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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251103T121500
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251103T134500
DTSTAMP:20260502T080006
CREATED:20251017T144319Z
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SUMMARY:Antje Richter — Health and the Art of Living: Illness Narratives in Early Medieval Chinese Literature
DESCRIPTION:Register now\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeaker: Antje Richter\, Associate Professor of Chinese\, University of Colorado\, Boulder \n\n\n\nModerator: Xiaofei Tian\, Ford Foundation Professor of East Asian Studies\, Harvard University \n\n\n\nRegistration appreciated for planning purposes.  \n\n\n\nHealth and the Art of Living offers reflections on health and illness in early medieval Chinese literature (ca. 200–ca. 600). Surveying a range of literary sources—essays\, prefaces\, correspondence\, religious scriptures\, and poetry—it explores the spectrum of views on health and illness expressed in these texts. Part One\, centered on the essay “Nurturing the Vital Breath” in Liu Xie’s Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons\, reveals the deep concern of writers\, troubled by overwork and excessive mental exertion\, with the preservation and cultivation of their literary creativity. For them\, the ability to write was inextricably connected with their social roles as officials. Part Two turns to self-narratives of health and illness in authorial prefaces\, informal notes\, formal letters\, and official communications. Writers of these texts depicted their physical condition according to specific rhetorical purposes\, whether that was to legitimize authorship\, maintain intimate relationships\, or avoid office. Part Three describes the rise of sickbed poetry\, shaped by Xie Lingyun and the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra\, which established illness as a topic in the refined literature of the period. Drawing attention to the grounding of literature in the lived experience of their creators\, this book illuminates the conditions of literary production in early medieval China. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/book-talk-%f0%9d%98%8f%f0%9d%98%a6%f0%9d%98%a2%f0%9d%98%ad%f0%9d%98%b5%f0%9d%98%a9-%f0%9d%98%a2%f0%9d%98%af%f0%9d%98%a5-%f0%9d%98%b5%f0%9d%98%a9%f0%9d%98%a6-%f0%9d%98%88/
LOCATION:CGIS South S020\, Belfer Case Study Room\, 1730 Cambridge St.\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Co-Sponsored Lectures
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251103T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251103T180000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251020T183037Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251020T183039Z
UID:42796-1762185600-1762192800@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:China Humanities Seminar featuring Matthias Richter — Early Chinese Texts Between Oral Instruction and Written Literature
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Matthias L. Richter\, Associate Professor of Chinese\, University of Colorado at Boulder \n\n\n\nAudiences in early China were probably more aware of technicalities in texts than we are today\, since they had first-hand experience of a predominantly oral textual culture and the management of cognitive load it required. Conventions of structuring texts rooted in this mode of communication must have carried over into the production of texts that were designed for reading. Later readers may not always have recognized such textual forms as intentional. This should give us reason to reconsider whether some features of texts that are commonly considered as accidents of transmission may have been intentional. \n\n\n\nMatthias L. Richter\, Associate Professor of Chinese\, University of Colorado at Boulder\, obtained a PhD in sinology from the University of Hamburg in 2000\, taught at several German universities and the University of Chicago before joining the faculty of CU Boulder in 2007. His research focuses on Warring States and Early Imperial politico-philosophical literature\, particularly questions of rhetoric and redactional strategies\, textual criticism\, the formational history of texts\, and the methodology of studying early Chinese manuscripts. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/china-humanities-seminar-featuring-matthias-richter-early-chinese-texts-between-oral-instruction-and-written-literature/
LOCATION:Common Room\, 2 Divinity Ave.\, 2 Divinity Ave.\, Cambridge\, Massachusetts\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:China Humanities Seminar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Matthias-Richter.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251105T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251105T131500
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20250820T193618Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251020T151630Z
UID:41282-1762344000-1762348500@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Critical Issues Confronting China Series featuring Anthony Saich — Through the Past Darkly: Culture and Practice of the Chinese Communist Party 
