Xine Yao is Lecturer in American Literature to 1900 in the English department at University College London. They work on intersections of affect, race, gender, and sexuality in relation to science and law through long 19th century American literature. Recently named a “New Generation Thinker,” by the BBC and Arts and Humanities Research Council, Dr. Yao’s first book, Disaffected, was published by Duke University Press in 2021