University of Westminster
Contemporary China Centre Seminar Series
2013 Autumn Semester
Giovanna Puppin
“The ‘Long March’ of Chinese Brands: 2008 and Beyond”
Wed 23 Oct | Boardroom, 309 Regent Street, W1B 2HW | 6-8pm
This seminar will focus on Chinese brands and their “Long March” to become global, providing a sort of snapshot of a still ongoing and rather unexplored process. An overview of the “going out” policy will be followed by a demonstration of the priority given by the Chinese government to the strengthening of national brands, with recent successful (and not so successful) examples. A milestone for China’s international image was the Beijing 2008 Olympics, which directed world attention to the country but also triggered off some harsh critiques. The seminar will include a screening of the 30-minute review “2008: The ‘Long March’ of Chinese Brands” by Dr. Puppin, first shown during the Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival in Venice (March 2012). It consists of 35 commercials selected from among the best adverts created in mainland China in 2008, divided into seven categories based on recurrent themes and common strategies, rather than on the product/service they promote.
Dr. Giovanna Puppin is Lecturer in International Promotional Cultures, Department of Media (School of Media and Performing Arts) and Department of International Management and Innovation (Business School), Middlesex University, London. She previously was a Post-doctoral Fellow on the project “The Chinese Consumer Between Global Aspirations and Tradition”, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University, and a Visiting Fellow at the Communication and Media Research Institute, School of Media Arts & Design, University of Westminster, where she was also appointed Seminar Leader for the MA course “Chinese Media and the Emerging World Order” (2012-2013). Her research interests include: China’s promotional culture (advertising, branding, marketing); Chinese media, popular culture and creative industries; identity, nationalism and soft power in contemporary China.
Rachel Murphy
“The Educational Dreams of Migrants' Children: Voices from the Jiangxi Countryside”
Wed 13 Nov | Westminster Forum, 32/38 Wells Street, W1T 3UW | 6-8pm
Millions of children in China have been ‘left behind’ in the countryside while their parents work in distant places to support the social reproduction of their families. This presentation examines the role of study and schooling in this process. The analysis shows that by communicating with each other about study, and by focusing on the child’s educational future as the key purpose of their daily work, both children and parents carry out their obligations towards each other, while finding ways to cope with the emotional difficulties that protracted physical separation entails.
Rachel Murphy is University Lecturer in the Sociology of China, University of Oxford. Her two main research interests are in labour migration and urbanisation, and sex ratio imbalances.
Anup Grewal
"'Genres of Fact' and Feminist Solidarity in China, 1930s to the Present"
Wed 11 Dec | Westminster Forum, 32/38 Wells Street, W1T 3UW | 6-8pm
Please note that non-University of Westminster attendees for any of the above seminars should register with Dr Derek Hird [log in to unmask]
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