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Anthony Saich\, Daewoo Professor of International Affairs; Director\, Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia\, Harvard Kennedy SchoolDiscussant: Rana Mitter\, ST Lee Chair in US-Asia Relations\, Harvard Kennedy School \n\n\n\nLittle could the founders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have known that they were setting in motion one of history’s greatest revolutionary movements. While much has changed\, there is important continuity in the practice and the culture of the party. It is an organization and propaganda party; an infallible and autonomous party; a controlling party; a collectivist party; an adaptable and flexible party; and a global party. \n\n\n\nAnthony Saich (托尼·赛奇) is the director of the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs\, teaching courses on comparative political institutions\, democratic governance\, and transitional economies with a focus on China. In his capacity as Institute Director\, Saich also serves as the faculty chair of the China Programs\, the Asia Energy Leaders Program\, Unseen Legacies of the Vietnam War and the Global Vietnam Wars Studies Initiative. \n\n\n\nHe holds a Ph.D. from the Faculty of Letters\, University of Leiden\, the Netherlands. He received his master’s degree in politics with special reference to China from the School of Oriental and African Studies\, London University\, and his bachelor’s degree in politics and geography from the University of Newcastle\, UK. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/critical-issues-confronting-china-series-featuring-anthony-saich-through-the-past-darkly-culture-and-practice-of-the-chinese-communist-party/
LOCATION:CGIS South S020\, Belfer Case Study Room\, 1730 Cambridge St.\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Critical Issues Confronting China,Critical Issues Confronting China Series
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251112T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251112T131500
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20250826T152449Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251112T152035Z
UID:41381-1762948800-1762953300@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Critical Issues Confronting China Series featuring Yi Lu — Garbage Time of History? Chinese Archives in the Era of Xi Jinping
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Yi Lu\, Assistant Professor of History\, Dartmouth CollegeDiscussant: Daniel Koss\, Associate Senior Lecturer on East Asian Languages and Civilizations\, Harvard University \n\n\n\nThe Chinese internet has recently been captivated by a meme: “the garbage time of history.” The phrase evokes the Soviet Union’s final\, suffocating decades to suggest that China\, too\, has entered an era of stagnation. Beyond a general sense of anomie born from Covid-19 and economic malaise\, the meme speaks to the very difficulty of remembering in Xi Jinping’s China — indeed\, the posts themselves are quickly scrubbed. \n\n\n\nIs China in the garbage time of history? This talk takes the concept seriously — as material\, as metaphor\, and as memento of our times — by exploring the fate of archives in contemporary China. Specifically\, I focus on China’s grassroots archives\, collections of de-accessioned Mao-era records salvaged by waste recyclers and sold in flea markets before being acquired by major universities. Once celebrated as counter-archives preserving history beyond the Party-State’s reach\, what has become of these collections as archives are folded ever more deeply into China’s information security system and Xi’s project of national rejuvenation? Drawing on documentary research\, ethnographic fieldwork\, and quantitative analysis\, I explore the challenges of remembering the past when revisionism\, nationalism\, and denialism make archives more politicized and precarious — and not just in China. \n\n\n\nYi Lu is a historian of modern China\, with particular interests in the history of information\, material culture\, and digital humanities. He is currently Assistant Professor of History at Dartmouth College and completing his first book project\, The Dustbin of History: Chinese Archives and Their Afterlives. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/critical-issues-confronting-china-series-featuring-yi-lu-the-ccps-struggle-to-control-memory/
LOCATION:CGIS South S020\, Belfer Case Study Room\, 1730 Cambridge St.\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Critical Issues Confronting China,Critical Issues Confronting China Series
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Yi-Lu.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251113T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251113T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251022T161741Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251022T161744Z
UID:42821-1763033400-1763038800@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Ma Xinrong — Migration Pathway\, Precariousness and Migration Control: the Case of Irregular Migrants From the Philippines and Myanmar to China
