International and Area Studies Commons^™

Preserving The Premier’S Calligraphy At Beichuan Middle School, Richard Kraus

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Beichuan Middle School lost a thousand students in May’s devastating Sichuan earthquake. When Premier Wen Jiabao visited the school’s temporary quarters, he wrote four characters on a blackboard to inspire the students: “distress rejuvenates a nation” (多难兴邦). After his departure, teachers and students could not bear to erase his chalk inscription, which was covered in plastic until the Sichuan Cultural Relics Bureau could devise a method for permanently preservingWen’s handwriting.

Although Premier Wen’s chalk on a blackboard may seem difficult to preserve, China has a deeply established tradition of copying calligraphy. Many of the great works of past masters …

The Races Of Afghanistan: Being A Brief Account Of The Principal Nations Inhabiting That Country (1880), Henry Walter Bellew

Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection

Major races of AFghanistan including the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Hazaras.

Diary Of A March Through Sinde And Afghanistan, With The Troops Under The Command Of General Sir William Nott And Sermons Delivered On Various Occasions During The Campaign Of 1842 (1843), Ira N. Allen

Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection

No abstract provided.

Coming Distractions: Youth And Wealth In China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Both Frontline’s new documentary “Young and Restless in China” (set to air on Tuesday, June 17) and Duncan Hewitt’s soon-to-be-released book, China: Getting Rich First: A Modern Social History, take as their premise the unprecedented growth and possibility in China during the past two decades. The components of this story are youth, economic opportunity, and migration. While both Frontline’s documentary and Hewitt’s book provide new details and new vignettes to illustrate the changes of the last few decades, China watchers will find the basic storylines familiar.

“Young and Restless in China” (details are available at the website, which after 9 …

Reith Lectures: English Lessons, Graham Earnshaw

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Jonathan Spence is of course one of the great authorities on Chinese history, but the value of history is in its relevance to the present, so at a time of such huge volatility in the affairs of China, there is great curiosity as to how he views current trends. We have the means to find out in his current series of Reith Lectures being given one per week in England and broadcast through the BBC’s websites, currently non-blocked in China.

The first lecture was about the role of Confucius and Confucian thought in Chinese history, and in the q&a section, …

Faq#3: Could China Stop Taiwan From Coming To The Olympic Games?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Finally I have time to get back to the Olympic FAQ I posed several months ago:

Could China stop Taiwan from coming to the Olympic Games?

Actually, this was a trick question. Chinese leaders strongly desire for Taiwan to attend the Olympic Games and other major sports events because they are the most important venue in which Taiwan is displayed to the world as a dependent part of Chinese national territory.

Global politics usually don’t change as quickly as we would like, but they do change. One year ago I was one of many people who thought that the biggest …

Keeping Up With “The China Beat”—5 Recent Developments

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This is just a little list, for the “Frivolous Friday” feature, made up of tidbits about the site. It may have curiosity value for longtime readers, and it may serve to provide an overview of the blog to those who have just started tuning in.

1) Thanks to an off-hand remark by Don Sutton, whose insights on mourning practices appeared on this site yesterday, contributors to the blog now have an official name: China Beatniks. This has a nice ring to it and, according to Wikipedia at least, it has a special meaning for a blog that has been paying …

Earthquake And The Imperatives Of Chinese Mourning, Don Sutton

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Disasters like the great Sichuan earthquake expose not only mass suffering but also the imperative of proper treatment of the dead. Long before the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, governments in China had concerned themselves with such matters. Today, ranking only behind the weighty practical matters of rescue, flood prevention, and caring for the injured and homeless, sensitivity to mourning is a key measure of the government’s performance, one complicated by ethnic diversity, rural/urban differences, and the government’s own commitment to reform those practices it regards as superstitions.

For all the simplification of death rituals, a strong Chinese …

Charles Tilly’S Influence On The China Field, Daniel Little

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Editor’s note: This post inaugurates an occasional China Beat feature in which we will look back at the lives and careers of writers whose work has had an impact on Chinese studies. Usually, these figures will be China specialists, but in this case, the influential figure in question, Charles Tilly (pictured below), worked primarily on another part of the world. There is no question, though, that via his activities as a teacher and author he had a profound influence within Chinese studies, as becomes clear from the following comments by Daniel Little, author ofUnderstanding Peasant China: Case Studies in the …

China Annals: Interview With Lijia Zhang

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Lijia Zhang, most recently the author ofSocialism is Great!, is also a freelance journalist with a great sense of style and an awesome website. Recently she entertained Nicole Barnes of the China Beat with an interview about her work. Her latest book is auto-biographical and narrates the decade that she spent working in a munitions factory, one of Communist China’s notoriously boring state-owned enterprises. Hindsight is glorious; Zhang’s beautiful writing transforms even this drab existence into an entertaining page-turner.

