Ph.D. in Environmental Politics and International Relations from American University
M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley
M.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana
B.A. in Anthropology and East Asian Studies from Princeton University

Judith Shapiro is the Director of the Global Environmental Politics MA Programs at American University.

One of the first Americans to work in China after the normalization of U.S.-China relations in 1979, Shapiro taught journalism and literature to more than 600 students and faculty in Changsha, Hunan from 1979 to1981.  Her marriage to a Chinese literature student launched a career as a writer and commentator on Chinese issues.  Other professional experience includes co-founding and writing grants for The Chinese Intellectual (Zhishifenzi) a Chinese-language scholarly quarterly circulated in China and the West intended to encourage China's development toward a more open society.  Fluent in Chinese, Professor Shapiro occasionally serves as a legal interpreter in the District of Columbia and is a frequent guest on the Voice of America’s Chinese programs.

Professor Shapiro has also taught at the University of  Pennsylvania, Villanova University, the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research, and the University of Aveiro in Portugal.  She lectured in China for the U.S. Department of State on the diversity of environmental non-governmental organizations in Western countries.

Her current research is in the political and social dynamics of environmental degradation, and sustainable development in China.