Lecture: Prof. Song Chen (Bucknell University): Connecting the Dots: Advancing Chinese Historical Studies through Social Network Analysis
2024-07-15 18:00 - 20:00 (Europe/Berlin) | KWZ 0.607
Date: July 15, 2024
Time: 18:00
Place: KWZ 0.607
In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have actively explored how social network analysis (SNA) may advance the understanding of Chinese history and literature. These explorations have underscored the pressing need for methodological reflections and the most appropriate subjects for network analysis. Drawing on my research in the areas of prosopography and local religion, this talk discusses the potentials and pitfalls in the application of SNA to historical studies. Using elite marriages in eleventh- and thirteenth-century China as an example, the first part of this talk explores how SNA breaks new ground in prosopographical research, directing attention from the “common background characteristics” of a historical population to the patterned relationships knitting together the members of that population. The second part of this talk addresses the tendency to conflate social networks as a subject of inquiry with social network analysis as a method of data modeling. This confusion often leads to flawed research designs at the onset of a project, skewing data collection and hampering subsequent analyses. It also results in missed opportunities where scholars overlook potential research projects that seem unrelated to SNA but could greatly benefit from its analytical capabilities. As an illustration, insights will be shared from my recent work that employs SNA to unveil patterns in the spatial distribution of temple cults in the Lower Yangzi during the thirteenth century.
Biography:
Song Chen received his Ph.D. in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 2011 and is currently an Associate Professor of Chinese History in the Department of East Asian Studies at Bucknell University, USA. His research focuses on Chinese social and cultural history between the eighth and the eighteenth century. For many years his work has focused on the migration and marriage patterns of China’s ruling elite in these centuries. Recently he is expanding the scope of his study to popular religion. He uses digital methods extensively in his teaching and scholarship. He is the inaugural project manager of the China Biographical Database project (CBDB), and has served on the project’s Steering and Executive Committees since 2011. His research combines prosopography, network analysis, and historical GIS. In 2021 and 2022, he co-edited, with Henrike Rudolph and Zhao Wei, two special journal issues that feature cutting-edge digital scholarship in Chinese studies. He has given research talks and taught digital humanities workshops at Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, National Taiwan University, Peking University, Tsinghua University (Beijing), Shanghai Normal University, National University of Singapore, among others.

Vortrag: Prof. Sun Lixin: Die „Konfuziusgesellschaft“ und der kulturelle Austausch zwischen China und Deutschland
2024-10-16 16:00 - 18:00 | KWZ 0.610
Die „Konfuziusgesellschaft“ und der kulturelle Austausch zwischen China und Deutschland
Prof. Sun Lixin (Shandong University)
Zeit: 16.10.24, 16-18 Uhr
Ort: KWZ 0.610
Von der Masse der christlichen Missionare, die im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert nach China kamen, hob sich Richard Wilhelm (1873-1930), ein deutscher Missionar des Allgemeinen evangelisch-protestantischen Missionsvereins, auf bemerkenswerte Weise ab. Als „intimer Schüler“ des berühmten deutschen religiösen Sozialisten Christoph Blumhardt taufte Wilhelm in China keine Chinesen. Für das chinesische Volk, das unter der Knute des Imperialismus litt, war Wilhelm voller Sympathie. Auch zeigte er großes Interesse an chinesischer Geschichte und Kultur. Aus einer auf Christus zentrierten religiösen Sichtweise, nahm er eine neue Missionsmethode an, deren Hauptinhalt darin bestand, sich „auf das einfache Leben nach christlichen Grundsätzen zu beschränken, durch Schule und Hospital zu wirken, mit den Menschen zusammenzuleben und ihnen innerlich nahe zu kommen“. Durch den engen Kontakt mit allen Bereichen der chinesischen Gesellschaft und seinen persönlichen Erfahrungen mit der chinesischen Kultur lernte Wilhelm nicht nur allmählich den spirituellen Ursprung des harmonischen Lebens der Chinesen kennen, sondern entwickelte auch eine innige Bewunderung für Konfuzius. Er gründete zusammen mit einigen ehemaligen Adligen und Ministern der Qing Dynastie 1913 in Qingdao die „Konfuziusgesellschaft“. Diese Gesellschaft war weder eine retro-orientierte Institution noch eine rein akademische Einrichtung. Die Gründung der „Konfuziusgesellschaft“ basierte auf der konkreten Praxis der missionarischen Idee von Wilhelm, die versuchte, durch Übersetzungen, Vorträge und wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen Anknüpfung und Zusammenarbeit auf geistigem Gebiet zwischen Ost und West zu bewirken. Bei der Förderung des kulturellen Austauschs zwischen China und Deutschland hat die Gründung der Konfuziusgesellschaft eine äußerst wichtige Rolle gespielt.
Prof. Sun Lixin
Sun Lixin ist Professor für Weltgeschichte an der Shandong-Universität in Jinan, China. In seiner wissenschaftlichen Arbeit konzentriert er sich auf die Neuere Geschichte Deutschlands und Zeitgeschichte, mit einer Vielzahl von Publikationen u.a. zur politischen Geschichte, Kulturgeschichte, Geschichte der Geschichtsschreibung und den deutsch-chinesischen Beziehungen. Wichtige Veröffentlichungen sind: Das Chinabild der deutschen protestantischen Missionare des 19. Jahrhunderts – Eine Fallstudie zum Problem interkultureller Begegnung und Wahrnehmung (Marburg 2002), Abhandlungen über die Geschichte der deutsch-chinesischen Beziehungen in der Neuzeit (Beijing 2014), Studien zur Geschichtsschreibung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der historiographischen Kontroverse um die NS-Frage (mit Meng Zhongjie u. Fan Dingliang, Beijing 2018) und Allgemeine Geschichte Deutschlands · Band II: Das Zeitalter des gespaltenen Glaubens (Nanjing 2019).

