PhD Thesis
 

PhD Thesis Title: “Finding a Way Out”: Reproductive Governance and Women in Contemporary China

PhD Completion Date: Sep 2026

PhD Supervisor: Aditya Bharadwaj
 

PROFILE
 

Jolene is a PhD candidate in Anthropology and Sociology, focusing her research on reproductive governance and policy in contemporary China. She graduated with a double major in International Politics and Sociology from Peking University (2017), then obtained her Masters in Development Studies (2019) from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva.

Jolene’s current PhD research examines China's shifting fertility policies and declining birth rates in the post-one-child policy era. Bringing an anthropological lens to policy analysis, Jolene's research elucidates the frontiers where state population directives, individual reproductive decisions, localized gender norms, and globalized modern paradigms intersect and influence one another. Her ethnographic work examines these complex convergences of state and individual, tradition and modernity, the local and global, in the intimate sphere of Chinese women’s fertility experiences and perspectives. 

In addition to her PhD research, Jolene is an academic translator and has been translating an anthology on Buddhist devotional practices and funerary art in East Asia (forthcoming). Jolene also writes about the persistence of shamanic traditions in modern Chinese society. By bridging disciplinary divides between anthropology and political science, her eclectic research interests speak to broader themes of authority, ethics, and identity in times of social change. 
 

Publications and works
 

• Kong, Jolene Yiqiao. 2019. ‘The Changes of Reproductive Policies and Female Subjectivity in China’. Master’s Thesis, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.
• Kong, Jolene Yiqiao, Richard Burzynski, and Cynthia Weber. 2019a. ‘AI & Global Governance Platform: How Should UN Agencies Respond to AI and Big Data?’ United Nations University Centre for Policy Research. (https://cpr.unu.edu/ai-global-governance-platform-how-should-un-agencies-respond-to-ai-and-big-data.html).
• Kong, Jolene Yiqiao, Richard Burzynski, and Cynthia Weber. 2019b. ‘Artificial Intelligence and Big Data: Risks and Benefits to the HIV/AIDS Response’. Equal Eyes. (https://equal-eyes.org/database/2019/7/16/artificial-intelligence-and-big-data-risks-and-benefits-to-the-hivaids-response).
• Kong, Jolene Yiqiao, Richard Burzynski, and Cynthia Weber. 2019c. ‘How Should UN Agencies Respond to AI and Big Data?’ IHEID Global Governance Centre. (https://graduateinstitute.ch/communications/news/how-should-un-agencies-respond-ai-and-big-data).
   

Translations
 

• (Forthcoming) Translator, Refiguring East Asian Religious Art: Buddhist Devotion and Funerary Practice, eds. Wu Hung and Paul Copp (2019). University of Chicago Center for the art of East Asia symposia series.
   

Workshops and Panel Discussions
 

• Reproduction in the Contemporary World: Gender, Kinship, Governance and Technologies, CUSO Gender Workshop (2024)
• UNAIDS Facebook Live Discussion about AI & big data’s impact on the HIV response, UNAIDS, Geneva Office (2019)
• Tech4HIV Panel to discuss the role of AI and other technologies in public health (2019)
   

Other Work Experiences
 

• Teaching Assistant at the Department of Anthropology and Sociology (2021-2023)
• Strategy Manager at the Sany Group, Sany Heavy Industries Co. Ltd, Beijing, China (2019-2021)
• Intern and Project Consultant at UNAIDS Geneva Office, Geneva, Switzerland (2018-2019)