I am researching the Chinese Catholic community of Shanghai and their understanding of modern Chinese nationalism in the Republican period, 1911-1949. 

I will explore how the Chinese Catholics in Shanghai understood their religious identity, and whether they saw themselves as belonging to a religious community in urban Shanghai. I will investigate how being a member of the Catholic Church in early 20th century Shanghai - an international organisation dominated by mostly European missionaries, influenced their understanding of Chinese nationalism. I am interested in how the Chinese Catholics perceived thier roles in the modern Chinese nation. 

For interest in modern China, my research aim to demonstrate the diversity in the interpretation of modern Chinese nationalism, and modernity. Beyond China, I hope to contribute to the discussion of different communities in the colonial world's understanding of nationalism. I will engage with Partha Chatterjee's Nationalist Thought in a Colonial World in explore how the Chinese Catholics engaged with Western ideas. I hope to show that there were competing ideas in the West that nationalists in Asia chose to engage with and adopt.