Susan Blader

Associate Professor Emeritus of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures, Lecturer

Area of Expertise

Chinese literature and culture,

storytelling in China,

Chinese Oral Narrative Performance

Biography

The Department of Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages at Dartmouth is sad to report that Prof. Susan Blader passed away in October 2025. 

For more information, please visit the news article on our website: Remembering Susan Blader, Pioneering Chinese Language and Culture Scholar | Department of Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages

The department plans an on-campus memorial gathering in April 2026 for former colleagues and students to remember and celebrate Prof. Blader's life. The event will be hybrid to allow people to attend via Zoom. More details will be released on our news page on our website when available.

Education

B.A. University of Pennsylvania

M.A. University of Pennsylvania

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania

Publications

Videotaped, designed, and digitized "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," 56 hours of performances of Mr. Tang Gengliang, produced with Otmar Foeslche, (Fall 2005).

Videotaped, designed, and digitized "The Tragic-Comic Destiny," 56 hours of performances of Ms. Jiang Yunxian, produced with Otmar Foeslche, (Fall 2005).

Completed 112 DVDs (112 hours) of pingtan storytelling performances, (Summer and Fall 2005).

Designed, edited, and published 20 DVD's (20 more hours) of Suzhou pingtan, (Summer 2004).

Tales of Magistrate Bao and His Valiant Lieutenants , Chinese U. Press, (1998, second printing with revised introduction, December 2000).

"Chinese Oral Narrative and Its Transformation into Print: the Case of Bai Yutang ," in The Eternal Storyteller , (V. Bordahl (ed.), (1999).

Chinese Ideas on Nature and Society: Festschrift in Honor of Derk Bodde , co-editor and contributor, Hong Kong University Press, (1987).

Works in Progress

"The Art of Suzhou Pinghua: Tang Gengliang and Jiang Yunxian"

Contact

Susan.R.Blader@Dartmouth.EDU
603-646-3478
HB 6191

Departments

Middle Eastern Studies
Asian Societies, Cultures and Languages