Dr. Field (B.A. Dartmouth College, Ph.D. Columbia University) is a specialist in Chinese and East Asian languages, cultures, and history, with an expertise in the history of Shanghai. He teaches courses on Ancient Chinese History and Thought, Shanghai History, Modern Chinese History, and special courses on "Sounds in the City: Live Music Scenes in China" and "Documenting City Life." He is the author of three books, Shanghai's Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics (2010), Mu Shiying: China's Lost Modernist (2014) and Shanghai Nightscapes: A Nocturnal Biography of a Global City (co-authored with James Farrer, 2015).

His independent documentary film, "Down: Indie Rock in the PRC" (co-produced with Jud Willmont, 2012) has been screened at film festivals and academic conferences worldwide. He has just completed a new documentary film "A Century of Jazz in Shanghai" (2021) which has begun limited screening in Shanghai. He has also published numerous articles in academic journals and edited volumes on the subject of historical and contemporary urban culture and society in China. He keeps an online journal at shanghaisojourns.net.