This spring, the College celebrates the retirement of two esteemed faculty members — Yvonne Chireau, Peggy Chan Professor Emerita of Black Studies and professor emerita of religion, and Haili Kong, professor emeritus of modern languages & literatures, Chinese and Asian studies.

Though they will be missed on campus, each leaves behind an indelible legacy, fostered through notable scholarship, devoted mentorship, and lasting commitment to the liberal arts.

Yvonne Chireau

Peggy Chan Professor Emerita of Black Studies and emerita professor of religion Yvonne Chireau earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College, a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a Ph.D. from Princeton University. 

Chireau is the author of Black Magic: African American Religion and the Conjuring Tradition (University of California Press, 2003) and the editor and contributor with Nathaniel Deutsch of Black Zion: African American Religions and Judaism (Oxford University Press, 1999). She has also written nearly four dozen peer-reviewed journal articles, essays, book chapters, and book reviews. Most recently, she served as a historical consultant for Sinners, the hit new Ryan Coogler film set in 1930s Mississippi. 

Since coming to Swarthmore more than 30 years ago, Chireau has been teaching Religion in America, African American Religions, Folk and Popular Religions, Women and Religion, Black Women's Spirituality, Religion and Food, From Vodun to Voodoo, and World Religions. She has also served as chairperson of the Religion Department and on the Black Studies Program Steering Committee, along with service on more than a dozen college committees.

Chireau has also been active at the national level as a member of the American Academy of Religion, the American Society of Church History, and the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History.

“When I arrived at Swarthmore more than 30 years ago, it was a different place in nearly every respect,” says Chireau. “And yet, one truth held firm: This was a community bound by its deep regard for difference — a place where people reached across divides, upheld one another, and found kinship in unlikely corners. It has always been a place where people loved and respected difference, and supported each other across lines of identity, experience, and belief, in every way one could imagine. Over time, Swarthmore became a place of fast friendships and long relationships, of heartfelt bonds in spirit that have always remained strong. I am deeply grateful for the time I have spent here.”

Haili Kong

Haili Kong, professor emeritus of modern languages & literatures, Chinese and Asian studies, chaired the Chinese Program and was the primary organizer of the Chinese Film Festival and the International Symposium on Chinese Film held at Swarthmore in 2000. Courses he taught include Water Policies, Water Issues: Shenzhen/Hong Kong/Taiwan and the U.S. (co-taught with Richter Professor Emerita of Political Science Carol Nackenoff) and Tea in China: Cultural and Environmental Perspectives. In 2016, he took this class to China and Taiwan to gain firsthand experience in tea farming and tea making.

Kong co-authored the books Beijing: From Imperial Capital to Olympic City (St. Martin's Griffin, 2008) and One Hundred Years of Chinese Cinema: A Generational Dialogue (‎Eastbridge Books, 2005). He also authored the chapters "The Significance Of The Northeastern Writers In Exile, 1931–1945" in A Companion To Modern Chinese Literature (Wiley-Blackwell, 2015) and "Ba Jin" in Encyclopedia Of The Novel, Volume 1 (Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999). Articles he has published in academic journals include "Disease And Humanity: Ba Jin And His ‘Ward Four: A Wartime Novel Of China’" in Frontiers Of Literary Studies In China, (Volume 6, Issue 2) and "Reflections On Teaching Chinese Language Films At American Colleges" in Asianetwork Exchange, (Volume 18, Issue 2).