She received her BA in English and Comparative Literature from the University of Hong Kong, her MA in American Studies from Heidelberg University, Germany, was a Fulbright Scholar at Stanford University, and received her PhD in American Studies from the University of Hong Kong (2013). Prior to joining Duke Kunshan University, she was a Research Assistant Professor of American Studies at the University of Hong Kong. Dr. Lai-Henderson’s first book, Mark Twain in China (Stanford University Press) was published in 2015, and her current work focuses on W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes in Shanghai. She is a cultural and literary scholar and historian.