Veranstalter:

Bild:青岛礼贤书院大门 (Richard Wilhelm School Tsingtau), Public Domain (China, Taiwan). Abridged link: https://s.gwdg.de/qUl8xA

Dr. Austin Strange: The Political Logics of Chinese Global Infrastructure
2024-11-11 18:00 - 19:30 | ZHG 004
The Political Logics of Chinese Global Infrastructure

Date: November 11, 2024, 18:00-19:30
Location: ZHG 004

Abstract: Infrastructure is a major component of China’s presence in global development and is also central to larger debates about China’s evolving roles in the world economy and international politics. This talk will present a comprehensive account of major, Chinese government-financed infrastructure projects across the Global South since 1949 to the present day. New historical and contemporary datasets show Chinese global infrastructure’s distinctiveness in terms of its historical tenacity and massive contemporary scope. The data include hundreds of 20th-century overseas infrastructure projects that predate contemporary China’s infrastructure spree during the Going Out strategy and the Belt and Road Initiative. These projects and their underlying political logics suggest that global infrastructure will remain a crucial component of China’s role in international development even as the BRI evolves toward smaller, more sustainable, and digital infrastructure forms. The talk will also feature new findings from analyses of observational and experimental data on how overseas infrastructure projects relate to China’s international influence.

Bio: Austin Strange is an Associate Professor of International Relations in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong. He teaches and researches international relations, international development, and Chinese foreign policy. He is the author of Chinese Global Infrastructure (Cambridge University Press, 2023) and co-author of Banking on Beijing: The Aims and Impacts of China’s Overseas Development Program (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Austin’s research has appeared or is forthcoming in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, and Journal of Conflict Resolution, among others. In 2022 Austin was awarded the University of Hong Kong’s Early Career Teaching Award. From 2023-2025 he is a fellow in the National Committee on United States-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program, and previously he was a fellow at the Wilson Center and the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program. Austin earned a Ph.D. from Harvard University, an M.A. from Zhejiang University, and a B.A. from College of William and Mary.

Lecture: Journey to the East (and Back): China and “Western Esotericism” from Reception History to Global Religious Studies
2025-05-08 18:00 - 19:30 | KWZ 0.603, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14
Journey to the East (and Back): China and “Western Esotericism” from Reception History to Global Religious Studies
Davide Marino (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Date: May 8, 2025
Time: 18:00 – 19:30
Place: KWZ 0.603
Abstract:
This presentation examines the intricate and multifaceted relationship between Chinese spiritual culture(s) and the field of “Western Esotericism.” For centuries, the East, and particularly China, was regarded by Europeans as a repository of superior spiritual knowledge, a realm of profound wisdom that seemed inaccessible to the West. This perception of the East as a mystical and enigmatic source of ancient wisdom persisted across various periods of European intellectual history, with China holding a particularly prominent place in Western imagination. Beginning in the early modern period, and reaching its peak during the colonial era, Western thinkers found abundant inspiration in Chinese religions, philosophies, and cultural practices and these elements were integrated into the evolving spiritual and philosophical discourses of the time, ultimately becoming essential components of the eclectic mix of ideas now known as “Western Esotericism.” China was not simply “received” or passively absorbed into Western thought; rather, various Chinese intellectuals, spiritual leaders, and cultural movements became active participants in a global esoteric discourse that transcended geographical boundaries and facilitated the exchange of ideas. This dynamic of intellectual and spiritual exchange is even more pronounced in contemporary times. While in “the West,” Chinese cultural elements such as Chinese medicine, the Daodejing, and the notion of qi have become widely embraced as staples of global post-confessional spirituality, “Western Esotericism” is increasingly being discussed, reinterpreted, and adapted in the People’s Republic, both in commercial contexts and within academic discourse. This growing interest reflects a reciprocal flow of ideas that continues to shape global spiritual trends. Although often overlooked by Western scholars, Chinese perspectives on “Western Esotericism” present a challenge to traditional diffusionist models, which tend to view the flow of ideas as a one-way process. Instead, these Chinese perspectives reveal a more complex and circular flow of ideas, which calls into question the conventional notion of one-way reception (whether “from East to West” or “from West to East”). China did not merely provide raw material for Western thinkers to appropriate and adapt for their own purposes; rather, Chinese cultural and spiritual traditions actively shaped and influenced the trajectory of global discourses on esotericism. Likewise, contemporary Chinese discourses on “Western Esotericism” are increasingly framed around both domestic issues—such as the role and necessity of regulating religion in Chinese society—and international debates on religion, science, and public health. Thus, this presentation advocates for a global and interdisciplinary approach to the study of esotericism—one that recognizes the entangled and reciprocal histories of “China” and “the West,” and acknowledges their shared responsibility in shaping the development of modern and postmodern alternative religious trajectories.
Davide Marino, PhD
Davide Marino specializes in the interplay between East Asian religions, particularly Chinese, and European Esotericism, with a focus on Traditionalism. His Ph.D. thesis, which received the CUHK Young Scholars Thesis Award in 2023, examined the influence of Chinese and Vietnamese religious concepts on the works of Albert de Pouvourville and René Guénon. More recently, he has been investigating the intersection of politics and esotericism in both China and Europe.
Organizers:
Department of East Asian Studies, University of Göttingen
Centre for Modern East Asian Studies, University of Göttingen
Image: Image: Gauthier Delecroix, Spirituality CC BY 2.0, https://flic.kr/p/MxGNDj

