NEWS

Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group
From Tina Stockman, Treasurer/Publicity

China is becoming an increasingly hot topic.  Lead by Professor Barbara Fenell, the University of Aberdeen is developing its China interests and policies. One aspect of this, relevant to the Chinese Studies group, is the setting up of an Aberdeen Confucius Institute. For the past few years, the Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group has been receiving some financial support from the Confucius Institute (Scotland) based in Edinburgh. We are now fortunate in having the prospect of a CI  closer to home which will make communication and funding much easier.

2013

Several speakers accepted an invitation to speak to the group.  An historical theme emerged and there were talks on historical Chinese art, Shanghai history, historical contrasts in urban development  as well as religion and social policy.

Joanne Finley Smith, University of Newcastle, "Muslims in China" Wednesday, May 1st, 3-5 p.m., CB 203. In partnership with Department of Divinity.

Dr. Smith Finley obtained her BA Honours in Modern Chinese Studies at the University of Leeds in 1991. For three years between 1992 and 1994, she studied Japanese language and culture, and taught English in Kyoto, Japan. She then returned to the UK to pursue an interdisciplinary PhD in Chinese Studies / Social Anthropology at the University of Leeds, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK, and including a year of ethnographic fieldwork (informal interviews and direct observation). Her thesis focused on changing identities among the Muslim Uyghur nationality of Xinjiang, NW China, and contemporary Uyghur-Han relations (June 1999). Between 1997 and 1999, she worked as a teaching assistant on undergraduate Chinese language and postgraduate Chinese-English translation modules for the University of Leeds, before joining Newcastle University as Lecturer in Chinese Studies in January 2000.

Professor Jane Duckett, Edward Caird Chair of Politics, Glasgow, May 15th, . In partnership with Department of Politics and International Relations.

Jane Duckett is Edward Caird Chair of Politics and Director of both the Scottish Centre for China Research and the Confucius Institute at the University of Glasgow. Her early research on the Chinese state under market reform included, The Entrepreneurial State in China (Routledge, 1998). Professor Duckett (with colleague Bill Miller) made a comparative study of public attitudes to openness in East Asia and Eastern Europe, published as The Open Economy and its Enemies (CUP, 2006). Her current research is concerned with the politics of China’s social policy making and implementation.  Her recent monograph, The Chinese State’s Retreat from Health: Policy and the Politics of Retrenchment (Routledge, 2011) draws on comparative political theory to explain the Chinese state’s retrenchment in health care provision. She has also recently co-edited (with Beatriz Carrillo), China’s Changing Welfare Mix: Local Perspectives (Routledge, 2011). In 2012 she received the Lord Provost of Glasgow Education Award. Professor Duckett recently published a paper on "China's leadership Transition", in Political Insight, a magazine of the Political Studies Association.

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Meeting on February 26th.  Professor Paul Dukes, BA (Cantab), MA, PhD, FRSE gave a talk entitled New Towns for Old: Some Views of Tianjin and Harbin.

Professor Paul Dukes was Professor of History, Aberdeen University, 1988-99, Emeritus Professor, since 1999 ;Advisory Editor, History Today. He publishes widely on aspects of Russian, American, European and world history.

Extracts from his diary can be found on the 'Meetings' pages.

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Dr Norman Stockman, Secretary, University of Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group, was invited by The University of Sydney to give a talk on, 

Working in no-man's land:between sociology and Chinese studies

In this lecture, Norman Stockman drew partly on his own experience, as a sociologist who became active in Chinese studies, to explore a range of  institutional factors. He is particularly concerned to understand why the study of Chinese society has not been more fruitfully incorporated into the 'mainstream' of sociology more generally, an issue which has also been remarked upon in relation to other disciplines, such as anthropology, political science, and the history of science.

The talk went down very well and Dr Stockman gave the talk again at the University of Auckland

For more information go to

http://sydney.edu.au/news/ChinaStudiesCentre/2284.html?eventid=9984

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Website

I seem to have been let down on several fronts with the development of the website. so I will continue to use this one for the time being.

TRS

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The meeting on Tuesday 4th December 2012 was a presentation by Dr Isabella Jackson, Department of History, University of Aberdeen. Our thanks to Isabella for a thought provoking talk which was well attended by members of the CSG, History department and other interested parties.

A full report can be found on the 'Meetings' page.

THIS MEETING HAS BEEN DEFERRED TO A LATER DATE (TBA)

The next meeting of the Chinese Studies Group will be on February 11th.  Robert Bickers,Professor of History, University of Bristol, will present, ' Visualising China through old British photographs.’ This talk will explore how private collections of photographs in the hands of families in Britain with historic ties to China, have been enriching our understanding of modern Chinese history, society and culture.  Professor Bickers specialises in modern China and the history of colonialism, in particular of the British Empire and its relations with China and the history of Shanghai (1843-1950s).

On a  different note, the Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group congratulates Jean Hamilton, a long standing and loyal member of ACSG, on being awarded a Master of the University honorary degree  for her services as a Founding Member of the University of Aberdeen Hong Kong Association and a long-term supporter of the University and its Hong Kong interests.

Sadly the group lost another long standing and loyal member of the group in July 2012. Dr Joan Hornby Pittock Wesson Macormack passed away, deeply mourned by her husband and family. She will be much missed.  

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On Monday, November 5th, 2012, Members of the Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group attended discussions and lectures hosted by the University of Aberdeen. A lecture was given by Professor Lai Deshang, Dean of the School of Economics and Business Administration at Beijing Normal University. The lecture was part of an initiative, Scotland in Conversation with China, organised by the Scotland China Education Network and the University of Strathclyde. First Minister Alex Salmond was in attendance and discussed the topic of Entrepreneurship Education and Entrepreneurship Practice in China.

More details and photographs of the event can be found on the University website, www.abdn.ac.uk/news/details-13424.php

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On October 2nd 2012, Dr Chai-ling Yang delivered a talk on Sexuality and Patronage in Art of Shanghai. The talk was both clear and entertaining - our thanks to her for that. A full e-report has been sent to members and supporters and also appears on the 'Meetings' page of this website.

The next talk, December 4th, will be given by Dr Isabella Jackson, University of Aberdeen. Dr Jackson researches the modern history of China and the global and regional networks that shaped the treaty ports, which were opened to foreign traders by force, in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Early next year, the group hopes to be addressed by Professor Robert Bickers, University of Bristol. Professor Bickers specialises in modern China, and the history of colonialism,and in particular of the British Empire and its relations with China and the history of Shanghai (1843-1950's). He is also interested in cemeteries and photographs and their post colonial lives, clipper ships, lighthouses and meteorology in China.

Some members of the group will attend a SCEN (Scotland China Education Network) meeting November 5th, where it is hoped that First Minister Salmond will be in attendance.

 

AGM 2012

After the recent AGM, there have been some changes to the committee. They are as follows:-

Honorary President: Sandy Hamilton

Secretary: Dr Norman Stockman

Chairman: Martin Mills

Treasurer: Tina Stockman

 

Committee Members

Dr Isabella Jackson - a new face for the committee. Dr Jackson will be joining the History Department in September 2012.

Judith Thrower

Jim Suttie

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Dr Li Ruru at the Edinburgh Festival

We were delighted to have the privilege of seeing some of Dr Li's work here in Aberdeen at a very successful presentation earlier in the year (2012). Dr Li is involved in an exhibition and theatrical production at the Edinburgh Festival which has been receiving some excellent reviews. A performance will be attended by Norman and Tina Stockman, Friday 10th August 2012.

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Aberdeen Chinese Studies Group acknowledges support from the Confucius Institute for Scotland