Publications
2025
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). Navigating Epistemic Gaps and Ethical Risks in AI Alignment: A Pluralistic Approach to Human Values. International Conference on Large-Scale AI Risks: Control, Governance, and Ethics, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. [Peer Reviewed, Conference Paper]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). The Multipolar World Ahead: Reinventing World Order in an Era of Uncertainty. 54th St. Gallen Symposium, St. Gallen, Switzerland. Recognized as “Leader of Tomorrow” among the top 100 contributions to the 54th St. Gallen Symposium Global Essay Competition. [Essay Competition, Conference Paper]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). Justice-Oriented Ethical Impact Assessment for AI: Institutionalizing Cultural Diversity in Global AI Governance. The 3rd UNESCO Global Forum on the Ethics of AI, Bangkok, Thailand. [Working Paper, Peer Reviewed, Conference Paper]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). Intrinsic or Extrinsic to Canadian Identity? National Cohesion through Identity Boundaries amid U.S. Pressures and Deglobalization. The 8th Metropolis Identities conference: Reaffirming Canada: Confronting Challenges to Unity, Diversity and Identities. Resetting Canada’s Immigration Plan and Program for a New Era. Saskatoon, Canada. [Peer Reviewed, Conference Presentation]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). From Stagnation to Inclusive Growth: How Income Inequality and Distributional Imbalances Stall Economic Growth in Canada. Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy (Issue 4, Summer). pp. 52-87. Broadbent Institute. [Peer Reviewed, Journal Article]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). Genealogical Inquiry into Consciousness and Human Efforts at Self-Understanding. [Working Paper, Under Review]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). Global Public Reason as a Normative Basis of Legitimacy: Governing Pluralism in an Age of Disagreement. Workshop “Public Reason Across Time and Space: New Voices and Perspectives”. Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago, Chile. [Peer Reviewed, Workshop Presentation]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2026). Constitutionalising Society in an Age of Fragmented Authority: From State-Centrism to Social Constitutional Norms. International Conference: Beyond the State. New Perspectives on the Conceptual Relationships Between Constitution and Society. Paris, France. This conference was funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Curie Project SOCIAL grant agreement No 101150961, International Society of Public Law (ICON•S), and Institut Universitaire de France. [Peer Reviewed, Working Paper for Conference Proceedings to Be Published]
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2025). The Geometric Structure and Theoretical Construction of Rousseau’s General Will. (Original: “The Metaphysical Foundation of Modern Politics: Rousseau’s Legacy in the Conception of the General Will.”) R&R Project, Harvard University. [Working Paper, Under Revision]
2024
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2024). Unity in Diversity: Policies, Practices, and Challenges of Multiculturalism in Canada. Presented at Harvard University. [Working paper, to be submitted for publication]
2023
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (Trans.). (2023–2025). Methexis: The Platonic Theory of Ideas and the Participation of Empirical Things (Francesco Fronterotta; Italian Title: Methexis. La teoria platonica delle idee e la partecipazione delle cose empiriche: Dai dialoghi giovanili al Parmenide. 1997). Chinese edition. This translation project is part of a cross-institutional academic collaboration with Sapienza University of Rome, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Peking University, and Sichuan University, etc. This edition is part of the Studies in Ancient Philosophy series, which introduces a selection of works by renowned scholars in ancient philosophy, such as Luc Brisson and Jean-François Pradeau. [Forthcoming]. [Book]
2022
Mao, Simone Zhenting. (2022). The Encounter Between Thomas Kuhn and Alexandre Koyré: The Post-Kantian Metaphysical Foundation of “Paradigm Shifts.” Paper presented at the Kuhn 100th Commemorative Conference, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania. [Peer Reviewed, Conference Paper]
Mao, Simone Zhenting, et al. (2022). Entry Contributor. Oxford Classical Dictionary (Chinese Edition). Center for Classical Civilization Studies, Renmin University of China. Contributed a large number of entries covering ancient philosophy (in particular Neoplatonism), Homeric epics, ancient physics and mechanical devices, Greek tragedy, faith, and mystical rituals in the classical world. This translation project is part of a significant national research initiative funded by the National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC) since 2017, in collaboration with Oxford University, the British Academy, academic institutions in the United States and Europe, and leading scholars in Classical Studies. The project aims to introduce rigorous translation standards and terminological norms into the Chinese reception of Western classical knowledge. It represents one of the most extensive and systematic undertakings in the localization and reception of Greco-Roman intellectual heritage within Chinese academic discourse. [Book Entry]
2018
Mao, Simone Zhenting, et al. (2018). Case study contributor. In Characteristic Towns: Theory, Practice, and Policy. Leading research institutes. This comprehensive policy recommendation forms part of a year-long collaborative and interdisciplinary effort in the National Fundamental Research Program. Mao contributed in the areas of macroeconomic analysis, urbanization strategy, and governance reform, conducting fieldwork-based evaluations, formulating policy standards, and designing regulatory and assessment frameworks. Her work informed strategic recommendations on urban and industrial structural transformation, economic governance, and long-term development planning. [Policy Recommendation, Book Chapter]