[5][6] She completed her primary and secondary education in Chinese-language schools sponsored by the Republic of China government in Korea.
In 1978, Shih passed her college entrance examination and went to National Taiwan Normal University, where she studied English with Shakespearean scholar Tsu-wen Chen.
She then moved to the University of California, Los Angeles where she earned her Ph.D. in comparative literature.
[6] From 2019 until 2022 Shih was the Edward W. Said Professor in Comparative Literature,[2] and as of 2023 she holds the Irving and Jean Stone Chair in Humanities.
[7] Shih is known for her work in the field of Sinophone studies,[8] a field that takes as its object of study "Sinitic-language communities and cultures outside China as well as ethnic minority communities and cultures within China where Mandarin is adopted or imposed.