



ABOUT
I am a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Columbia University. I specialize in ethics and classical Chinese philosophy, with further interests in social and political thought. My research in contemporary ethics is inspired by foundational concepts in Confucian philosophy which generally find no direct parallel in Western philosophical traditions.
My dissertation work on etiquette draws from li (禮), or ritual propriety, a system of social norms closely related to virtuous character. A second project draws from the renlun (⼈倫), or roles, a system whereby important moral obligations are variable according to a person’s social position rather than generally or universally binding.

In the 2026-2027 year, I will serve as a Heyman Center/SOF Graduate Fellow, an Incite Institute Doctoral Fellow, and a Columbia GSAS Teaching Scholar. My research is partly supported by an SSHRC doctoral fellowship. I was also the 2024-2026 Graduate-Humanities Representative at the university-wide Senate, where I served as vice Chair of the Student Affairs Committee and co-Chair of the Commission on Diversity.
In my many other lives, I am a creative writer, translator, and a painter - the art on this page is my own. I live in Harlem with fellow philosopher Jodell Ulerie and our beloved bonsai trees.
hl3631(at)columbia.edu


Public Philosophy
“Forgiving the Man with the Machete”
Southeast Review 44.1, 2026, forthcoming December 2026 print and online
“Why Women Should Rethink their Love of Gay Male Manga”
Aesthetics for Birds,February 2025
Prose
“Art Lessons with Tony”
Alaska Quarterly Review, forthcoming
Witness Magazine 39.1, 2026, print
Yolk Magazine 5.1, 2025, print and online
"A compendium of humble creatures” selections
PEN Canada New Voices, 2025,online
“Eel Broth for Growing Children”
CBC Literary Awards, 2023, online
The Plentitudes Journal 14.1, 2024, online
Poetry
PRISM International 59.4, reprinted in Best of Canadian Poetry 2023
“Two poems”
Sam-Fifty-Four 3
Book Reviews
“Review of Antoine Volodine’s The Monroe Girls"
LA Review, September 2026
SELECT NON-ACADEMIC
Review of “Goodness and Tradition” by Irene Liu (Routledge, 2026)
Journal of Moral Philosophy 24.5-6



PUBLICATIONS
ACADEMIC

Helen Han Wei Luo 罗晗蔚
hl3631(at)columbia.edu
Philosophy PhD Candidate Columbia University