Mi Wang

Dissertation

I received my BA in Translation and Interpreting at the Zhejiang Normal University, China in 2016, and my MA in Archaeology at the Boston University in 2018. My undergraduate studies mainly focused on theories and methods of translating from the original language to the article target language, cross-cultural communication, and my thesis dealt with the translational restitution of several classical Chinese literature. My interest in further understanding culture via the material culture brought me to Archaeology. During my MA, I pursued archaeological theories and methods, archaeological sciences, and cultural heritage management. My MA project investigated the identity formation in Neolithic Liangzhu Culture in south China using Geographic Information System (GIS) as well as the legacy of Liangzhu in the present Jiangnan region, put forward my own hypothesis and suggestion for future cultural heritage management plan based on archaeological data, reports, museum displays, and is an example of the three- dimensional (past-present-future) relationship that I have always been interested in.

From the result of my MA project, I suspect that there might be a transformation of the cultural identity during the mid-to-late Liangzhu period. At ISAW, I wish to further explore the existence of this transformation, and whether/how it influenced other cultural behaviors such as diet through the studies of stable isotope analysis, archaeobotany, and residue analysis. Furthermore, I want to investigate how non-Central Plains cultures in China like Liangzhu was embodied into the modern concept of Chinese Civilization, and how these social memories have influenced the contemporary interpretations of these cultures.