[Event Cancellation] Lecture: Network Ties, Social Capital, and Multilateral Cooperation
2025-05-12 16:15 - 17:30 | ZHG 005
We regret to inform you that the lecture:
Network Ties, Social Capital, and Multilateral Cooperation
has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Should the event be rescheduled in the future, we will update the information accordingly.
Thank you for your understanding and continued interest.
—
Centre for Modern East Asian Studies (CeMEAS)
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
23.04.2025

Network Ties, Social Capital, and Multilateral Cooperation
Christina Davis (Harvard University)
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Room: ZHG 005 16:15 – 17:30
Lecture: May 12, 2025

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Christina L. Davis
Christina L. Davis is the Edwin O. Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics in the Department of Government and Director of the Program on U.S.-Japan Relations at Harvard University. During academic year 2024-25 she will be on leave at Oxford University (affiliated to Queen’s College) as the Centenary Visiting Professor in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Her research interests include the politics and foreign policy of Japan, East Asia, and the study of international organizations with a focus on trade policy. Her research has been published in leading political science journals. She is the author of Food Fights Over Free Trade: How International Institutions Promote Agricultural Trade Liberalization (Princeton University Press 2003), and Why Adjudicate? Enforcing Trade Rules in the WTO (Princeton University Press 2012, winner of the international law best book award of the International Studies Association, Ohira Memorial Prize, and co-winner of Chadwick Alger Prize). Her latest book, Discriminatory Clubs: The Geopolitics of International Organizations, was released by Princeton University Press in July 2023. Currently she is working on several projects on the evolving trade order and economic sanctions. Education: AB in East Asian Studies, Harvard 1993; Ph.D. in Political Science, Harvard 2001.
https://scholar.harvard.edu/cldavis/home

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Organizers:
Centre for Modern East Asian Studies (CeMEAS), Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, http://www.cemeas.de
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Department for International Relations, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen,Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, https://lehrstuhlib.uni-goettingen.de
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Chair of Development Economics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/614556.h
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Image: Image created using AI-generated content powered by DALL·E via ChatGPT by OpenAI

Akademie im Gespräch - Was bewegt China?
2025-05-14 18:00 - 20:00 | Altes Rathaus Göttingen
Was bewegt China?

14. Mai 2025
Altes Rathaus Göttingen, 18.15 Uhr

Diskussionsveranstaltung der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen in Kooperation mit der Stadt Göttingen.
Sprecher:
Andreas Fuchs, Entwicklungsökonom
Dominic Sachsenmaier, Globalhistoriker
In unserem Zeitalter großer Umbrüche richten sich immer mehr Augen auf China. Längst ist klar, dass Fragen zur künftigen globalen Ordnung auch Chinas Stellung in der Welt betreffen.
Welche Rolle spielt die neue Großmacht in den Krisen unserer Zeit, und wie wirken sich diese auf Europa aus? Auf welchen Gebieten lässt sich ein globaler Machtzuwachs Chinas beobachten, und wo zeigt das chinesische System Schwächen und Risse? Wie werden sich die Beziehungen Chinas zu Europa und zu anderen Teilen der Welt verändern?
Niedersächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen (NAWG)

Veranstalter

Lecture: The Great Transformation of International Order and the Future of Chinese Economy
2025-05-27 18:00 - 19:30 | PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21
The Great Transformation of International Order and the Future of Chinese Economy

Prof. Gao Bai (Duke University)

PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21
27. May (Tuesday), 18:15-19:45

