, and the Aura of Reproduction, The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory, 94:1, 39-56, DOI: 10.1080/00168890.2018.1548423
Literary translations
Ford, Ford Madox, You xie ren mei you [Some Do Not], Volume 1 of Duilie zhi mo [Parade’s End]. Trans. Jan Cao. Shanghai: Joint Publishing, 2017.
Ford, Ford Madox, zai wu dui lie [No More Parades], Volume 2 of Duilie zhi mo [Parade’s End]. Trans. Jan Cao. Shanghai: Joint Publishing, 2017.
Manuscripts In Preparation
Jan Cao. “Concentration, Distraction, Immersion: Attentiveness in the Age of Digital Games.” Revise and resubmit.
Jan Cao. “Demonic Plants and Magical Language: Benjamin and Tawada Reading Ottilie.” Submitted.
Talks and Presentations
Invited Talks
“Transnational Framework of Benjamin’s Denkbilder,” research workshop, Beijing Normal University, China, November 21-22, 2021.
“火星からの翻訳者：ツェランの「頌歌」の多和田式翻訳” (Translator from Mars: A Tawadian Translation of Celan’s “Psalm”). Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. Oral (in Japanese). June 2019.
Conference Presentations
"Fruity Language: Tawada's Post-catastrophic Storytelling," American Comparative Literature Association, Chicago, IL, April 2020. (Cancelled due to COVID-19; presented instead at the Comparative Literary Studies Graduate Colloquium, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, March 2020.)
“From “Purpurwort” to Forgiveness: A Tawadian Translation of Celan’s ‘Psalm’,” German Studies Association Annual Conference, Portland, OR, October 2019.
“Concentration, Distraction, Immersion: Attentiveness in the Age of Digital Games.” Literature and Games Conference, Guangzhou, China. Oral. May 2018.
“Walter Benjamin’s Chinese Painter: A Portal,” International Walter Benjamin Society Conference, Oxford, UK. Oral. September 2017.
“Kafka’s Expressionless Language: Justice and Violence in ‘In der Strafkolonie,’” New York University Graduate Conference, New York, NY. Oral. April 2016.
“The Promise of Happiness Reconsidered,” Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute in European Studies, Europa University Viadrina, Frankfort/Oder, Germany. Oral. July 2015.
Teaching
Main Instructor
Fall 2022. “Introduction to Literary Theory.” (In Chinese)
Spring 2020 and Spring 2016.. GER 101-3: “Beginning German III.”
Winter 2020 and Winter 2016. GER 101-2: “Beginning German II.”
Fall 2019 and Fall 2015. GER 101-1: “Beginning German I."
Summer 2018. GER 102-SA: “Intermediate German.”
Summer 2017. GER 205-SA: “Focus Writing: Migration und Literatur.”
Teaching assistant
Winter 2017. PHIL 220/CLS 217: “Introduction to Critical Theory.”
Fall 2016. CLS 220/GER 236: “Kafka and Nietzsche.”
Spring 2016. PHIL 314/GER 346/HIST 300: “Historical Epistemology.”
Awards, Fellowships and Grants
2021-2022. University Research Grant, East China Normal University.
2020-2021. Buffett Institute Global Impacts Fellowship, Northwestern.
2018. Digital Humanities Research Grant, Northwestern.
2017 - 2018. Paris Program in Critical Theory Fellowship, Northwestern.
2017 and 2018. Conference Travel Grants, Northwestern.
July 2015. Trans-Atlantic Summer Institute Fellowship, University of Minnesota and DAAD.
November 2014. The Graduate School Career Development Grant, Northwestern.
2014 - 2017, 2019 -2020. PhD Fellowship and Assistantship, Northwestern.
2013. Adolph Conrad Ely Prime Prize for Excellence in German Studies, Brown University.
2012. InternXchange Program Fellowship, DAAD.
2011. Asa Clinton Crowell Prize, Brown University.
2009 - 2013. Scholarship for Undergraduate Studies, The Tin Ka Ping Foundation.
Leadership Positions
2015 - 2017. Department of German, Student Representative.
2011 - 2013. Brown University German Club Coordinator.
Professional Society Memberships
German Studies Association
American Association of Teachers of German
Delta Phi Alpha German Honorary Society
Languages
English (bilingual proficiency), Mandarin Chinese (bilingual proficiency), German (fluent), Japanese (fluent/JLPT N1), French (Intermediate), Ancient Greek (elementary)
