Join us for a free one-day workshop for educators at the Japanese American National Museum, hosted by the USC U.S.-China Institute and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. This workshop will include a guided tour of the beloved exhibition Common Ground: The Heart of Community, slated to close permanently in January 2025. Following the tour, learn strategies for engaging students in the primary source artifacts, images, and documents found in JANM’s vast collection and discover classroom-ready resources to support teaching and learning about the Japanese American experience.
The Impact of the Olympics: Jay Wang
March 27, 2009
Jay Wang
Jian "Jay" Wang studies international corporate communication and public diplomacy and teaches public relations at USC Annenberg's School of Journalism. He previously taught at Purdue University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has published extensively on corporate social responsibility practices in emerging economies, Chinese corporate communication, health care branding, and corporate public diplomacy initiatives. He wrote Foreign Advertising in China: Becoming Global, Becoming Local and co-authored China's Window on the World: TV News, Social Knowledge and International Spectacles. He is a member of the USC U.S.-China Institute executive committee.
This video is also available on the USCI YouTube Channel.
Click on the play button above for Jay Wang's presentation on the Beijing Olympics.
There’s no doubt that the 2008 Beijing Games affected international perceptions of China. The image projected and responses to it were also the subject of satire, as can be seen in this South Park clip:
The Games might be seen as offering the following plotline:
prelude and exposition (Beijing wins the games and begins preparations)
prelude and exposition (Beijing wins the games and begins preparations)
complications build suspense (challenges for the organizers include air pollution, protests and threatened boycotts, controversies involving competitors)
climax (the successful games)
anticlimax and flashback (the milk powder scandal)
What did the Games mean to China? Successfully hosting the games was a statement of “Yes, we also can!” It boosted national self-confidence and produced a remarkable level of civic engagement. It brought ethnic tensions to the fore and was part of a nationalist response to human rights/Tibet-related demonstrations outside of China. The Games may have also raised the expectations Chinese have of their government to solve China’s many pressing problems, including the massive economic downturn.
Click here to return to the USC Beijing Olympics conference page.
Featured Articles
October 20, 2024
October 20, 2024
Please join us for the Grad Mixer! Hosted by USC Annenberg Office of International Affairs, Enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow students across USC Annenberg. Graduate students from any field are welcome to join, so it is a great opportunity to meet fellow students with IR/foreign policy-related research topics and interests.
RSVP link: https://forms.gle/1zer188RE9dCS6Ho6
Events
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 - 3:00pm
Hosted by USC Annenberg Office of International Affairs, enjoy food, drink and conversation with fellow international students.
Thursday, November 7, 2024 - 4:00pm
Join us for an in-person conversation on Thursday, November 7th at 4pm with author David M. Lampton as he discusses his new book, Living U.S.-China Relations: From Cold War to Cold War. The book examines the history of U.S.-China relations across eight U.S. presidential administrations.