Xisai Song

Xisai Song is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a cultural and medical anthropologist, with research interests in chronic illness, health inequities, migration, labor, and ethics. As an ACLS/Henry Luce fellow in the academic year of 2025-26, Xisai is working on her book manuscript, titled “One Foot in the Grave: Politics and Ethics of Chronicity in China.” It is an ethnographic study that focuses on a group of young and middle-aged rural migrant workers suffering from kidney failure. It examines how they negotiate chronic treatments and navigate life after migration in their rural hometown. The book seeks to offer new insights into what constitutes equitable chronic diseases care in China and beyond. Xisai received a master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Stanford in 2015 and is excited to return to CEAS ten years after graduation.