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: MA Xinrong\, Associate Professor\, Sun Yat-sen University; HYI Visiting Scholar\, 2025-26Chair/Discussant: Meg Rithmire\, James E. Robison Professor of Business Administration\, Harvard Business School \n\n\n\nChina\, emerging as a new destination for international migration\, has been receiving an increasing number of labor migrants from neighboring countries. Except for limited pilot schemes in border areas\, Chinese authorities have not issued work visas to foreign migrant workers nationwide; thus\, international labor migrants in most non-border regions are classified as sanfei renyuan (people entering\, staying\, and working illegally). This research focuses on irregular migrant workers from Southeast Asia to China\, with particular attention to female migrant workers from the Philippines and Myanmar. Based on interviews and participant observation with both irregular migrants and immigration officials at the grassroots level\, this study examines how irregular migration pathways are shaped by geopolitics and migration policies over the past decade. It also investigates how migration control—particularly the deportation regime toward irregular migrants—is mutually constituted by the state\, the discretionary power of migration officials\, citizens\, and non-citizens. The research further demonstrates that\, in the face of tightened migration controls during and after the COVID-19 pandemic\, irregular migrant workers have exercised agency despite their marginalized and precarious conditions. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/ma-xinrong-migration-pathway-precariousness-and-migration-control-the-case-of-irregular-migrants-from-the-philippines-and-myanmar-to-china/
LOCATION:Common Room\, 2 Divinity Ave.\, 2 Divinity Ave.\, Cambridge\, Massachusetts\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Co-Sponsored Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ma-xinrong.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251113T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251114T170000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251007T153058Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251022T162923Z
UID:42752-1763049600-1763139600@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Asia and Asians at Harvard Conference
DESCRIPTION:Register now\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHarvard’s enduring engagement with Asia has shaped scholarly inquiry\, public policy\, and campus life—within the University and across the region. This two-day conference convenes faculty\, students\, alumni\, and institutional partners from across Schools and disciplines to examine the evolving relationship between Harvard and Asia from the late nineteenth century to the present and to consider paths forward. \n\n\n\nThrough a series of presentations\, the program revisits formative encounters\, collaborations\, and institutional linkages; recognizes the contributions of Asian students\, scholars\, and visitors who have transformed fields and enriched the University; and offers an assessment of Harvard’s roles in U.S. policy\, development\, and institution-building in Asia\, acknowledging both contributions and consequences. \n\n\n\nLooking ahead\, the conference asks how Harvard can advance more inclusive\, equitable\, and regionally balanced approaches to the study of Asia and to University engagement with the region—strengthening partnerships\, deepening interdisciplinary research and teaching\, and enhancing public impact. \n\n\n\nRegistration is not required but appreciated for planning purposes. \n\n\n\nDay 1: Thursday\, November 13\, 2025Belfer Case Study Room (S020)\,CGIS South\, 1730 Cambridge Street\n\n\n\n4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Welcome and Opening ReflectionsMichael Puett\, Victor and William Fung Foundation Director\, Harvard University Asia Center; Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and Anthropology\, FAS; Harvard College Professor \n\n\n\nOpening Panel “Harvard’s Japan Encounter”Susan J. Pharr\, Edwin O. Reischauer Research Professor of Japanese Politics\, FAS\, Harvard University“Harvard and Asia: Brief Encounters\, Abiding Relationships”Sugata Bose\, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs\, FAS\, Harvard University  \n\n\n\nTraditional Sumatran Dance Performance Presented by Harvard Indonesian Students Association  \n\n\n\nReceptionConcourse Area\, CGIS South\, 1730 Cambridge Street  \n\n\n\nDay 2: Friday\, November 14\, 2025Belfer Case Study Room (S020)\,CGIS South\, 1730 Cambridge Street\n\n\n\n8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.                  Distinguished Visitors: Asian Intellectuals and Public Figures at Harvard  Moderator: Shigehisa Kuriyama\, Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History; Director\, Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies; Interim Chair in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations\, FAS; and Faculty Director for the Humanities\, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced StudyPanelists:  “Imperfect Encounters: South Asians and Harvard in the Early 20th Century” Mou Banerjee\, Assistant Professor of History\, University of Wisconsin–Madison; Ph.D. in History\, Harvard University“Repurposing the ‘Civilizing Mission’: A Japanese Sinologist at Harvard\, 1915–1916”Yan Yu\, Associate Professor\, Shanghai Jiao Tong University\, and Visiting Scholar\, Harvard History Department\, FAS“Kissing Harvard Goodbye: The Cold War Considerations of Lee Kuan Yew’s American Visits”Eugene Chua\, Harvard College Student 10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Break  \n\n\n\n10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.                  