External Research Associate
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology, American University of Paris
Research Keywords:
Psychology in the China-globe dynamics; cultural politics; Chinese immigrants
Research Region(s):
China
Research Diaspora(s):
Chinese Diaspora
Professor Zed Zhipeng Gao joined the American University of Paris in 2021. Gao has an interdisciplinary background: he holds a PhD in the historical, theoretical, and critical studies of psychology and has conducted postdoctoral research in sociology and anthropology.
Gao鈥檚 research falls into two main clusters. The first examines the history of psychology under Chinese communism, focusing on the normative function of psychological science in shaping the population toward state objectives. The second investigates the impact of global geopolitics on the identities of the Chinese diaspora in racial, national and cultural terms. More recently, he has turned toward theoretical research that draws on poststructuralism to bring critical inquiry to existing theoretical and methodological frameworks.
Gao has published more than 20 journal articles and book chapters. His work has appeared in venues including Review of General Psychology, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Social Anthropology, Narrative Inquiry, History of Psychology, and History of Science. He has (co-)edited special issues of Theory & Psychology (SAGE) and Integrative
Psychological and Behavioral Science (Springer) as well as a book volume on Cultural Politics in Indigenous Psychology (Palgrave). A member of the editorial board of Theory & Psychology, Gao is also a co-organizer of the 2025 Three Societies Meeting (ESHHS, Cheiron and SHP) in Paris. Gao has received several awards in international psychology, the history of psychology, theoretical psychology, and qualitative inquiry.