The New Humanities in China
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THE NEW HUMANITIES IN CHINA
November 14 – 15, 2008
(full schedule below)
The U-M Institute for the Humanities is sponsoring an international conference, “The New Humanities in China,” on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary and the UM China Theme Year. The event will take place on November 14-15, 2007, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
This conference will bring major scholars from China, and also the United States, to the University of Michigan for its China Theme Year, to showcase and address the new humanities in China at a moment of China’s dramatic educational, economic and political expansion. Positioned between guardianship of intellectual heritage and absorption of world educational currents, how are the disciplines of the humanities in China rearranging themselves? What new forms of scholarship are arising? In what ways are questions of identity (for China, for the Chinese humanities) taking precedence? What critical interventions are required in the Chinese academy at this moment? To what extent have the humanities achieved public voices in the new China?
These questions will be addressed by significant scholars who will also showcase their work.and receive comment by UM China specialists and humanists, making the symposium into an exchange across the continental divide. Topics will include the legacy of Confucius, literary humanities, and the role of memory for university and state.
Presenters include Yuhai Han, BeijingUniversity; Cao Li, Tsinghua University; Qing Liu, East China Normal University; Mark Selden, Cornell University; Ban Wang, Stanford University; JeffreyWasserstrom, University of California, Irvine; Ruiquan Gao, East China Normal University; Guo-liang Zhang, Jiaotong University; and Haiping Yan, University of California, Los Angeles. The conference is sponsored by the Universityof Michigan Institute for the Humanities under the direction of Daniel Herwitz and developed with the critical assistance of Haiping Yan, in residence as the distinguished Norman Freehling Visiting Professor in the Institute.
The conference is free and open to the public. All events take place Room 2022, 202 S. Thayer St, Ann Arbor, MI. For more information:www.lsa.umich.edu/humin; humin@umich.edu; (734) 936-3518.
THE NEW HUMANITIES IN CHINA
November 14 and 15, 2007
Room 2022, 202 South Thayer Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608
Wednesday, November 14
9 AM, Welcome
Daniel Herwitz, Director, Institute for the Humanities, University of Michigan
9:15 AM, INTRODUCTION
“The State and Stakes of Humanistic Studies in China”
Haiping Yan, The School of Theatre, Film and Television, University of California, Los Angeles
10:15 AM, Panel I
THE UNIVERSITY ND THE PUBLIC SPHERE
“Academic Discourse on Religion, the State, and the Making of a Harmonious Society”
James Robson, Asian Langauges and Cultures, University of Michigan
“The Use and Abuse of Academic Professionalism”
Qing Liu, History, East China Normal University
Commentator: Zheng Wang, Women’s Studies Program, University of Michigan
1 PM, Panel II
LITERARY AND MEDIA STUDIES IN THE CHINESE ACADEMY
“Media Research in China”
Guo-liang Zhang, School of Media and Design, Jiaotong University
“Redefining General Education in the Humanities in Contemporary China”
Cao Li, English, Tsinghua University
Commentator: Liang Luo, Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michigan
3:00 PM, Panel III
CONFUCIAN INHERITANCES FOR CONTEMPORARY UNIVERSITY AND SOCIETY
“Cosmopolitan Ethics, Aesthetics, and Confucianism: Kang Youwei's Great Community”
Ban Wang, Chinese Literature, Stanford University
“On the Revival of Confucianism in the Age of Post-Enlightenment”
Ruiquan Gao, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, East China Normal University
Commentator: Peter Railton, Philosophy, University of Michigan
Thursday, November 15
9 AM
“The Changing Stakes of Chinese Studies: Reflections on the Place of Discourse about China in the American Public Sphere”
Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, History, University of California, Irvine
Commentators: Christian de Pee, History, University of Michigan
10:00 AM
“War, Historical Memory and the Future of the Asia Pacific”
Mark Selden, East Asia Program, Cornell University
Commentator: Pär Cassel, History, University of Michigan
10:45 AM
Concluding Thoughts and Questions
Haiping Yan and Daniel Herwitz
