Lillian Tsay is a historian of modern East Asia whose work examines the history of food and empire, gender, and science and technology studies. As a Ph.D. candidate at Brown University’s History Department, her dissertation project explores how food, especially Western-style confectionery such as chocolate, caramel, and gum was produced and consumed in the Japanese Empire. Prior to coming to Brown, she received her B.A. from National Taiwan University with double majors in English literature and sociology. She also holds her master’s degree from The University of Tokyo, Interdisciplinary School of Information Studies, where she wrote a thesis on postwar Japanese food tourism to Taiwan. After receiving her master’s degree, Lillian worked as a full-time employee at Japan’s largest tourist agency JTB before continuing her research at Brown.

In addition to her dissertation, Lillian is also working on projects related to historical memory in East Asia and historical representation in popular culture. She is also a regular contributor to public history columns in Taiwan. Besides her academic works, she enjoys writing creative fiction and nonfiction in her free time.