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Subject: ukchinahistorians Call for Papers: Cosmoplitan China
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:41:37 +0000
From: Yang-wen Zheng <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
*Cosmopolitan China*
An international conference convened by
Centre for Chinese Studies (CCS) and Confucius Institute (CI)
Pathways to Cosmopolitan PhD Program (Manchester and NUS)
Research Institute for Cosmopolitan Culture (RICC)
Manchester Architecture Research Centre (MARC)
To be held at the University of Manchester on 17 and 18 May 2012
Questions of ethnic diversity and multi-culturalism lie at the heart of
debates on cosmopolitanism. To what extent can the case of China help to
deepen and widen this debate? How does the case of China challenge the
theoretical foundations of cosmopolitanism? Is there a Chinese or Asian
kind of cosmopolitanism?
Mark Lewis has called the Tang dynasty (618-906) a “Cosmopolitan
Empire”, and China has variously been ruled by Jurchens (1115-1234),
Mongols (1279-1368) and Manchus (1644-1911). The Treaty Port Era
(1842-1949) was extraordinarily cosmopolitan as well as colonial, as
China and Northeast and Southeast Asia were home to sizeable foreign
populations of Europeans and Americans. In today’s China, Han Chinese,
themselves a multicultural, multilinguistic group, dominate an
ethnically diverse nation-state. Post-Mao municipal authorities have
reclaimed cities’ semi-colonial past to bring in foreign investment and
drive economic development. Skyscrapers and Western-style shopping malls
today dominate the Chinese urban landscape. Global and regional
multimedia exchanges occur at a constant rate.
We welcome scholars of China and Southeast and Northeast Asia to
participate in a multi-disciplinary conference that tackles the issue of
“cosmopolitan China”. Topics could focus on the following
questions/issues, but we are open to a range of ideas:
1. Historical cosmopolitan cities, peoples, cultures and practices
2. Treaty Port / post-Mao urban re-structuring and socio-cultural
regeneration
3. Contemporary cosmopolitan cities/peoples/cultures, new/hybridising
trends
4. Chinese/Asian religious and popular trans-nationalism and
internationalism
5. Comparative studies and theories on Chinese-Asian cosmopolitanism
Inquiries and abstracts of no more than 200 words, with 5 lines of
biographical information, should be sent to:
[log in to unmask] before 30 January 2012. Only
those accepted to present at the conference will be notified by 6
February 2012. Accommodation and food will be provided during the
conference but paper presenters should look for their own funding for
travel.
--
Dr Sarah Dauncey
Chinese Language Programme Director & Chinese Degree Tutor
Careers Officer & Alumni Liaison
School of East Asian Studies
University of Sheffield (Times Higher Education University of the Year)
http://www.shef.ac.uk/seas/
Honorary Secretary
British Association of Chinese Studies
http://www.bacsuk.org.uk/
6-8 Shearwood Road
Sheffield, S10 2TD
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)114 22 28436
Fax: +44 (0)114 22 28432
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