Pioneers and Pathways: Asian Student Experiences at Harvard Moderator: Sun Joo Kim\, Harvard-Yenching Professor of Korean History\, FAS\, Harvard University Panelists: “Shared Paths\, Unique Stories: Harvard’s Korean Alumni”Sujin Elisa Han\, Ph.D. candidate in History and East Asian Languages\, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences\, Harvard UniversityTitle ForthcomingMui Poopoksakul\, Independent Literary Translator\, Berlin; Harvard College Graduate “The Earliest Asian Women at Radcliffe College” Shayna Leng\, Harvard College Student “’Democratizing Monarch?’ Harvard in the Himalaya and King Birendra at Harvard”Kashish Bastola\, Harvard College Student   \n\n\n\n12:15 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Lunch 1:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.          Harvard’s Engagement in U.S. Policy towards Asia Moderator: Sugata Bose\, Gardiner Professor of Oceanic History and Affairs\, FAS\, Harvard UniversityPanelists:   “Making Subjects of Subjects: Harvard and the Transnational Project of U.S. Colonial Education in the Philippine”Eleanor Wikstrom\, M.Sc. in Social Science of the Internet\, Oxford Internet Institute\, University  of Oxford; Harvard College Graduate  “Harvard Eugenicists and Immigration Restriction in the U.S.”Erika Lee\, Bae Family Professor of History\, FAS and the Faculty Director of the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America\, Harvard University“A Cold War Redux in Asia: Harvard’s Legacy and Role” Thitinan Pongsudhirak\, Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) and Associate Professor of International Political Economy\, Faculty of Political Science\, Chulalongkorn University“Harvard and the Vietnam War: Contestation vs. Support”Nghia Nguyen\, Harvard College Student  \n\n\n\n2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Break 3:00 p.m. – 4:50 p.m.                     Harvard’s Asian Futures: Rethinking Institutional Legacies and Regional Engagement \n\n\n\nModerator: Jay Rosengard\, Lecturer in Public Policy\, Harvard Kennedy School Panelists:  “Studying China at Harvard in the 1960s”Joseph Esherick\, Emeritus Professor of Modern Chinese History\, University of California\, San Diego“Impact Taking Many Forms”Bill Alford\, Jerome A. and Joan L. Cohen Professor of Law; Director\, East Asian Legal Studies Program; Chair\, Harvard Law School Project on Disability“Exporting Expertise: Institutionalizing Planning Education in Southeast Asia”Robin Albrecht\, MArch Candidate\, Department of Architecture\, Harvard  University Graduate School of Design  “Recovering Voices: Using Museum Collections to Address Institutional Histories”Ingrid Ahlgren\, Curator for Oceanic Collections\, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology\, FAS\, Harvard University; Research Associate\, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History“Harvard and the Study of Southeast Asia”Michael Puett\, Victor and William Fung Foundation Director\, Harvard University Asia Center; Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History and AnthropologyFAS; Harvard College Professor 4:50 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.            Closing AcknowledgementRachelle Walsh\, Executive Director\, Asia Center\, FAS\, Harvard University     \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by the Asia Center\, the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations\, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs\, the Korea Institute\, the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies\, the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute\, the Harvard-Yenching Institute\, and the Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/asia-and-asians-at-harvard-conference/
LOCATION:CGIS South\, CGIS South\, 1730 Cambridge St\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Co-Sponsored Lectures,Conference and Workshops
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251113T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251113T200000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251106T140148Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251106T140545Z
UID:43161-1763056800-1763064000@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Films from the Film Study Center: Screening and Conversation
DESCRIPTION:Please join us\, in partnership with ArtsThursdays\, for a special screening of short films by Darol Olu Kae\, Kendra McLaughlin\, Tiff Rekem\, and Svetlana Romanova—current fellows at the Film Study Center at Harvard. Following the screening\, the filmmakers will participate in a conversation with Dennis Lim\, Artistic Director of the New York Film Festival. \n\n\n\nTiff Rekem
: Trilogy (working title)\, 2026\, work in progress\, 15 min. Ten years ago\, prominent director of Taiwan popular cinema Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖) set out to make three historical epics set during the little-known 17th-century Dutch colonial period in Taiwan — until the production fell apart\, unfinished\, in 2025. This project refashions the visual and sonic traces of the Taiwan Trilogy into an alternative historical period piece that\, during a time of rising nationalism in Taiwan\, observes the construction of cinema as the construction of a national identity. A work in progress. \n\n\n\nKendra McLaughlin
: Lo que las olas no rompen (What the Waves Don’t Break)\, 2026\, work in progress\, 12min 30s. Along Lima’s southern coast\, men fish\, camels eat\, and life cycles through death and back again. \n\n\n\nSvetlana Romanova: Hinkelten\, 2023\, Russia\, 15 min.
