Adam Grydehøj (PhD in Ethnology, University of Aberdeen) is a folklorist and human geographer who serves as Professor at South China University of Technology’s School of Foreign Languages. Working across diverse settings, from small islands at the peripheries of global power systems to immense megacities, he researches how local knowledges and practices interact with cultural, economic, and political development. Besides his contributions to interdisciplinary island studies, Adam actively researches in urban geography (sustainability, spatial development, and urban governance), folklore studies (belief, legend, and vernacular religion), and territoriality (indigeneity, colonialism, and heritage politics).
Adam is strongly engaged in international scholarly publishing and academic leadership:
- President, International Small Islands Studies Association (ISISA), the world’s largest and oldest scholarly association within island studies.
- Editor-in-Chief, Folk, Knowledge, Place, with further editorial roles at the journals Blue Humanities (Managing Editor) and Island Studies Journal (Associate Editor).
- Author of nearly 100 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, numerous book chapters, and a scholarly monograph.
- Founder & Director, Island Dynamics, which organises academic conferences and promotes non-fee charging open access publishing.
Born in Miami, USA, and having spent 20 years in Denmark, Adam now lives in Guangzhou, China.
Recent Writing & Announcements
- China-USA competition: Saying no to a new Cold War
Over the past decade, there have been increasing warnings that the world is entering, or has perhaps already entered, a new Cold War era. On one side are the Western liberal democracies (‘the West’ or … Read more - Snail Rice Noodle Soup, Social Media, and the Search for Chinese Cultural AuthenticityLast weekend, I attended the soft opening of a new restaurant in Shenzhen’s Bao’an District, Zhenwei Snail Rice Noodle臻味里螺蛳粉 zhenweili luosifen (深圳市宝安区创业二路70号). As its name suggests, the restaurant specialises in Guangxi cuisine, particularly the luosifen … Read more
- Celebrating Dragon Boat Festival in GuangzhouDragon boat season has begun. For most of the year, the dragon boats of the ancient families of Nancun are buried in mud at the bottom of the river that winds around and through the … Read more
- Seeing China as Home
