Kathlene Baldanza

I am a historian of pre-colonial Vietnam whose research explores diplomacy, book history, and cultural exchange across East and Southeast Asia.

My book Ming China and Vietnam: Negotiating Borders in Early Modern Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2016), argues for understanding Sino-Vietnamese relations during the Ming and Mạc periods through negotiation and mutual exchange. With Zhao Lu, I translated and introduced Miscellany of the South Seas: A Chinese Scholar’s Chronicle of Shipwreck and Travel through 1830s Vietnam, which received the runner-up Hanan Prize for Translation from the Association for Asian Studies in 2026. Our research revealed a strong and efficient early Nguyễn state that was engaged with the wider world. My articles (listed below) examine how books, knowledge, and the environment shaped political and cultural exchange across East and Southeast Asia.

My teaching spans the histories of East and Southeast Asia and emphasizes experiential learning. In my History of the Book course, students make paper, handle rare books from Penn State’s Special Collections, and explore the material history of texts firsthand. In May 2027, I will lead students to Vietnam as part of an embedded study-abroad course. I received the College of the Liberal Arts Outstanding Teaching Award in 2025.

My current book project examines the Nguyễn dynasty’s diplomatic engagement with the United States and the wider world during the first half of the nineteenth century, with particular attention to information networks, maritime encounters, and the regional consequences of the Opium War.