Susan Blader, associate professor emerita of Asian and Middle Eastern languages and literatures, passed away on Oct. 10.
“Over nearly four decades at Dartmouth, Susan Blader was a passionate steward of Chinese culture, a rigorous scholar, and a dedicated mentor to her students and colleagues,” Arts and Sciences Dean of Faculty John Carey said in a community message. “Her legacy will be remembered not only through her scholarly contributions, but also through the warmth and generosity she brought to every facet of her work.”
A distinguished scholar of Chinese language and cultural history, Blader was among the first American researchers to study Chinese popular literature and played a pioneering role in preserving China’s storytelling traditions—now a field of intense global study within the framework of intangible cultural heritage.
Blader earned her PhD in Chinese language and literature from the University of Pennsylvania in 1977, following BA and MA degrees in Russian language and literature. She joined Dartmouth’s Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures in 1978, and quickly became a beloved teacher, mentor, and colleague. (The department later became the Department of Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages.)
Blader taught a wide range of courses in Chinese language, literature, and culture, including Storytelling in China, Literature and Revolution in 20th-Century China, and Introduction to Chinese Culture. Her dedication to students extended beyond the classroom—she advised numerous honors theses, supervised independent studies, and mentored students through research assistantships and programming at the Chinese Language House.
Blader’s legendary “Noodle Hour,” a weekly gathering she hosted at the Chinese Language House, brought students together for cultural programming and home-cooked meals, often including her signature sesame noodles. These events featured guest speakers ranging from archaeologists and musicians to alumni and visiting scholars, fostering a vibrant community of learning and exchange.
Blader’s former student Andrew David Field ’91, associate professor of Chinese history at Duke Kunshan University, wrote in his blog about a special gathering Blader hosted at the Chinese Language House during his 25th reunion at Dartmouth. “We have kept up over the past 25 years,” he wrote. “I credit her above all others for sparking my lifelong interest in Chinese language, culture, and history.”
Blader’s scholarly contributions were both prolific and pioneering. In 1997, she translated Tales of Magistrate Bao and His Valiant Lieutenants, introducing English readers to a semi-historical narrative of adventure and crime centered on the famed Song dynasty magistrate Bao Zheng.
“This work remains a pioneering translation and study of traditional Chinese storytelling and performance,” says Juwen Zhang, a professor of Chinese at Willamette University, who studied with Blader as a graduate student at Dartmouth and returned in 2012 as a visiting professor. “Moreover, she was one of the very few scholars to conduct fieldwork on oral and performing arts in China during the 1970s and 1980s, effectively raising awareness of this field among scholars of different backgrounds.”
In 2002, Blader was invited by Yo-Yo Ma and Ted Levin to serve as curator for the Chinese Storytelling Pavilion at the Smithsonian’s 36th Annual Summer Folklife Festival. She invited and interpreted for six master storytellers from China, presenting two hours of performances over 10 days. This work resulted in more than 100 hours of digitized oral narrative performances, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Tragic-Comic Destiny, which she co-produced and edited.
In 2006, Blader received an anonymous $50,000 gift to support her work to preserve China’s storytelling arts. Among her many projects, she collaborated with Dartmouth’s DALI Lab to create The Art of the Chinese Storyteller, which documents her work collecting and teaching storytelling traditions. Over the years, Blader brought numerous Chinese storytellers to Dartmouth, organizing “Chinese Storytelling Teahouse” events that enriched campus cultural life.
In 2016, Blader collaborated with Beijing ethnomusicologists Bao Chengjie and Cai Yuanli on a 30-hour documentary of China’s oral narrative arts. The project compiled lecture-demonstrations and performances by distinguished artists that she had videotaped and collected from 1982 to 2000. She gifted a copy to the Center for the Promotion of National Folk Arts in Beijing.
Blader’s publications include numerous essays and reviews in the journal Chinese Oral and Performing Literature, where she served on the editorial board for decades. She also co-edited a Festschrift, Chinese Ideas About Nature and Society: Studies in Honour of Derk Bodde, which explores the proper ordering of the universe in Chinese tradition.
In recent years, Blader served as one of three co-editors on a trilogy celebrating the legacy of her colleague, Dartmouth professor emerita Sarah Allan. These volumes—Myth and the Making of History (2024), Metaphor and Meaning (2024), and Bone, Bronze, and Bamboo (2024)—bring together leading scholars to examine newly unearthed artifacts, conceptual metaphor theory in early Chinese philosophy, and the interplay between myth and history in ancient China.
An engaged campus leader, Blader served as chair of her department and led multiple faculty searches. She also organized several colloquia, including one on the globalization of traditional Chinese medicine, and worked tirelessly to support off-campus programs and curriculum development.
Most recently, Blader focused on completing an audio and video archive of her numerous interviews with Chinese storytellers—a project that will soon be housed in the Dartmouth Libraries.
Senior Lecturer Alan Li remembers Blader as a caring colleague and beloved friend. “Her years of absolute devotion to the teaching of Chinese language, culture, and literature at Dartmouth will always live in our fond memories and she will be woefully missed,” he said.
“Susan Blader’s generosity, sincerity, and compassion were truly unparalleled to all who knew her, whether as a student, colleague, friend, or someone she simply helped once,” said Zhang.
“But I must emphasize that Susan—whom I have respected so deeply for 30 years that I still find it difficult to stop addressing her as Bai Laoshi (白老师 Teacher Bai, her Chinese title and a sincere expression of my lifelong reverence)—was an utterly serious teacher and scholar. She did more than just correct my writing word by word, even punctuation by punctuation, as she would do to a student’s homework or a colleague’s manuscript; she also consistently challenged and guided me in producing quality publications. She will be remembered and missed by the numerous students, scholars, and performers whom she bridged between China and the U.S.”
Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Jonathan Smolin remembers Blader as “a beloved colleague and teacher whose warmth and generosity touched everyone who knew her. Her kindness, wisdom, and unwavering support made her not only an extraordinary educator, but also a cherished colleague and friend. The impact she had on her students and the Dartmouth community will continue to be felt for many years to come.”
Upon her retirement in 2016, Blader reflected: “My 38 years at Dartmouth College have brought me much joy, most importantly through the wonderful students I have taught and who still regularly return to visit. To be able to teach such students in an environment that comes close to paradise is rare good fortune. Dartmouth College has also, in a variety of ways over the decades, supported and encouraged my work with Chinese storytelling artists. For all these things, I am very grateful.”
Blader is survived by her husband, Ehud Benor, associate professor emeritus of religion. A memorial gathering will take place on campus in the spring, with remote access.
The Dartmouth flag will be lowered in Blader’s honor on Oct. 22 and 23.