Filmed in the Yakutian Arctic and constructed out of personal poems and notes\, this visual essay poses questions about our perception of contemporaneity and image production’s intersection with the creation of narratives around the idea of love (romantic\, platonic\, intimate\, and maternal). \n\n\n\nDarol Olu Kae: Keeping Time\, 2023\, USA\, 32 min. Keeping Time is a kaleidoscopic audiovisual homage to musicians who pass on the magic and the communities that nourish them.
  \n\n\n\nThis event is co-presented by the Film Study Center at Harvard University and ArtsThursdays\, a university-wide initiative supported by Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA). \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/films-from-the-film-study-center-screening-and-conversation/
LOCATION:Harvard Film Archive\, Carpenter Center\, 24 Quincy St\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Events of Interest,Film Screening,Taiwan,Taiwan Studies
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T113000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T130000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251022T162105Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251022T162107Z
UID:42824-1763379000-1763384400@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Wang Junqi — The Evolution of Iconography Associated with the Great Compassion Mantra
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: WANG Junqi\, Research Fellow\, Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Religious Theory; Associate Professor\, School of Philosophy\, Renmin University of China; HYI Visiting Scholar\, 2025-26Chair/Discussant: Parimal Patil\, Professor of Religion and Indian Philosophy\, Harvard University \n\n\n\nThe Great Compassion Mantra (大悲呪) is one of the most widely recited mantras in Chinese Buddhism\, often accompanied by a set of eighty-four vibrant images. But where did these images come from? This talk traces the surprising origins of this popular illustrated tradition\, arguing that the canonical texts believed to be its source were not original translations\, but later compilations. By comparing the original Sanskrit with its Chinese transliteration\, we’ll see how new\, unofficial images were created and why they became so popular. We will then examine how later manuscripts helped build a sense of “canonical authority” around these illustrations. This study reveals a fascinating story of how a religious tradition evolved through a dynamic interplay between scripture\, visual art\, and the needs of its followers\, ultimately making the mantra more accessible to a wider audience. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/wang-junqi-the-evolution-of-iconography-associated-with-the-great-compassion-mantra/
LOCATION:Common Room\, 2 Divinity Ave.\, 2 Divinity Ave.\, Cambridge\, Massachusetts\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Co-Sponsored Lectures
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/wang-junqi.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T163000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251107T195636Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251107T200034Z
UID:43322-1763391600-1763397000@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Once Burned\, Twice Shy: A Conversation on U.S.- China Trade with Ambassador Katherine Tai
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Ambassador Katherine C. Tai\, U.S. Trade Representative (2021-2025)Moderator: Mark Wu\,  Henry L. Stimson Professor of Law\, Harvard Law School; Director\, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies\, Harvard University \n\n\n\nJoin us for a conversation with Ambassador Katherine C. Tai\, U.S. Trade Representative (2021-2025) on U.S.- China trade relations\, moderated by Professor Mark Wu\, Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. Ambassador Tai will examine the longstanding issues in the trade relationship\, dating back to her days as the Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative\, and the harms to U.S. communities and interests arising out of the “China Shock.”  She will also assess the ongoing trade conflict and the likelihood of further challenges ahead as the world’s two largest economies navigate a complicated and contentious relationship with immense economic\, strategic\, and social consequences.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/once-burned-twice-shy-a-conversation-on-u-s-china-trade-with-ambassador-katherine-tai/
LOCATION:Hall D\, Science Center\, 1 Oxford Street\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Special Event
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T160000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251117T180000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251105T162147Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251105T162149Z
UID:42970-1763395200-1763402400@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Domee Shi — Drawing from Life: Storytelling\, Heritage\, and Turning the Personal into the Universal
