Centre College Assistant Professor Mei Li Inouye will present a lecture titled “The Experience of Absence: Tracking Taboo Topics through Archives, Oral Histories, Anecdotes and Artifacts” on Thursday in the Multipurpose Room of the Honors College and International Center. 

Inouye’s lecture will explore how silence and absence surrounding taboo subjects can be traced through archived materials, oral histories and cultural artifacts, according to a flyer for the event. The event offers a unique opportunity to engage with interdisciplinary research that connects culture, history and representation. 

Inouye is an assistant professor of Chinese and the founder of the Chinese Program at Centre College. Her research focuses on transnational exchange, gender politics and performance in modern Chinese literature and culture.  

She holds a Ph.D. in Chinese Literature from Stanford University, with scholarship supported by the CLIR-Mellon Fellowship, the Stanford Humanities Center and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.