Writing about China for Journals, Magazines, Books, and Blogs

A conversation with Christina Larson and Jeffrey Wasserstrom, moderated by Michael Szonyi.

This event will explore the challenges of writing about a country undergoing profound changes at a moment when the worlds of scholarly and general interest publishing are both being transformed as well. What are the distinctive obstacles and opportunities of this moment for journalists, academics striving to reach broad audiences, and editors at scholarly and general interest periodicals? What difference does the web make to what we write, how we write, and the ease with which things we write can circle the globe? Is this the best of times, the worst of times, or a bit of both for those trying to get a clear view of China's complexities across to international audiences that are increasingly curious about but also often increasingly fearful of the country? 

Christina Larson is a contributing editor at Foreign Policy currently based in Beijing. She has written for many publications, including the New York Times Style Magazine, the Atlantic, and the Washington Monthly, and she has a chapter in Chinese Characters: Profiles of Fast-Changing Lives in a Fast-Changing Land (2012).

Jeffrey Wasserstrom is the editor of the Journal of Asian Studies and the Asia editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books. He is chair of the UC Irvine history department, was a co-founder of the China Beat blog, and has written for a wide range of academic journals as well as for magazines, blogs, and newspapers such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. He is co-editor of Chinese Characters.

Michael Szonyi, the event's moderator, is professor of Chinese history at Harvard University. He has published widely on historical and contemporary issues and is a fellow of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Public Intellectuals Program.

Location: CGIS South, Belfer Case Study Room (S020)