China Humanities Seminar: The Present of Everyday Things: Electronic Music Devices and Computer Encodings in China

What is a relevant object of study for China humanities? What are the differences betweeen beautiful porcelain pieces produced at the pottery center Jingdezhen in the 14th century and beautiful iPhones produced at the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen at the beginning of the 21st century? In this talk centered on Waves and Forms (a book published this year by MIT Press), Basile Zimmermann will discuss his study of electronic music devices and computer encodings in China. He will also present an analysis of the Association for Asian studies and the European Association of Chinese studies annual conferences' books of abstracts, and he will suggest an alternative future for Asian studies in the era of the so-called crisis of humanities.

Basile Zimmermann is Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, where he teaches China studies and conducts research in the fields of Chinese studies, science and technology studies, and sociology of art. He is also director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Geneva, a platform for scientific exchange between China and the West.