DESCRIPTION:Register for in-person attendance\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeaker: Domee Shi\, Academy Award–Winning Director\, Writer\, and Storyteller; Creative Vice President\, PixarDiscussant: Ju Yon Kim\, Patsy Takemoto Mink Professor of English\, Harvard University \n\n\n\nJoin the Academy Award–winning director\, animator\, and filmmaker Domee Shi for an engaging conversation about creative expression and empathetic storytelling. A self-described “film nerd\,” Shi will be joined by Ju Yon Kim\, the Patsy Takemoto Mink Professor of English at Harvard\, to discuss Shi’s life and career\, taking surprising creative risks\, and using animation to explore worlds different from our own while finding universality through the stories told.To attend in person\, each individual will need to register.To view this event online\, each individual will need to register via Zoom. \n\n\n\nDomee Shi is an Academy Award–winning director\, writer\, and storyteller with a 14-year career in the animation industry. She began as a story artist on Pixar’s Academy Award–winning Inside Out (2015) before contributing to The Good Dinosaur (2015)\, Incredibles 2 (2018)\, and Toy Story 4 (2019). In 2015\, she pitched the idea for Bao (2018)\, a deeply personal short film that went on to win the Academy Award for best animated short. \n\n\n\nShi made history with her feature directorial debut\, Turning Red (2022). Praised for its bold storytelling and exploration of adolescence and family\, the film was nominated for the Academy Award for best animated feature. Her latest film\, Elio (2025)\, a sci-fi adventure\, was released in theatres this past June. Alongside directing\, Shi is also a creative vice president at Pixar\, playing a key role in shaping the studio’s creative vision and consulting on projects in both development and production.  \n\n\n\nShi was born in Chongqing\, China\, and resided in Toronto\, Canada\, for most of her life. She currently lives in Oakland\, California\, and notes that her love of animation is only rivaled by her love of cats. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/domee-shi-drawing-from-life-storytelling-heritage-and-turning-the-personal-into-the-universal/
LOCATION:Radcliffe Knafel Center\, 10 Garden St.\, Cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Co-Sponsored Lectures,Events of Interest
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251119T122000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251119T132000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20250930T142150Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250930T143210Z
UID:42557-1763554800-1763558400@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Aaron Halegua — Fighting Forced Labor on U.S. Soil: Litigation on Behalf of Chinese Workers
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Aaron Halegua\, Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs\, Wang v. Gold Mantis Construction and Liu v. Wellmade Industries \n\n\n\nAaron Halegua leads a boutique litigation firm in New York City focused on labor and employment litigation\, with particular experience representing human trafficking and forced labor victims. In 2021\, he won $6.9 million for seven Chinese construction workers trafficked to build a casino on the island of Saipan. As a result\, Aaron was named the Human Trafficking Legal Center’s “Litigator of the Year” in 2021 and received the “Grantee Hero Award” from the Impact Fund in 2023. Since then\, Aaron has represented dozens of Chinese\, Filipino\, and other immigrant workers in forced labor cases around the country\, including in New Mexico\, New York\, Georgia\, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since 2024\, Aaron has been a Co-Chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Immigration and Human Trafficking. Aaron began his legal career as a Skadden Fellow and clerked at the Southern District of New York. He speaks\, reads\, and writes Mandarin Chinese. \n\n\n\nA light lunch will be provided. \n\n\n\nPlease register here. \n\n\n\n*Location note: In past years\, EALS talks were generally in Morgan Courtroom (Austin 308)\, but due to the construction project currently underway next to Austin Hall\, we will hold most EALS talks in Wasserstein Hall during the 2025-2026 academic year. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/aaron-halegua-fighting-forced-labor-on-u-s-soil-litigation-on-behalf-of-chinese-workers/
LOCATION:WCC 3008\, Wasserstein Hall\, 1585 Massachusetts Ave.\, Cambridge\, Massachusetts\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Events of Interest
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251121T120000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251121T133000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251027T151241Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251027T151243Z
UID:42852-1763726400-1763731800@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Chuncheng Liu — Metricocracy: The Data and Symbolic Politics of a Chinese Social Credit System
