Xiao Tang ‘18

This bio is current as of 2020.

Flora Tang is originally from Beijing, China. During her doctoral studies, she hopes to explore a theology of liturgy and sacraments in post-traumatic or post-conflict settings in the Global South. Her research interests stem from the question of how religious communities embody and remember their collective trauma. Her constructive theology project will draw upon concepts from both memory studies and comparative literature studies. Outside of her research, Tang writes poetry that incorporates imagery from queer theology and the Catholic literary imagination. Tang received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in Political Science and Theology, and an M.T.S. in Religion and Literature from Harvard Divinity School. Prior to joining the Kroc Institute's program, she served as the program coordinator for Harvard College’s summer public service program. Tang is a Richard and Peggy Notebaert Premier Fellow and a John and Judy Scully Fellow in Peace Studies.

This profile was current as of 2018, when she was part of the on-campus Kellogg community.

Thesis: Religious Nationalism and Response to Suppression of Nonviolent protests in the Middle East

I’m currently working on a senior thesis exploring the relationship between the resiliency of nonviolent protests in the Middle East in the face of violent suppression and the extent to which these protests are influenced by a politicized or nationalistic religious ideology. This research is inspired by my semester abroad of studying and researching in Jerusalem. I will be working on this senior thesis under the guidance of my senior thesis adviser, Professor Michael Hoffman. Meanwhile, I will continue to work with my Kellogg faculty adviser, Professor James McAdams on his research on the global communist party.

The summer after my sophomore year, I served in a hospice and a clinic in Kolkata, India while learning about issues in disability rights & health care in India through an opportunity funded by the Center for Social Concerns. In my junior year, I received a winter break research grant through ISLA to conduct research on the political theology & the collective memories of religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Shanghai, China. I then spent my junior year spring semester and the following summer studying abroad in Jerusalem, taking Arabic courses, and researching the intersection between religion and nationalism in Palestine.