Matt Schiavenza

Matt Schiavenza is an Associate Editor with The Atlantic and lives in Washington, DC. I am responsible for helping shape The Atlantic’s coverage of China, ranging from politics and economics to culture and society.  As a writer and journalist, I am chiefly interested in China’s evolution into a major world power and how this change will affect its relations with the rest of the world.

Following my graduation from UC San Diego, I decided on a lark to accept a teaching position in Lianyungang, China, a city I hadn’t heard of until days before I decided to move there. My journey – which I expected to last no more than a year- took me through six years, three cities, several jobs, and countless memories. I spent the majority of these years in Kunming, capital of beautiful Yunnan Province, and ultimately traveled to over half of China’s provinces and regions as well as Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos.

I returned to the United States to pursue a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University, graduating in May 2012. While enrolled at Columbia I wrote and edited articles for The Morningside Post, a student-run website dedicated to international affairs commentary, and contributed blog posts to Asia Society’s Asia Blog. I also enjoyed the privilege of working as an intern with Danwei, a well-respected media consultancy based in Beijing, and Eurasia Group, the world’s most prominent political risk consultancy.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and still retain a fierce loyalty to its sports teams, particularly the San Francisco Giants. I speak both Mandarin Chinese and Italian fluently (the latter the residue of a wonderful year as a student in Padua, Italy) and harbor ambitions to one day tackle Spanish, Japanese, and French. In my free time I enjoy traveling, reading, great food, and exploring cities both near and far.