Abstract:
The international order established after World War II is currently experiencing a profound transformation. Many Chinese use 百年未有之大变局 （major changes unseen in a century）to describe the current situation.
What are the driving forces behind this great transformation?
In his newly published book titled 《把脉：全球巨变与中国经济》（Taking A Pulse：Global Transformation and the Chinese economy）, Bai Gao uses three long cycles of history, which include the pendulum movement of globalization, the cycle of hegemonic expansions, and technological revolution, to explain the drastic changes occurring in the international economic order and their profound impacts on the Chinese economy.
Bai Gao demonstrates that since China’s reform and opening up, the dynamics of development of the Chinese economy have changed twice, first to the world factory model focusing on external circulation by promoting export, and then shifted to a supply-side demand model emphasizing internal circulation sustained by government spending in infrastructure construction and private investment in real estate. With low birth rate and ageing population and mounting debts of local governments, these old strategies can no longer sustain economic growth. Bai Gao predicts a new model for the Chinese economy in the 21st century: 休养生息（rest and recuperate）by developing strong social protection programs, and 强筋壮骨 （strengthen muscles and bones）by upgrading industries and developing international competitiveness.
Speaker:
Gao Bai is a lifelong professor of sociology at Duke University. Professor Gao Bai graduated from Peking University in the 1980s and received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree. In 1994, he graduated from the Department of Sociology of Princeton University and received a doctorate in sociology.
Professor Gao Bai’s main research fields include economics and society, comparative history sociology, organizational theory, comparative political economy, international political economy and globalization.
Professor Gao Bai has been teaching at Duke University since graduation; has been a visiting scholar at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Tokyo, the Department of Economics of the University of One Bridge, the School of International Business and Law of Yokohama National University, the Tokyo University of Economics and the Max Planck Institute of Social Studies in Cologne, Germany; has been a visiting professor at the University of Tokyo, Meiji University and Jacob University in Bremen, Germany, as a self-strengthening professor at the University of Shanghai and a lecture professor at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics; and has been the director and chief expert of the China High Speed Railway Development Strategy Research Center at Southwest Jiaotong University since June 2014.
Organizer:
Prof. Dominic Sachsenmaier, University of Göttingen

Gab es außereuropäische Kolonialreiche? Theoretisch-konzeptuelle Überlegungen am Beispiel des Qingreichs (1636-1912)
2025-06-02 16:00 - 17:30 | KWZ 0.607
Gab es außereuropäische Kolonialreiche? Theoretisch-konzeptuelle Überlegungen am Beispiel des Qingreichs (1636-1912)

Zeit: 16.00-17:30, 2. Juni 2025
Ort: KWZ 0.607, Göttingen
Vortrag: Julia C. Schneider

Abstract
Seit etwas mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten findet man in der historischen Forschung vermehrt die Konzeptualisierung des Qingreichs und anderer außereuropäischer Reiche wie des osmanischen und des russischen Reichs als Kolonialreiche. Parallel zu den europäischen imperialistischen Kolonialreichen und -staaten der frühen Neuzeit, so die These, hätten sie in eroberten Gebieten koloniale Projekte durchgeführt und Siedlungskolonialismus unterstützt.
In meinem Vortrag stelle ich diese These auf den Prüfstand, indem ich am Fall der manjurischen Qingdynastie zeige, warum der Begriff Kolonialreich und verwandte Begriffe in den Empire studies verwendet werden, was ihre Verwendung mit Postkolonialismus zu tun hat und warum sie aus meiner Sicht letztlich unzutreffend sind.

CV: Julia C. Schneider ist Professorin für Sinologie an der Universität Hamburg. Von 2019 bis 2024 war sie Lecturer bzw. Senior Lecturer für chinesische Geschichte am University College Cork (Irland). Nach einem Magister in klassischer Sinologie (Heidelberg) hat sie an den Universitäten Gent und Göttingen in Sinologie promoviert (Cotutelle).
Julia C. Schneider befasst sich vor allem mit Ideengeschichte. Ihr inhaltlicher Schwerpunkt liegt dabei auf chinesischen Diskurses zu nicht-chinesischen Gesellschaften bezüglich Nationalismus, Historiographie und Zensur, ihr zeitlicher Fokus auf der späten Kaiser- und Republikzeit sowie den Ming- und Qingdynastien. Darüberhinaus hat sie ein Interesse für die Manjuristik.

Lecture: Guerrilla Practice and the Cultural Conjury of Cooperation in Wartime China, 1937-1945
2025-06-03 18:00 - 19:30 | PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21
Guerrilla Practice and the Cultural Conjury of Cooperation in Wartime China, 1937-1945

Dr. Harlan Chambers (University of Göttingen)
PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21
3. June (Tuesday), 18:15-19:45

