It is expected that PhD candidates in New Zealand universities give a 10-15 minute opening statement about their thesis to the examination committee. The presentation may or may not involve visual aids or hand-outs, but it does need to thank the committee, address the concerns and feedback from their reports, and give an overview of the contributions that the thesis makes to the candidate’s discipline.

Below are the slides I presented to my examiners on February 17, 2020. Admittedly, the presentation was meant for a very specific event and audience. That said, I hope that readers here will still be able to gain a sense of the contributions that my thesis makes to the fields of Manchuria studies, Chinese and Korean studies, and East Asian intellectual history.