Panelists:
Mark C. Elliott, Vice Provost for International Affairs, Mark Schwartz Professor of Chinese and Inner Asian History, Harvard University
Joseph W. Esherick, Professor Emeritus, History Department, University of California San Diego
James A. Millward, Professor of Inter-societal History, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service

Moderator: Madeleine Yue Dong, Vincent Y. C. Shih Professor of Chinese History and China Studies, Jackson School of International Studies and the Department of History, University of Washington

This symposium will examine the persistent problem of identity and form in the conceptualization of the modern Chinese nation. Among the questions to be addressed by panelists are, How should we understand “China” as a fluid concept caught between an imperial past and a national present? How to strike a balance between seeing Chinese history through lenses formed out of the European experience and singling China out as an exception to world historical patterns? How can the dialogue between History and Modernity bring new illumination to our understanding of China today?