Dr. Nian Liu is Associate Professor of Chinese and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at the University of Oklahoma. A scholar of cognitive linguistics and Chinese humanities, her research explores the relationship between language, culture, and cognition, with interests ranging from linguistic relativity and simulation semantics to multilingualism and Chinese language processing.
Dr. Liu’s work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on behavioral and neuroimaging methods and collaborating across institutions. She has been a visiting scholar at UC San Diego, the University of Latvia, Peking University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research has received support from the National Science Foundation, the Eu Tong Sen Foundation, and the OU Research Council. She is currently working on two book projects: Rationales for Chinese Characters: Cultural and Cognitive Perspectives (under advanced contract), and a second examining language, culture, and the Chinese mind.
A passionate teacher and mentor, Dr. Liu emphasizes active learning and undergraduate research. Many of her honors students have received competitive scholarships through OU’s UROP and UReCA programs to support their independent research. She teaches courses on Chinese linguistics, language and cognition, and Chinese calligraphy, and regularly leads study abroad programs in China and Taiwan. Her teaching has been recognized with the Cecil W. Woods Memorial Award for Teaching and the Walton Prize from the Chinese Language Teachers Association.
Dr. Liu serves on the editorial board of Cognitive Semantics and is currently President of the American Society of Shufa Calligraphy Education, a professional association that promotes East Asian calligraphy traditions and education in North America and beyond.
