David Emminger
PhD Student in History and Asian Studies
207 Weaver Building
212 Curtin Road University Park, PA 16802
Education:
Research MA in Asian Studies, Leiden University (Netherlands), Cum Laude
BA in Sinology/Chinese Studies, University of Vienna (Austria), Summa Cum Laude/With the Highest Distinction
Biography:
Before coming to Penn State, David Emminger studied Sinology (Chinese Studies), Japanology (Japanese Studies), Asian Studies, and Romance Studies (with a focus on French language, literature, and culture) in Vienna, Leiden, Beijing, Osaka, and Honolulu. From 2023 to 2025, he worked as a Junior Data Collector/predoctoral research assistant in the international research project ReConnect China, funded by the European Union. His dissertation research focuses on depictions of the Ryukyu Kingdom (modern-day Okinawa) in Ryukyuan, Chinese, and Japanese historiography and related historical texts, thereby analyzing relations between late imperial China, early modern Japan, and the Kingdom of Ryukyu. His work at Penn State is supervised by Professor Gregory Smits.
Research Interests:
History of East and Southeast Asia; History of Premodern China, Japan, and the Ryukyu Islands; Comparative Historiography; Theories and Politics of Legitimacy, Identity, and Nationalism.
Publications:
Emminger, David. “What Heaven Has Abandoned: Historiography and Political Legitimacy in the Kingdom of Ryūkyū.” Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies 16, no. 1 (February 2025): 255–282.
Wallenböck, Ute, and David Emminger. “East.West RURBANITY – Towards a Sustainable Future for Rural and Urban Settlements. A Gift from the Past for the Future: Cultural Heritage as a Source for Future Scenarios.” ASIEN – The German Journal on Contemporary Asia 140 (July 2016): 133–134.
Most Recent Awards:
2025: University Graduate Fellowship, The Pennsylvania State University.