Director's Welcome • Fall 2009
William C. Kirby

Upcoming Special Events

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, April 14, 15, and 16, 2010
Annual Edwin O. Reischauer Lectures
For What It’s Worth: Prices and Values in Ming China
Timothy Brook, Professor of History, University of British Columbia
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Upcoming Events

Thursday, February 11, 2010
12:15 pm CGIS South, S030
China Business Seminar
Chimerica versus Superfusion: Debating the Future of US-China Relations
Niall Ferguson
Zachary Karabell
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Friday, February 12, 2010
12:15 pm CGIS South, S153
Chinese Religions Seminar
Pre-Mortem Shrines: Were Living Men Worshipped?
Sarah Schneewind
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Tuesday, February 16, 2010
12:15 pm CGIS South, S153
China Lunchtime Seminar
The Importance of Tibet in Defining China-India Relations
Prem Shankar Jha
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
4:15 pm CGIS South, S153
Informal Visiting Scholar Presentation
The Rise of Art Museums in Modern China
Changhong Zhang

Friday, February 19, 2010
4:15 pm CGIS South, S153
Modern Chinese History Seminar
Into the Storm:
Some Visions of the Taiping Civil War, 1860-1861
Stephen R. Platt
details >>

This October 1, the People’s Republic of China commemorates its 60th anniversary, having completed a first, full cycle of years according to the ancient stem-branch system. Sixty is an important birthday. Confucius said: “At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth.” With that principle in mind, the Fairbank Center convened scholars from around the globe for a major conference last May, “The People’s Republic of China at 60: An International Assessment.” It was an extraordinarily energetic exchange of views and has since been followed by conferences on similar themes in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing.

We can now look past October 1 to an active and different year at the Fairbank Center. It is active, of course, because it always is: our mission is no less than to study China in all its dimensions, present and past, through the lenses of the humanities, the social sciences, and now also the sciences. We do so in the new year, however, also in partnership with our new graduate student associates, stellar scholars who are completing their dissertations at the Center and who are now a more direct part of our community. With a wide range of  research interests, from Manchu history to Shanghai architecture to Chinese corporate governance, the GSAs will do much to keep us honest. read on >>

Past Event Highlights
click here to see all past event highlights from 2009-10 >>

The PRC at 60:
An International Assessment
Friday, Saturday and Sunday
May 1-3, 2009
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New Linkages: Infrastructure and Entrepreneurship
in Republican and Contemporary China     
Saturday
November 7, 2009
details >>

China on the World Stage
2009 Neuhauser Lecture
Thursday
December 10, 2009
details >>