Abstract:
Within the long, global history of modern guerrilla warfare and related practices of “small wars,” revolutionaries and scholars alike have regarded Mao Zedong’s texts on guerrilla war as formative to post WWII liberation struggles. In this talk, I will argue that beyond Mao’s famous texts on military strategy, the “guerrilla” as it was developed in China’s War to Resist Japan articulated a cultural and philosophical project to forge a new logic of political-economic development. Progressive thinkers and creative writers working amongst guerrilla zones narrated “guerrilla practices” as those of cooperative construction, a non-exploitive form of economic organization that rejected the extractive economics of fascism that were engendered by Japanese invasion and Nationalist hegemony.
First, I will examine how Chinese thinkers staged and debated the guerrilla in 1930s China, particularly in light of Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). By analyzing international developments, progressive thinkers not only formulated the guerrilla as a project of social reconstruction but interrogated it as a philosophical problem for thinking world history. The second part builds upon these formulations of the guerrilla to understand the particular “guerrilla practices” of the late 1930s, which extend beyond Mao’s famous military tactics to encompass forms of cooperative economic construction in the base areas of northern China. I show that, by the early 1940s, guerrilla zones’ economic practices also integrated culture workers as essential for developing their particular forms of cooperative labor. Considering several cultural creations from these guerrilla zones, particularly around the Jin-Cha-Ji base area, I will argue that cultural works conjured a new logic of cooperatively organized economic production, formative to the guerrilla project.
Speaker:
Harlan Chambers completed his Ph.D. in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture at Columbia University in 2022 and served as a Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Illinois Wesleyan University before joining the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen in 2024. As an interdisciplinary scholar of Chinese culture and history, as well as feminist and critical theory, his research interrogates the role of cultural practices in processes of social transformation, integrating archival research with analyses of cultural texts. Harlan is part of a research team exploring the history of conceptions of world order at the University of Göttingen.
Organizer:
Prof. Dominic Sachsenmaier, University of Göttingen

Image Disclaimer:
This promotional poster was generated using OpenAI’s ChatGPT (DALL·E) for non-commercial academic purposes.

Lecture: ‘Contesting the Liberal Script? The AIIB and World Bank in Development Finance.’
2025-06-11 13:00 - 14:00 | Raum 1.110 THEO
Lecture: ‘Contesting the Liberal Script? The AIIB and World Bank in Development Finance.’
Date: 11.06.2025
Time: 13:00 – 14:00
Place: Raum 1.110 THEO

Soo Yeon Kim
Associate Professor, Pacific Affairs School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia
https://sppga.ubc.ca/profile/soo-yeon-kim/

Abstract: Does the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), formed through China’s initiative, contest the liberal script on development finance led by existing international financial institutions? This paper engages the important debate on the shape and trajectory of the liberal international order where China is increasingly playing a prominent role. The research problem focuses on how the AIIB conducts development finance and to whether they are aligned with the US-led World Bank. The analysis utilizes quantitative text analysis to examine project documents from the AIIB and World Bank, leveraging the rich textual dimension of their funding activities. The paper advances the argument that the AIIB’s funding priorities align with those of the World Bank, due to overlapping mandates, many co-financed projects, and China’s motivation for leading the formation of the AIIB. The analysis finds that the AIIB does not contest and is largely aligned with the liberal script of development finance in its funded projects. Project documents indicate overlap in how the AIIB and World Bank conduct lending and prioritize development objectives, including the application of equivalent environmental and social frameworks. The findings also indicate an emerging of a division of labor between the AIIB and World Bank. AIIB funding favors infrastructure projects that enhance connectivity in the transport and energy sectors, while World Bank funding emphasizes education, social policy, and other areas related to human development. The AIIB may well be expanding the “liberal script” of development finance, one that is tailored to the infrastructural needs of the Asian region.

Organizers:
Centre for Modern East Asian Studies (CeMEAS), Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Heinrich-Düker-Weg 14, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, http://www.cemeas.de
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Chair of International Relations, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen,Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, Prof. Anja Jetschke https://lehrstuhlib.uni-goettingen.de
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Chair of Development Economics, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 3, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, Prof. Andreas Fuchs https://www.uni-goettingen.de/en/614556.h

Chinesischsprachige Filmwochen Göttingen 2025: Schüler:innen-Vorführung: White Snake
2025-06-20 13:30 - 16:00 | Kino Lumière, Göttingen
Chinesischsprachige Filmwochen Göttingen 2025

Schüler:innen-Vorführung im Kino Lumière – White Snake《白蛇：缘起》
Freitag, 20. Juni 2025
Beginn: 13:30 Uhr
Kino Lumière, Göttingen
Eintritt frei – Anmeldung bis zum 18.06.2025 an: goechaf@uni-goettingen.de
Film in deutscher Synchronisation | FSK ab 12 Jahren
Im Rahmen der diesjährigen Filmreihe „Von Wurzeln und Flügeln: Sprachen und Kulturen auf dem Weg zum Erwachsenwerden“ laden wir herzlich zur Sondervorstellung des chinesischen Animationsfilms White Snake – Die Legende der weißen Schlange (《白蛇：缘起》) ein.
Dieser visuell beeindruckende Film erzählt eine zeitlose Geschichte über erste Liebe, Mut und das Anderssein – ein cineastisches Erlebnis für junge Menschen und alle Interessierten!

Im Anschluss: Filmgespräch mit Prof. Dr. Tao Zhang
Themen: Othering | Zugehörigkeit | Antidiskriminierung
(Professur Fachdidaktik Chinesisch als Fremdsprache, Universität Göttingen)
Wir freuen uns auf zahlreiche Teilnahme und einen inspirierenden Austausch im Kino! Bitte gerne an interessierte Kolleg:innen und Schüler:innen weiterleiten.

