Speaker: Peter Zarrow, University of Connecticut Utopianism was a major motif in early twentieth century Chinese political thought.  Utopianism was not only widespread, it became constitutive of political thought.  Utopianism did so in the form of the utopian impulse rather than full-fledged utopianism.  The “utopian impulse” is revealed in the context of generally non-utopian ideas.  While not […]

This lecture will focus on the meaning of the First World War to China and China's role in the Great War. It will pay special attention to the issue how the Great War and its aftermath provided a momentum for the Chinese and the world to think about the ideas of China and Chineseness. Most importantly, this talk will explain why and how the Chinese seized the Great […]

Speaker: Fan Shitao, Beijing Normal University

Speaker: Rudolf G. Wagner Fairbank Center Associate at Harvard University, and Cluster Asia and Europe Associate at Heidelberg University, Germany. This is a study of the background, impact, and cost of the “doubting antiquity,” or yigu, current associated with the Gushi bian collection that followed a strong political agenda of undoing the authority of the orthodox view […]

Speaker: Shellen Wu, University of Tennessee, Knoxville The 1890s set off an unprecedented rush for the last remaining unclaimed lands around the world. Developments in the preceding century saw the social sciences and disciplines like geography and agronomy connecting Europe, the Americas, and Asia. The educated elite from around the world increasingly spoke a common […]