Contact and Exchange: China and the West

The Folger Institute presents a one-day conference for scholars of western European cultures to engage in conversation with experts studying the history of China.

While China and Europe developed asymmetrically over many centuries, historical moments of contact and exchange profoundly affected both. This one-day conference introduces scholars of western European cultures to cutting-edge topics in fields outside their normal ken and engages them in conversation with experts studying the history of China, circa the Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Four pairs of scholars will identify and examine points of significant historical exchange, influence, conflict, or divergence for a non-specialist audience. Broadly defined, the four session topics include literary traditions; ethnography, travel writing, and cartography; science, technology, and instrumentality; and economic trade, especially the developing Western market for decorative arts including porcelain and silk.

This conference is supported by a grant from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, which extends eligibility for travel and lodging grants to advanced graduate students and faculty at U.S. institutions. It is coordinated with the Folger exhibition, “Imagining China: The View from Europe, 1550 – 1700,” which will be curated by Timothy Billings (Middlebury College).

Speakers: Liam M. Brockey (Michigan State University), Craig Clunas (University of Oxford), Walter Cohen (Cornell University), Benjamin A. Elman (Princeton University), Mordechai Feingold (California Institute of Technology), Laura Hostetler (University of Illinois at Chicago), Haun Saussy (Yale University), and Eva Ströber (Ceramic Museum Princessehof, The Netherlands).

Schedule: Saturday, 26 September 2009.   

Apply: 5 June 2009 for grants-in-aid to support travel and lodging. Support from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange extends eligibility to advanced graduate students and faculty at U.S. institutions. A registration fee of $50 ($25 for graduate students) is payable to defray hospitality costs. Those not applying for grants-in-aid may register through 4 September 2009 (assuming space remains).