Former St Cross Master, Emeritus Fellow & Harvard Professor featured on BBC Sounds Podcast

Professor Rana Mitter OBE, St Cross College’s former interim Master, Emeritus Fellow & now ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at The Harvard Kennedy School, recently featured in an episode of BBC Podcast series – In Our Time. 

In the episode Empress Dowager Cixi, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Cixi (1835-1908), who dominated the Chinese court for nearly fifty years. Initially one of the Emperor's concubines, she distinguished herself by bearing his only son and demonstrating exceptional political acumen and ambition. When her young son became emperor, Cixi ruled through him, and after his death, through another child emperor. During a period of rapid change and repeated humiliations by western powers and Japan, Cixi had opportunities to implement crucial modernizing reforms. However, she often obstructed or delayed these reforms when they conflicted with her or the Qing dynasty's interests, leading to her being blamed for many of China's humiliations, even when she was not directly at fault. 

Following the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings, Professor Mitter also appeared on BBC Radio 4 in the episode Generations - D-Day - Global Instability from the series Free Thinking. Host Anne McElvoy led a discussion on what divides and unites everyone in a fracturing world, set against the backdrop of D-Day commemorations honouring "the finest generation" and political parties targeting different age groups in the UK election. 

Professor Mitter, who was Interim Master of St Cross College, did his MA, MPhil and PhD from University of Cambridge and DPhil Oriental Studies from Wolfson College, University of Oxford. 

Currently, he is the ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations at Harvard Kennedy School. His book, Forgotten Ally: China’s World War II (2013), won the 2014 RUSI/Duke of Westminster’s Medal for Military Literature and was named a Book of the Year by the Financial Times and The Economist. His latest book is China’s Good War: How World War II is Shaping a New Nationalism (2020). Professor Mitter's writings on contemporary China have appeared in notable publications such as Foreign Affairs and The Guardian. He regularly comments on China globally, including at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and his documentary "Meanwhile in Beijing" is on BBC Sounds. He co-authored the report “Conceptualizing a UK-China Engagement Strategy” and received the 2020 Medlicott Medal for Service to History. Previously, he taught at Oxford and is a Fellow of the British Academy. 

Professor Mitter’s selected publications can be found – here.