• Peter Li
  • Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature

Peter Li  born in Nanjing, China, raised and educated in the United States, Peter Li received his B.A. from the University of Washington (1958) and Ph.D. in Chinese Literature and Civilization from the University of Chicago (1972). He was Associate Professor of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature and formerly Director of the Committee on Asian Studies at Rutgers University before his retirement in 2003. In 1985 he was the Chairman of the Sixth East Coast Asian American Education Conference resulting in UNDERSTANDING ASIAN AMERICANS (Neal-Schuman, 1990). In 1989 the Pro-democracy movement and its subsequently suppression drew him to compile THE ANATOMY OF TIANANMEN SQUARE (Transaction 1991). From 1991-1992 he was the Central Region Coordinator of the New Jersey Multicultural Studies Project. In 1994-1995 he received a Rutgers University Dialogues Grant to research "Multiculturalism Beyond Political Correctness." In 1996-97 he was the recipient of the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation Fellowship for a critical study of the modern Chinese writer, Lao She (1899-1966): "The Life and Times of Lao She: Culture, Art and Politics.” From 1997-2002 he was editor-in-chief of the interdisciplinary journal, EAST ASIA: An International Quarterly focusing on cross-cultural and transnational issues in Asia. Some of his more recent works include, JAPANESE WAR CRIMES: The Search for Justice (Transaction Publishers, 2003), "The Nanking Holocaust: Tragedy, Trauma and Reconciliation," "War and Modernity in Chinese Military Fiction,” and "Hirohito: The Unrepentant Emperor." In 1994 he began teaching a course on the Asia Pacific War 1931-1945 titled “War and Remembrance: Legacies of the Asia Pacific War” until his retirement in 2003. He is the founding president of NJ-ALPHA (New Jersey Alliance for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia). And since 2003 he has been an active participant in seeking redress for the victims of the Japanese atrocities during World War II.

 

Experience

Assoc. Professor of Asian Studies

1972 - 2003      31 years

New Brunswick, New Jersey

Rutgers University

 

Education

  • University of Chicago
  • Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)East Asian Language and Civilizations

Publications

  • Japanese War Crimes: The Search for Justice
  •    Transaction 2003
  • While the Nazi German regime has been prototypical, the actions of the Japanese military regime have been receiving increasing prominence and attention. This collection of essays undertakes the critical task of addressing some of the miltifaceted and complex issues of Japanese war crimes and redress.