Legal scholar and well-known human rights activist Teng Biao gave a talk at USC on the state of human rights in China.
Professor Sam Crane Discusses "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life"
Sam Crane of Williams College talks to USCI about his book examining contentious social issues in the US (abortion, same-sex marriage, euthanasia) using concepts drawn from pre-Qin Confucianism and Daoism.
October 31, 2014
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Dao: Ancient Chinese Thought in Modern American Life introduces the ideas and arguments of the ancient Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Daoism to some of the most intractable social issues of modern American life, including abortion, gay marriage, and assisted suicide.
- Introduces the precepts of ancient Chinese philosophers to issues they could not have anticipated
- Relates Daoist and Confucian ideas to problems across the arc of modern human life, from birth to death
- Provides general readers with a fascinating introduction to Chinese philosophy, and its continued relevance
- Offers a fresh perspective on highly controversial American debates, including abortion, stem cell research, and assisted suicide
Sam Crane is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Williams College where he teaches, among other topics, contemporary Chinese politics and ancient Chinese philosophy. He blogs at The Useless Tree. He gave a talk at USC titled "Teaching Confucius in Beijng" on October 16. 2014. Click here to watch the video.
Click here for the full list of book interviews.
This video is also available on the USCI YouTube Channel.
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Events
April 9, 2020 - 4:00pm
Please join the USC U.S.-China Institute for an online talk with Julia Strauss on her new book, which focuses on the period 1949 to 1954 and compares how the Communist Party in China and the Nationalist Party in Taiwan sought to consolidate their authority and foster economic development.
April 16, 2020 - 4:00pm
The USC U.S.-China institute presents a webcast with award-winning journalist Dexter Robert. His new book explores the reality behind today’s financially-ascendant China and pulls the curtain back on how the Chinese manufacturing machine is actually powered.