Patrick Buck

Year in Program: Sixth-year (A.B.D.)
Fields: Modern China and Southeast Asia, Modern European Intellectual History, Soviet History
Committee: Dr. Aminda Smith (advisor), Dr. Sean Forner, Dr. Charles Keith, Dr. Lewis Siegelbaum
Languages: Mandarin Chinese, Classical Chinese, Russian, Japanese, Vietnamese
Educational Background: B.A. in History, Summa Cum Laude with Albion College Honors, Albion College, 2015
Email: buckpat1@msu.edu
I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and graduated from Albion College with a B.A. in History. I was valedictorian of my class and am a third-generation Albion College graduate in my family. I also come from a family of MSU alumni and athletics fans.
My B.A. thesis, which received Albion College’s Most Outstanding Honors Thesis Award, explores the debate among 20th-century Chinese intellectuals over how to interpret and categorize the ancient Chinese political philosophy Fajia, or “The School of Law.”
I am interested in the history of Marxism and ancient Chinese thought, and I focus my research on the connections between these two. For my dissertation, I am researching the intellectual and cultural history of the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius Campaign (1973-1976).
My other academic interests include psychoanalysis, Confucianism, and the political history of international communism.
Awards and Fellowships: Foreign Language Area Studies Academic Year Fellowship (2016-2017, 2017-2018); Foreign Language Area Studies Summer Language Study Fellowship (2016, 2017); Michigan State University History Department Summer Research Funding (2018, 2019); Michigan State University College of Social Sciences Research Scholars Award (2019); Dr. Kwan-Wai So Memorial Scholarship Fund in History (2020); Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship (2020-2021).
Teaching Appointments: IAH 204: Asia and the World (Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2018) with Dr. Sidney Lu; HST 150: World History Since 1500 (Spring 2019) with Dr. Charles Keith; HST 201: Historical Methods and Skills: From Confucius to Xi Jinping: History of Chinese Political Thought (Spring 2020) Head Instructor.
Grading Appointments: HST 368: China Since 1900 (Fall 2017, Fall 2020) with Dr. Aminda Smith; HST 320: History of Michigan (Fall 2018, Summer 2020) with Dr. Roger Rosentreter
Administrative Appointment: Michigan State University History Department Internship Coordinator (Fall 2020).
Other website: Linkedin