Humanities Program Spotlight:

The Rethinking China Lecture Series:
Developing a Multicultural View

On August 3, the Institute for Chinese Studies held the inaugural lecture of its 2006-07 lecture series, "Rethinking China," at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies. Professor Yingsheng Liu, Department of History, Nanjing University, a specialist on Sino-Islamic relations, was the presenter. The title of his presentation was "China and the Islamic World in the Medieval Period: A General View" which addressed the historical relationships between China and pre-Islamic and Islamic societies. It explored the early contacts between the Chinese and Muslims, with particular attention to the formation of the Muslim (Hui) minority in China. The lecture also covered the social status and language practices of Muslims in medieval China.

One of five interdisciplinary studies centers dedicated to the study of specific regions of the world, the Institute for Chinese Studies (ICS) serves as an intellectual and communication center for scholarly research, general education, and public programming for the significant number of Ohio State faculty and students who have or wish to develop expertise on China. The ICS is headed by Patricia Sieber, associate professor in the College of Humanities' Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and staffed by Zhiwei Bi and Brian Bare. The ICS counts among its members fifteen faculty from a cross-section of departments in the College of Humanities and some thirty participating scholars from six additional colleges across the Columbus campus (Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences; Arts; Business; Law; Social and Behavioral Sciences; and Engineering).

Founded in 2001, the Institute's mission is to study the Chinese world in its full regional, linguistic, cultural and ethnic complexity. "As the People's Republic of China is reemerging as a major international force, it is important to look beyond a monolithic perception of China and instead develop a dynamic, diverse, and multicultural view of what is designated as 'China' and 'Chinese,'" says Professor Sieber. In order to explore these multiple linguistic and cultural facets, the ICS hopes to highlight under the umbrella of its 2006-2007 lecture series four of its recent initiatives: interdisciplinary research, innovative courses, research-oriented study abroad, and intensified international scholarly exchange.

Topics to be explored by speakers in the coming year in the "Rethinking China" lecture series include the border-crossing of shamanistic practices, Tibetan Buddhism and state-building in modern China, Southwestern Chinese folklore, Taiwanese documentary filmmaking, and contemporary Chinese-Malay writers among others.