Lecture: From Theory to Practice: Enhancing Inclusive L2 Chinese Language Teaching at U.S. Universities through Multimedia Pedagogy
2025-06-25 16:00 - 17:30 | KWZ 3.601
From Theory to Practice: Enhancing Inclusive L2 Chinese Language Teaching at U.S. Universities through Multimedia Pedagogy

Time: 16:00-17:30, 25.06.2025
Place: KWZ 3.601
Language:

Talk: Chinese
Handout: English & Chinese
Q&A: Bilingual (English / Chinese)

Speaker:
Dr. Yongli Li
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf / College of the Holy Cross (USA)

Over the past two decades, shifting geopolitics, rapid technological advancements, and growing scholarship on decolonialization in applied linguistics have challenged conventional language teaching pedagogies within higher education. Transforming an inclusive, culturally sustaining, and long-term motivating pedagogy has become the center of recent scholarship. Inclusiveness in L2 language classrooms in higher education means respecting linguistically and culturally diverse students, and creating curricula and pedagogies that promote equity and raise awareness of social justice in classroom. What are the multifaceted dimensions of inclusiveness in Chinese language teaching in higher education? How can we enhance inclusive excellence when teaching diverse learners through task-based language learning and the strategic use of multimedia? In this talk, I will discuss recent English-language scholarship on inclusiveness in language teaching and reflect on my experiences teaching Chinese at the university level in the U.S. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session featuring discussions on classroom task design and sharing of teaching experiences in Europe and the U.S.

讲座题目:美国大学中文二语课堂中的包容性教学与多媒体应用
过去二十年中，全球地缘政治的变化、数字媒体和人工智能技术的日新月异，以及应用语言学领域中去殖民化研究的不断深入，都对高等教育中传统的语言教学法提出了挑战。如何对现有的二语教学法进行革新，使其成为更具有包容性、文化持续性和长期激励性的教学法已成为近年来学术研究的重点之一。高等教育二语教学课堂的包容性教学，不仅意味着尊重语言及文化背景多元化的学生，创建具有平等性的课堂，更意指在教学大纲和课堂活动设计中激发批判性多元文化主义的思考及提高学生社会正义意识的实践。此次讲座中，将首先讨论近期英文文献中关于中文二语教学包容性的学术研究成果，并以美国大学中文二语教学课堂实践为例，探讨教学中的包容性概念，并着重分享多媒体在二语教学中的应用及其对促进包容性教学的作用。

Short bio Yongli Li is Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies in the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at College of the Holy Cross in the U.S. She specializes in Chinese film history, urban cinema and media industry. She has published in academic journals, including Transnational Screens, Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images, Chinese Literature Today. In addition to her reseaerch on Chinese media, she has taught Chinese language courses at universities in California, New York and Massachusetts. During the 2024-2025 academic year, she also holds a visiting assistant professor position at the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf.

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️ This lecture is part of the Chinese-Language Film Weeks 2025. For the full program and more information, please visit the overview page.

Lecture: History on Sale: Unofficial Archive Markets in Contemporary China
2025-07-01 18:00 - 19:30 | PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21
History on Sale: Unofficial Archive Markets in Contemporary China

Dr. Yi Lu (Assistant Professor of History, Dartmouth College)

PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21

1. July (Tuesday), 18:15–19:45

Abstract:

For the past four decades, the study of contemporary China has been significantly shaped by an informal market in de-accessioned government archives. My research examines how state records have been transformed into both street commodities and scholarly resources, proposing a theory of knowledge recycling through a material economy lens. In this presentation, I explore how individuals on the margins of Chinese society, including waste recyclers, have repurposed discarded paper ephemera to create a counter-archive of knowledge. From Beijing’s Panjiayuan flea market to online platforms like Kongfuzi.com, and through various forms of indigenous classification and private museums, their cultural entrepreneurship has forged connections between a global network of scholars and collectors. This phenomenon has not only reshaped the field of contemporary Chinese history but also raised some unsettling questions about the practice and ethics of knowledge production: Who is a historian? What constitutes an archive? And what happens to history as a field when historians write with what they can buy?

Speaker:

Dr. Yi 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 working on his first book project, The Dustbin of History: Making History in Modern China.

Organizer:
Prof. Dominic Sachsenmaier, University of Göttingen

Lecture: Semi-Governmentalism: The Guild Socialists’ Reform Proposals in the Socialist Debates
2025-07-08 16:00 - 18:00 | VG 2.105
Semi-Governmentalism: The Guild Socialists’ Reform Proposals in the Socialist Debates