DESCRIPTION:Speaker: Chuncheng Liu\, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies\, Northeastern University \n\n\n\nNumbers have become the universal language of modern governance. What happens when an authoritarian state attempts to quantify the moral worth of its citizens? Drawing from my fieldwork inside China’s social credit system bureaucracy\, this talk reveals how a quantification system designed to enhance state legibility and control instead produces opacity\, distortion\, and disillusionment. I document the everyday politics of quantification governance through two tensions: first\, between ambitious data collection goals and limited bureaucratic capacity\, resulting in selective data production and widespread fabrication; second\, between the state’s efforts to impose authoritative meanings on merit scores and citizens’ persistent reinterpretation and resistance. Through ethnographic observation\, I show how grassroots bureaucrats and citizens collaborate in maintaining an elaborate performance of governance while privately acknowledging its futility. Yet the system persists\, not because it achieves its stated objectives\, but because it fulfills internal political functions—particularly advancing officials’ careers within China’s competitive bureaucratic hierarchy. By demonstrating how quantification systems demand constant social and organizational maintenance while generating institutional strain and symbolic contestation\, this ethnography offers crucial insights into algorithmic governance worldwide—revealing how numbers designed as instruments of control transform into performative ends that ultimately govern the state more than society itself.   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/chuncheng-liu-metricocracy-the-data-and-symbolic-politics-of-a-chinese-social-credit-system/
LOCATION:William James Hall\, Room 1550\, 33 kirkland st\, cambridge\, MA\, 02138\, United States
CATEGORIES:Events of Interest
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251125T203000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251125T220000
DTSTAMP:20260502T080007
CREATED:20251118T164056Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20251118T164059Z
UID:43362-1764102600-1764108000@fairbank.fas.harvard.edu
SUMMARY:Weila Gong — Implementing a Low-Carbon Future: Climate Leadership in Chinese Cities
DESCRIPTION:Zoom Meeting link\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSpeaker: Weila Gong\, University of California-San Diego \n\n\n\nWhy are some Chinese cities more successful than others in initiating and implementing low-carbon policy actions? Despite being the world’s largest carbon emitter\, China has committed to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. Since the early 2010s\, Beijing has selected over one hundred low-carbon pilot regions—from townships to cities to provinces—to explore policy solutions for decoupling economic growth from fossil-fuel use. In her new book\, Implementing a Low-Carbon Future\, Weila Gong finds variation in levels of low-carbon policy institutionalization across the case studies. This includes varying successes of the standards\, regulations\, and laws put into place through these policy experiments. Based on original research including extensive expert interviews\, comparative case studies\, and process tracing of the low-carbon policy experimentation in these pilot cities\, Gong opens the black box of the subnational climate policy process in China’s centralized political system and identifies mid-level local bureaucrats as playing an essential “bridge leader” role in successful implementation despite changes in political leadership.Weila Gong is a nonresident scholar at UC San Diego’s 21st Century China Center and a visiting scholar at UC Davis’s Center for Environmental Policy and Behavior. She is the author of Implementing a Low-Carbon Future: Climate Leadership in Chinese Cities (Oxford University Press\, 2025). With over ten years of experience working on the politics and policy of low-carbon energy transitions with a focus on China\, she holds a Ph.D. in political science from the Technical University of Munich and has held fellowships at Georgetown University\, Harvard Kennedy School\, and UC Berkeley School of Law. \n\n\n\nWe would like to thank the MIT Sustainable Urbanization Lab\, the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning\, and the Harvard Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies for supporting this event.  Please subscribe to our mailing list if you’d like to receive e-mail notifications: http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/urbanchinaseminar.Join Zoom Meeting: https://mit.zoom.us/j/98722032936 \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVenue
URL:https://fairbank.fas.harvard.edu/events/weila-gong-implementing-a-low-carbon-future-climate-leadership-in-chinese-cities/
LOCATION:Presented via Zoom
CATEGORIES:Events of Interest
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