Occupation
Graduate Student (Doctoral)
Contact
845 N. Park Ave.
Room 440
Tucson
AZ
85721
United States
ABOUT
Jie Gao is a dual Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona. His research centers on transnational migration, immigrant entrepreneurship, and the informal economies of diasporic communities in the MENA region. He is currently completing his dissertation, “Reenacting Ibn Battuta: Chinese Migrant Entrepreneurs and the New Frontiers of Globalization in Morocco.” Beyond his dissertation project, Jie has begun preliminary data collection for other research projects, including an ethnographic study on petty business activities among sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco and a historical-anthropological study on the Vietnamese spouses of repatriated Moroccan soldiers who fought for France in the First Indochina War. While trained as a cultural anthropologist, Jie’s research integrates a strongly applied perspective, offering policy-relevant insights into global migration governance and economic empowerment.
Discipline
Anthropology
Sub Areas
African Studies
Development
Ethnography
Globalization
Maghreb Studies
Trade/Investment
Transnationalism
Geographic Areas of Interest
Morocco
Maghreb
Algeria
Tunisia
China
Africa (Sub-Saharan)
Specialties
Transnational Entrepreneurship
Informality
Migration
Languages
Arabic (advanced)
Chinese (native)
English (fluent)
Hebrew (intermediate)
French (intermediate)
Moroccan (intermediate)
Education
MA
| 2018
| School of Arabic Studies
| Beijing Foreign Studies University
MA
| 2018
| Rothberg International School
| The Hebrew University in Jerusalem
BA
| 2015
| School of Arabic Studies
| Beijing Foreign Studies University
Abstracts
Doctors as Informal Diplomats: Chinese Medical Teams in Algeria
Casual Informality and Social Reproduction: The “Huan Qian” Practice in the Chinese Business Community in Morocco