Zhou Yuefeng (Sichuan University)
Time: 08 July 2025 (Tuesday), 16:00–18:00
Room: VG 2.105
Language: Chinese
Abstract:
Originating in Britain, Guild Socialism was one strand of socialist thought that gained popularity in China during the May Fourth period and served as an important intellectual resource for addressing the political situation of the time. Those influenced by it actively participated in the debates on socialism. However, existing research has largely portrayed them as opponents of Marxism, emphasizing their non-communist stance while overlooking their broader vision for societal reform. In response to the emerging discourse surrounding the ideas of a “strong government” and a “good government” in the public sphere during the socialist debates, figures influenced by Guild Socialism—such as Zhang Dongsun, Lan Gongwu, Xu Liuji, and Guo Mengliang—voiced sustained opposition. They not only rejected early communists’ proposals to achieve socialism through a strong state, but also remained wary of idealized conceptions of an “omnipotent” or “benevolent” government. Instead, they advocated for a gradual strengthening of social forces and the balance of state power through a combination of occupational and regional self-governance. Their ultimate goal was a “semi-government” or a “dual-government” model—an ideal of minimal government. Yet, within an era that favored immediate action, this gradualist, society-oriented socialism was often dismissed as non-socialist or even anti-socialist. Ironically, it was the socialism advocating for a strong state that became recognized as the “orthodox” form of socialism.
Bio: Prof. Dr. Zhou Yuefeng holds a Professorship in Chinese History at Sichuan University. He is the author of Alternative New Culture Movement: The Cultural Activities of Liang Qichao’s Circle and the Intellectuals around the May Fourth Movement (Peking University Press, 2023). He has published articles on Modern Chinese intellectual history in peer-reviewed journals, including Historical Research, Modern Chinese History Studies, Bulletin of the Institute of Modern History Academia Sinica, Journal of Tsinghua University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), etc. He serves as the vice president of Sun Yat-Sen Research Association and the vice chief director of “Data Platform of Chinese Modern history”. He is also an elected member of the “Centre for the Study of Modern Chinese Thought” at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

半政府主义：社会主义论战中基尔特主义者的改造构想
周月峰（四川大学历史文化学院）
时间：2025年7月8日（星期二），16:00–18:00
地点：VG 2.105
语言：中文
摘要：起源于英国的基尔特社会主义是社会主义流派之一，曾在五四时期流行于中国，成为时人应对时局的重要思想资源。受其影响者曾深度参与社会主义论战，然而既有研究多将其视为马克思主义的对立者，看到的多是其非共产主义的面相，而忽视他们应对时局的整体构想。面对社会主义论战前后舆论界新兴的“强政府”与“好政府”思潮，当时受基尔特社会主义影响的张东荪、蓝公武、徐六几、郭梦良等人曾有持续反对。他们不仅反对早期共产主义者以“强政府”为手段实现社会主义的主张，在理想国家形态上也警惕“万能政府”、“好政府”的设想，而是希望通过逐渐发展社会力量，以职业自治与区域自治相结合的方式制衡政府，最终实现“半政府”、“两个政府”的小政府理想。然而，在当时倾向立刻行动的时代思潮中，这一倾向“社会”的渐进式社会主义，被视为了非社会主义或反社会主义，反而是主张“强政府”的社会主义，成了社会主义的“正统”。
简介：周月峰教授现任四川大学中国历史教授，著有《另一场新文化运动：五四前后“梁启超系”再造新文明的努力》（北京大学出版社，2023）。他在《历史研究》、《近代史研究》、《中央研究院近代史研究所集刊》、《清华大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》等同行评审期刊发表多篇关于中国近代思想史的学术论文。现任孙中山研究会副会长、“中国近代史数据平台”副主任，同时也是中国社会科学院“近代中国思想研究中心”特邀研究员。

Lecture: A Multispecies Conquest of Zomia: The British Raj, the Elephant Paths, and the Panthay Mule Caravans in the Chin-Lushai Hills
2025-07-08 18:00 - 19:30 | PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21
A Multispecies Conquest of Zomia: The British Raj, the Elephant Paths, and the Panthay Mule Caravans in the Chin-Lushai Hills

Prof. Cao Yin (Peking University)

PH 20. Hörsaal der Philosophischen Fakultät, Humboldtallee 19/21

8. July (Tuesday), 18:15–19:45

Abstract:

Since the 1850s, the British Raj sought to control the Chin-Lushai Hills, which lie between India and Burma. However, the region’s harsh terrain and climate rendered British occupation nearly impossible. The encounter between the colonial authorities, wild elephants, and the Panthay mule caravans marked a turning point. By following wild elephant migratory corridors and relying on the infrastructures of the Panthay mule caravans, the Raj overcame the logistical challenges that had previously hindered its efforts. This study argues that the non-Western knowledge upon which the British relied for their conquest of the hills in northeastern India and northern Burma was not purely locally rooted or indigenous. Rather, it had been shaped through the mobilities of migratory elephants and itinerant Panthay traders, who developed their understandings of the region through movement and translocal engagements. The British annexation of the Chin-Lushai Hills thus represents only one chapter in a longer, multispecies history of conquest and entanglement in this frontier zone.

Speaker:

Cao Yin is an associate professor in the department of history at Peking University. He is a scholar of modern South Asian history, global history, and India-China relations. He is the author of Chinese Sojourners in Wartime Raj, 1942-45 (Oxford University Press, 2022) and From Policemen to Revolutionaries: A Sikh Diaspora in Global Shanghai, 1885-1945 (Brill, 2017). He is a recipient of the Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers affiliated with the University of Göttingen. While in Göttingen, he is developing a book manuscript that explores the more-than-human dimensions of colonial expansion across the India-Burma-China borderlands in the 19th century.

