After graduation from Santa Rosa de Lima English Secondary, Kaian Lam obtained her Bachelor of Social Science in Government & Public Administration from the University of Macau. She then went to Lisbon, Portugal, where she completed an undergraduate degree in languages, as well as a master’s and a PhD in African Studies.
Kaian Lam is currently an assistant professor of International Relations at the University of Macau. Her research is aligned with International Political Sociology. She employs aesthetic strategies to study storytelling and self-styled narration in world politics.
STUDIES AND RESEARCH
Ph.D. in African Studies, School of Sociology and Public Policy, ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon
Master’s degree in African Studies, Institute of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon
Undergraduate Program in Applied Foreign Languages, Catholic University of Portugal
Bachelor of Social Science in Government & Public Administration, University of Macau
University Diploma in Portuguese as a Foreign Language (DUPLE)
Colégio de Santa Rosa de Lima (an English secondary school on Macau Peninsula)
ONGOING PROJECTS
Interpreting Europe: Sonic politics and the affective foundation of multilingual negotiations
A Photo-Essay of the Migrant Home: Doing International Political Sociology and Engaging the Other “Other”
Macao and Hengqin on China’s Southern Coast: Aesthetic Reading of Infrastructural Materiality and Island Integration
TEACHING
Pedagogically, I consider IR to be a multisensory, critical practice, and I guide students to “see” and “hear” the political world around them. Classroom is just one of many spaces where IR reveals itself in action.
“The committee is pleased to recognize Dr. Kaian Lam as this year’s recipient of the Teaching Award. Dr. Lam’s nomination stood out for its exceptional attention to detail and the evident care and creativity she brings to her classrooms.” — Winner of the 2026 International Studies Association Deborah Gerner Innovative Teaching Award.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Political Ethnography, International Political Sociology, Aesthetics and Politics, Infrastructures, Practices of Government, Translation and Interpreting, Narrative Enquiry
Area focus: Lusophone (esp. Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, Timor-Leste)
MEMBER / ASSOCIATE
International Studies Association
European International Studies Association
Portuguese Political Science Association
Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa
LANGUAGES
Cantonese Chinese (native), English, Portuguese, French, Kriolu Kabuverdianu
Kaian Lam 林嘉欣 