Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
@mauracunningham
She/her. China historian and writer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Also reader, knitter, Phillies/Flyers fan, road tripper.
Visa for Pakistan just got approved ✅️ , so I'm all set for the #AASInAsia2026 conference at Lahore University of Management Sciences!
Getting ready for next Monday's @literatibookstore.bsky.social book club with TAIWAN TRAVELOGUE—which also seems to be the book of the summer for East Asia scholars, based on how many I know who have read it recently.
A timely read on the shelves at @literatibookstore.bsky.social. #WorldCup2026
New @foreignaffairs.com review by @iandenisjohnson.bsky.social, discussing THE IDEA OF CHINA by Xu Guoqi, an "eminently readable" "urgent intervention in contemporary debates about China." bit.ly/4f3th8D
How a historian kicks off the 4th of July weekend when it’s 90+ degrees outside. New book (holiday-appropriate, of course) and iced Americano.
This afternoon I took my father to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs game so we could celebrate Father’s Day by watching five anthropomorphic pork products race each other. (There was also baseball, which the Pigs lost. Badly.)
Link to MAKE CHINA GREAT AGAIN at the Columbia UP website: cup.columbia.edu/book/make-ch...
I'm very happy to have been invited to speak on this special panel at the American Political History Conference 2026 in Washington, DC two weeks from now—grad students, please join us! I promise that my remarks about alternative career paths will be optimistic and encouraging.
Hi, TIAA, I have some feedback about my experience on your website.
Got a hearty “Go Flyers” yell from a fellow racer in Dearborn, MI as I headed to the starting line. #GoFlyers
Cunningham sibling Easter get-together in Gritty’s Chaos Corner, because just watching the Flyers play isn’t chaotic enough. #PHIvsBOS
*VERY* spirited crowd, even for Philadelphia, at the Flyers-Red Wings rematch tonight. Equally chippy on the ice, especially after Detroit went up 1-0. #PHIvsDET
Taking my lunch hour with the Phillies and @alexiscoe.bsky.social in the office today. #PHIvsWSH
My @asianstudies.org colleagues and I are assembling in Vancouver for #AAS2026! I look forward to seeing/meeting Bluesky connections at the conference—my desk will be in the convention center badge pick-up/registration area, so if you see me there please say hello!
In the absence of NHL games, we are ready for the first Phillies spring training game today.
Gritty can’t believe what he’s seeing. How is the game going *this* badly?!?
Thanks so much to @josephtorigian.bsky.social for inviting me to moderate his book talk at Three Cats in Clawson, MI last weekend—as I told the audience, I was excited to see THE PARTY'S INTERESTS COME FIRST enter the world and am glad that others have appreciated the book as much as I did!
Back in August, I took a week-long road trip from Ann Arbor to Philadelphia, stopping at National Parks along the way. Here's the first journal entry from that trip, featuring Ohio's Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial. mauracunningham.org/2026/01/02/r...
Extremely satisfying meal at Philadelphia's new Uyghur Noodle King (on Chestnut between 38th and 39th). The 大盘鸡 (big plate chicken) stood out as the favorite, but both cold noodle dishes were excellent, too. Give them a visit!
One week from (checks calendar) *right now*, @josephtorigian.bsky.social and I will be at Three Cats Restaurant in Clawson, MI talking about THE PARTY'S INTERESTS COME FIRST. You, too, could be eating brunch (cornflake French toast!!) and learning about the life of Xi Zhongxun. Join us.
Samantha accompanied me to Easter dinner one year! We didn't have the official AG matching dresses, but my mom found something similar to her fancy tea dress for me.
My Slack status: "Mashed potato mindset" for sure. Please don't give me any complex tasks.
If you're in need of a book that succinctly and clearly explains China's gaokao to a non-specialist reader, THE HIGHEST EXAM: HOW THE GAOKAO SHAPES CHINA, by Ruixue Jia and Hongbin Li with Claire Cousineau, is the answer. My WSJ review: www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...