韩泊明
Amir Hampel is a professor at New York University Shanghai.
He completed doctoral studies at the University of Chicago.
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psychological, medical, and cultural anthropologist
ethnographic insights from the heart of China
youth culture • mental health • Chinese medicine
culture shapes treatments
treatments shapes culture
I am a cultural and medical anthropologist specializing in contemporary China. I have been studying and working in greater China since 2003, including in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Kunming, Hong Kong, and Taipei. I completed doctoral studies at the University of Chicago’s Department of Comparative Human Development, a world-leading center for the study of human behavior across social and cultural contexts. I have over fifteen years of experience conducting qualitative research using participant observation, interviews, focus groups, surveys, and analysis of texts including best-selling books, news reports, and social media content.
My work has an impact on conversations about popular culture in China, youth mental health globally, and on future of Chinese medicine. In addition to engaging with academic networks,
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I am in dialogue with young content creators, psychotherapists, and Chinese medicine clinicians. I have given extensive public lectures, consulted for media platforms, and collaborated with youth organizations and market research firms in China. I am a professor at New York University Shanghai, where I teach about qualitative methods, Chinese youth culture, and about the anthropology of China, mental health, and medicine. I have taught courses for the University of Chicago, Southern University of Science and Technology, and New York University, and have led seminars at Renmin University of China, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Peking University, and the Council on International Educational Exchange.
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EXPERTISE
youth: consumer culture; self-presentation and social media; sex, gender, and social class; morality and individualism
mental health: self-help groups; psychotherapy; childhood psychosocial interventions; mindfulness; wellness and mind-body health
chinese medicine: emerging uses for insomnia, fertility, and mental health; science, clinical practice, and embodied knowledge
METHODS
qualitative field research
interviews and focus groups
analysis of popular texts and social media
ABOUT
over twenty years of experience in greater China
PhD from world leading department for studies of culture and psychology
award-winning publications in top journals
extensive experience in public speaking, media engagement, and research collaboration with companies and social organizations
active networks in fields of academic and market research, wellness, psychotherapy, and Chinese medicine, both in China and internationally
FOCUS
My research investigates social change, youth culture, mental health, and Chinese medicine in urban China, and has focused on:
→ urban youth, individualism, and consumer culture
→ self-help psychology, psychotherapy, and mental health online
→ emerging applications for Chinese medicine
These projects are driven by a few central questions:
→ How do youth establish a sense of self in megacities and online?
→ How does social change shape young people's anxieties about self-presentation?
→ How do people use popular psychological concepts to understand everyday anxieties and aspirations?
→ How does Chinese medicine fit into contemporary scientific, cultural, and healthcare landscapes?
insight
CHINESE YOUTH
MENTL HEALTH
CLINICAL MEDICINE
conducted extensive field research on individualistic values among students and young professionals in China
teach courses on Youth and Consumer Culture in China, Ethnographies of Change in China, and Identity and Social Change to Chinese and international students
supervised hundreds of research projects about Chinese youth and consumer culture, including papers and theses based interviews, focus groups, and on analysis of social media and e-commerce sites
consulted about Chinese youth culture by media outlets including the New York Times, ABC Australia, and Channel News Asia
conducted extensive field research on psychological self-help groups popular with Chinese youth
ongoing research on mental health discourses in popular texts and social media sites
teach courses including An Anthropology of Mental Illness, Mental Illness in Global Perspective, An Anthropology of Anxiety, Culture and Mental Health, and Psychology and Modernity in China
collaborate with psychotherapists and college counselors in China and the US to understand psychological pressures facing youth
field research on Buddhist clergy in hospice care and on mindfulness based mental health interventions
field research on the use of Chinese medicine for childhood developmental disorders including ADHD and autism
field research and analysis of social media and e-commerce sites, both in China and North America, analyzing popular uses of Chinese medicine for mind-body disorders including insomnia, menstruation and fertility problems, and depression
teach courses on Medicine and Society and about medical anthropology and Chinese medicine
Thinking is better when done together.
For inquiries or collaborations, please contact me at amir.hampel@nyu.edu
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