Organizer:
Prof. Dominic Sachsenmaier, University of Göttingen

Guest Lecture: Strategic Teaching of Movies as Self-Study Materials for Listening Comprehension
2025-07-21 16:00 - 17:30 | KWZ 0.601
Guest Lecture: Strategic Teaching of Movies as Self-Study Materials for Listening Comprehension
Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng (National Taiwan Normal University)
Date & Time:
21 July 2025, 16:00–17:30
Location:
KWZ 0.601
Language:
Presentation: Chinese
Slides: Chinese & English
Q&A: Bilingual (Chinese / English)
Abstract:
This lecture aims to explore how movies can be effectively integrated into Mandarin learners’ self-study of listening comprehension, with a focus on practical, strategy-based teaching methods. Through guidance on film selection, key scene analysis, and the design of self-study worksheets, participants will learn how to support learners in conducting targeted listening practice. The lecture will also present real-world teaching cases to demonstrate how language input and cultural context can be combined to enhance learners’ motivation and language proficiency. It is suitable for language instructors, teaching material developers, and learners interested in strengthening their self-study strategies .

Speaker’s Bio:

Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng is a full professor in the Department of Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University. She is currently serving as the Taiwan Chair and visiting researcher at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Dr. Tseng earned her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University in 1988, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
A linguist, phonetician, and teacher educator, her early research focused on phonetics, interlanguage, and second language acquisition. More recently, her work has expanded to include Chinese dialect teacher education, AI-assisted teaching strategies, and the development of an interlanguage prosodic database for Chinese language research in Europe.
Recent publication:
Zhang, F., & Tseng, C.-C. (2025). Inclusive teaching strategies and proprioceptive learning methods for migrants in acquiring basic Chinese. In Y. Liang & Z. Li (Eds.), Diversity and inclusiveness in Chinese as a second language education (pp. 145–174). Routledge.
Ongoing project:
International Integrated Collaboration Project for the University Alliance in the Czech Republic (ICU) and the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT), under the national-level initiative for international collaboration in key academic fields (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences).
Project Title: The Dynamics of East-West Civilizational Interactions: Conflict or Fusion?
Sub-project: A Study on Interpersonal Communication between Czechs and Taiwanese in the Context of Second Language Teaching

️ This lecture is part of the Chinese-Language Film Weeks 2025. For the full program and more information, please visit the overview page.

Guest Lecture: The Application of Animated Films in Mythology Teaching
2025-07-22 14:00 - 15:30 | KWZ 0.601
Guest Lecture: The Application of Animated Films in Mythology Teaching
Speaker:
Prof. Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng (National Taiwan Normal University)
Date & Time:
22 July 2025, 14:00–15:30
Location:
KWZ 0.601
Format:
Hybrid
Online Registration:
Please register via email: goechaf@uni-goettingen.de
Language:
Presentation: Chinese
Slides: Chinese & English
Q&A: Bilingual (Chinese / English)
Abstract:
This lecture explores the use of animated films as engaging and effective tools in mythology instruction, helping to spark interest and deepen cultural understanding. Participants will learn how to guide students in identifying mythological themes, archetypal characters, and symbolic meanings through film selection, narrative analysis, and visual storytelling. The lecture will also discuss how to combine animated films with reading, discussion and creative activities to enhance students’ cross-cultural understanding and the ability to distinguish between classical Chinese, vernacular Chinese and dialects. This lecture is ideal for language teachers, humanities educators, and anyone interested in incorporating mythology into teaching practice .

Speaker’s Bio:

Dr. Chin-Chin Tseng is a full professor in the Department of Chinese as a Second Language at National Taiwan Normal University. She is currently serving as the Taiwan Chair and visiting researcher at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Dr. Tseng earned her B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literatures from National Taiwan University in 1988, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
A linguist, phonetician, and teacher educator, her early research focused on phonetics, interlanguage, and second language acquisition. More recently, her work has expanded to include Chinese dialect teacher education, AI-assisted teaching strategies, and the development of an interlanguage prosodic database for Chinese language research in Europe.
Recent publication:
Zhang, F., & Tseng, C.-C. (2025). Inclusive teaching strategies and proprioceptive learning methods for migrants in acquiring basic Chinese. In Y. Liang & Z. Li (Eds.), Diversity and inclusiveness in Chinese as a second language education (pp. 145–174). Routledge.
Ongoing project:
International Integrated Collaboration Project for the University Alliance in the Czech Republic (ICU) and the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT), under the national-level initiative for international collaboration in key academic fields (Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences).
Project Title: The Dynamics of East-West Civilizational Interactions: Conflict or Fusion?
Sub-project: A Study on Interpersonal Communication between Czechs and Taiwanese in the Context of Second Language Teaching

️ This lecture is part of the Chinese-Language Film Weeks 2025. For the full program and more information, please visit the overview page.
