Talking Points, November 21 - December 5, 2007

In the first ten months of 2006, China exported $986 billion worth of goods and imported $773 billion. Chinese banks and investment firms recently purchased large stakes in South Africa’s largest bank, Nigeria’s largest bank, and the U.S. firm Bear Stearns. Among the permanent UN Security Council members, China is the top supplier of UN peacekeepers. It is actively engaged in a wide variety of multilateral and bilateral diplomatic initiatives. While the number of lawyers and law schools in China has expanded dramatically in recent years, the country still suffers from a serious shortage of specialists in transnational law. To address this need, Peking University sought and won approval to establish the first English-medium, American-style law school. Peking University’s School of Transnational Law will enroll its first students in September 2008. Jeff Lehman, former president of Cornell University, has been named Chancellor and Founding Dean of the School. He spoke yesterday at USC on the need for this School and discussed what its creation may represent. We’ll have a report at our website on the talk early next week.

11/28/2007: Asia, America, and the Transformation of Geopolitics
USC University Club, Banquet Room
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00PM - 5:30PM
USC U.S.-China Institute Board of Scholars member William Overholt will speak on US-China relations.

12/06/2007: “Second Lawyers, First Principles”: Lawyers, Rice-Roots Legal Workers, and the Battle Over Legal Professionalism in China

USC University Club, Banquet Room
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Cost: Free
Time: 3:30PM - 5:30PM
William Alford examines the rise, decline, and uncertain future of the rice-roots legal worker.

California Events 

11/27/2007: Iconicity and Advertising: Shanghai, Mukden, Tianjin and the Modern Commodity Girl

UC Berkeley
Address: 3335 Dwinelle Hall
Cost: Free
Time: 4pm
Tani Barlow discusses the advertisments aimed at female consumers in China today.

11/30/2007: Turning Things Around: Daughters and Their Natal Families in Qing China

IEAS Conference Room
2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor, Berkeley, CA
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00PM - 6:00PM
Maram Epstein discusses the theme of filial devotions of daughters to their natal families in 18th-19th century Chinese fiction. 
 
12/01/2007: Comparative Perspectives on Rhetorical Narratives
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
10383 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095
Time: 9:30AM - 5:00PM
The day-long conference will examine rhetorical narrative context through a comparative perspective. 
 
12/05/2007: Across the Tibetan Plateau - Ecosystems, Wildlife and Conservation

Haydn Williams Conference Room, The Asia Foundation
465 California Street, 8th Floor , San Francisco, CA
Free, Pre-registration required
Time: 5:30PM - 8:00PM
The collection of photographs tell the story of how the Tibetan people are conserving their lands for future generations.

North America: 

11/27/2007: The China Threat: New Facts or Old Scares?
Room 1636, School of Social Work Building
1080 S. University , Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106
Cost: Free
Time: 12:00PM - 1:30PM
Andrew Ross considers how and why China's economic growth has raised anxiety levels in countries like the US.

11/27/2007: U.S.-Taiwan Economic Relations & Prospects for a Free Trade Agreement

Lindner Family Commons, The Elliott School of International Affairs, 6th Floor
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC
Time: 12:30PM - 2:00PM
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies presents a roundtable discussion on U.S.-Taiwan Economic Relations.
 
12/03/2007: Floating, (In)visible, Off-Screen: Voices and Bodies in the New Chinese Documentary
University of Michigan
Room 1636 School of Social Work Building , Michigan
Cost: Free
Time: 12:00PM - 1:00PM
A part of the Fall 2007 Chinese Film Series
 
12/04/2007: Lecture: The Evolution of China's Africa Policies
University of Michigan
Room 1636 School of Social Work Building
1080 S. University , Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106
Cost: Free
Time: 12:00PM - 1:30PM
Ian Taylor will explore the evolution of Beijing's Africa policies, and explain why China is increasingly going to play a major role on the continent.

12/04/2007: Integrating Weath & Power in China
Lindner Family Commons, The Elliott School of International Affairs, 6th Floor
1957 E Street, NW, Washington, DC
Cost: Free
Time: 12:30PM - 1:45PM
Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia with Bruce Dickson.
 
12/05/2007: Humiliation and Modernity: Reflections on Pan-Asian and Pan-Islamic Discourses
Princeton University
Address: 309 Frist Campus Center, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
Cost: Free
Time: 4:30PM
Cemil Aydin discusses the two crucial aspects of Pan-Asian and Pan-Islamic thought in contemporary East Asia and the Muslim world. 

Exhibitions:

09/17/2007 - 12/21/2007: Forces: Paintings & Calligraphy 

IEAS Conference Room
2223 Fulton Street, 6th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94720-2318
Cost: Free
The UCB Center for Chinese Studies presents an exhibition by Lampo Leong.

09/06/2007 - 01/20/2008: Zhang Huan: Altered States
2nd Floor Starr & Ross Galleries
Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Ave, New York, NY
Phone: 212-517-ASIA
This exhibition is the first ever museum retrospective of Zhang Huan, encompassing major works produced over the past 15 years in Beijing, New York, and Shanghai.

 

10/04/2007 - 02/08/2008: From the Abundant Pharmacy: Traditional Chinese Medicine in LA's Chinatown

The California Endowment’s Center for Healthy Communities: Big Sur Education Gallery
1000 N. Alameda Street , Los Angeles, CA 90012
Cost: Free
Time: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Monday thru Friday
The exhibition features historical and contemporary photographs and videos of selected stores and herbalists.

11/06/2007 - 02/10/2008: China on Paper: European and Chinese Works from the Late Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century

Research Institute Exhibition Gallery, Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA
Cost: Free
Illustrated books, prints, and maps from the special collections of the Research Library tell the fascinating story of mutual interest and collaborative works produced by Chinese and Europeans from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century.

11/10/2007 - 02/17/2008: Everyday Luxury: Chinese Silks of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

Santa Barbara Museum of Art
1130 State Street , Santa Barbara, CA 93101
The exhibition features a collection of Chinese costumes and textiles from the last three hundred years. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please invite others to subscribe to USCI’s free email newsletter for regular updates on events and programs. We will not share names or email addresses with any other entity. Sign Up.

We provide information about China-related events as a community service. If you would like your event considered for inclusion in the USCI calendar, please click here to submit event details.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________