Aloha~ Welcome to my site! My name is Taig Dara 泰格·达热. I am a historian of Modern China. 

Following my rural upbringing and military service, I began my academic journey studying Confucianism, rhetoric, and pedagogy in Portland, Oregon. 

After which, my wife and I lived abroad in both Beijing and Taipei studying Mandarin, teaching and translating, and exploring China for a few more years. 

I later returned to North America to pursue additional training in modern Chinese political history and Chinese IR theory at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. At the same time, I worked as a researcher at a think tank, investigating the environmental impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative. 

When the COVID lockdown began, I decided to leave D.C. and returned to teaching as a university lecturer in Colorado while I applied to PhD programs. 

Presently, I am researching and teaching Modern Chinese history in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Department of History. 

I plan to complete my dissertation in the next couple of years, then look for a permanent university teaching position. In my work, I leverage world/global history, global intellectual history, and global studies methods.