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William A. Joseph is Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College. His major area of research interest is contemporary Chinese politics and ideology, particularly the radicalism of Mao Zedong and its impact on China's political and economic development. In addition to China, his teaching interests include revolutionary movements, communist and post-communist regimes, the Vietnam War and the political economy of development. His recent publications include Politics in China: An Introduction (editor, Oxford University Press, 3rd ed., 2019; 4th ed. forthcoming in June 2024) and Introduction to Comparative Politics: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas, (co-editor, 8th ed., Cengage, 2018), He is an Associate of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. Prof. Joseph was the founding faculty director of the Elisabeth Luce Moore '24 Wellesley-Yenching Program, which supports the College's ties to East Asia and has also served as the director Wellesley's International Relations, East Asian Studies, and Washington Internship programs. He was chair of the Department of Political Science from 1997-2000 and 2012-2019.

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