Professor Cao Chengzhu was born in July 1981, and hails from Zibo xian, Shandong Province. He currently serves as an Associate Professor atthe Research Center for Literary and Artistic Aesthetics in the School of Literature of Shandong University, and as a Dissertation Advisor for Ph.D students. Professor Cao is a member of the Shandong Province Writers Association, a commissioned art critic under contract in Shandong Province, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Marxist Aesthetics Committee of the Chinese Association of Aesthetics. Professor Caoreceived his Ph.D in Literature in the area of Literature and ArtStudies from Nanjing University in June 2011. From August 2010 to January 2011, he was a Visiting Scholar at the David C. LamInstitute For East-West Studies (LEWI)at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Professor Cao’s academic interests involve Marxist Literary Theory, Cultural StudiesTheory, the Study of Songs and Ballads, and Criticism of Online Literature and Art. He has published more than forty papers and articles in periodicals and academic journals such as Studies in Literary Theory, Folk Art, Studies in Folk Literature,Contending Voices in Literature and Art, Wenyibao, and Studies in Marxist Aesthetics. Professor Cao has also written, or taken part in the writing of, six books/textbooks. He has supervised five topical research projects including projects sponsored by the National Foundation for the Social Sciences and by the Chinese Postdoctoral Foundation, a Shandong Province Art Scienceskey research topic, and a research project sponsored by the Shandong Province Foundation for the Social Sciences. Professor Cao has also participated in six other topical research projects including a Major Project sponsored by the National foundation for the Social Sciences, a Major Project of the Ministry of Education’s Key Research Base, and a project of Shandong University’s Cadre of Young Scholars. He has won the Prize for Outstanding Achievement in University-based Scientific Research in Shandong Province three times.

Professor Cao offers, among others, the following courses:

· An Introduction to Literature

· Marxist-Leninist Literary Theory

· Western Marxist Aesthetics

· A History of Western Academic Thought history

· Special Topics in Western Philosophy

· Contemporary Aesthetics

· Special Topics in Cultural Criticism.