Biography
Tianran Hang received her B.A. from University of Pennsylvania in Chinese and Japanese Studies in 2016, and her M.A. in Japanese Studies in 2017. She is now a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Religion at Columbia University, continuing her passionate exploration of the Japanese yōkai – spirits, specters, and shape-shifters. Her research interest focuses on the interpenetration of religious, literature, and cultural spheres in the formation, dissemination, and representation of yōkai, which both shape and are shaped by the Japanese understandings and experiences of the world and beyond. When she is not working, Tianran indulges herself in the fantastic world of Japanese popular culture, watching anime and reading manga, enjoying the frequent delight of seeing a familiar yōkai springs up between pages and on screen.