Nicholas Chik graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in History, specializing in Asian popular culture — especially music, art, anime, and cinema. Under the supervision of Lien-Hang Nguyen and Qingfei Yin, he wrote a master’s thesis paper titled “Cantopop and Hong Kong Identity: From Sam Hui and Leslie Cheung to Anita Mui (1974–2004)” that examined how Cantopop shaped the development of Hong Kong’s cultural identity. 

After Berkeley, Chik continued his focus on cultural history by writing about the role of popular music in the development of Ukrainian nationalism (2023) and the political and economic significance of MTV and the music video culture of the United States in the 1980s (2024). More recently, he examined the historical influences and developments of Vietnamese wartime music.

Chik plans to continue his work on the influence of Chinese popular music in Southeast Asia for his PhD dissertation.

 

Beyond academia, Chik is an avid amateur athlete who has completed marathons and HYROX fitness races. In April 2026, he will participate the legendary ultra-endurance Marathon des Sables.