Yen-Ting Hsu

Welcome!

I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica. I received my Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego in 2026.

I study historic preservation as a participatory process of urban placemaking. Decisions about what to preserve from the past are also decisions about what kind of city to make for the future. My current research builds on my dissertation on cultural heritage production in 21st-century Taipei. Drawing on mixed methods, my work examines who participates in these processes, how institutions structure whose preferences become consequential, and how these interactions shape preservation outcomes.

Beyond historic preservation, my research encompasses democratic innovations and direct democracy, including participatory budgeting and fiscal democracy through local tax referenda in California. I collaborate with participatory and deliberative democracy practitioners in Taiwan and through global networks such as People Powered.

As an award-winning educator, I am committed to democratizing learning. I approach teaching as a facilitator, creating inclusive and student-centered learning environments in which students take ownership of their own learning. My pedagogical research puts this commitment into practice by developing and evaluating evidence-based teaching strategies that promote deeper student learning. 

Please feel free to reach out to me at yehsu@as.edu.tw. I welcome opportunities to exchange ideas and explore potential collaborations.