NB: As a freelance journalist, you seem to have a lot of control over your topics. Your articles cover the most …

Imperial Ways, Daniel A. Bell

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I am a big fan of Jonathan Spence’s works. His books bring to life some of the great and not-so-famous characters in Chinese history and they read like novels. When I was told that he had delivered a lecture on “Confucian Ways” for the BBC, I was very curious, and clicked on the link with great anticipation. Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to download the programme here in Beijing, but I did print out the transcript. That’s what I’ve just read.

The lecture was delivered at the British library, and the host Sue Lawley opens by noting that the …

A Writer Takes The Stage: Jonathan Spence’S Lectures, Part 1

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Jonathan Spence’s elegant writing and his creative efforts to test the limits of standard genres of historical presentation have secured him a special status within both the interdisciplinary field of Chinese studies and the American historical profession. His reputation—as many or perhaps even all readers of this blog know—is based primarily on a string of successful books. These range widely in format, running the gamut from slim volumes that try to bring to life obscure or famous figures from the Chinese past to a large textbook. And while most of his publications focus on events and individuals of the opening …

The Dirt On China Reporting, Pierre Fuller

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Reporting China for a Western readership gets a whole lot easier once you master the discursive montage of cheap China associations. When discussing the Chinese state, for example, plug in Orwell. When referencing anything in the period 1949-1976, plug in Mao. If, say, your topic is changing environmental behavior among the Chinese, ascribe it only to orders from the “new emperors” above; national pride could also do. And so on. A recent International Herald Tribune and New York Times website report, “Smoke Clears, Dust Does Not in Beijing,” follows the formula to a T.

Reporting China for a Western readership …

Liu Si (6/4)–Part 2, Looking Forward

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This is the second part of our commemoration of Liu Si. Here, instead of looking backward (though some links include information about the past), our focus is on the present and the future. We point our readers to pieces that take up the contemporary meaning of the 1989 protests and the crackdown that followed, or assess the current state of Tiananmen-related issues, such as patterns of protest and human rights.

1. The latest issue of China Rights Forum, a publication of Human Rights in China, is titled “June 4/2008” and combines retrospective and forward-looking materials. All of the poem, essays, …

China: Democracy, Or Confucianism?, Xujun Eberlein

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last October, when the CCP held its 17th congress, CNN reported the event with the headline “China rules out copying Western democracy.” My first reaction to this headline was, So what? That spontaneous reaction might have been an unconscious consequence of my reading Political Confucianism by Jiang Qing (蒋庆), a contemporary Confucian in China. In this book Last October, when the CCP held its 17th congress, CNN reported the event with the headline “China rules out copying Western democracy.” My first reaction to this headline was, So what? That spontaneous reaction might have been an unconscious consequence of my reading …

Logiques Urbaines Dans Les Arts Plastiques : De La Filiation De Jean-Michel Basquiat Au Sénégal, Massamba Mbaye

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

ertain Senegalese painters, including Soly Cissé, Camara Guèye, Birame Ndiaye and Samba Fall draw their inspiration from the city’s structure. Attentive to the tensions it produces as well as the daily struggles to survive, they transpose urban walls in their paintings to better transgress them, go beyond pre-imposed limits. One can therefore ask what is the influence of a painter like Basquiat on these contemporary painters ? Approaches and needs found in Senegal differ greatly from those found in the United States ; however interesting links can be traced that allow for a better understanding of present Senegalese art.

Politique Culturelle : Tradition, Modernité Et Arts Contemporains Au Sénégal, 1960-2000, Kinsey Katchka

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

This essay approaches contemporary arts in Senegal and their exhibition from the perspective of cultural policy. This is an especially salient approach in Senegal, where policy has played a significant role in exhibition and creative practice since the colonial period. This history is conventionally examined through a distinctly nationalist framework that reveals the government’s clear distinction between "tradition" and "modernity". State exhibition practice and rhetoric have reinforced this dichotomy, serving to position the Senegalese state as purveyor, definer, and arbiter of cultural heritage. However, diverse creative expressions throughout the capital city of Dakar call into question nationalist rhetoric’s rigid distinction …

Les Limites De L’Appartenance : Composition, Intertextualité Et Langue Dans Les Dents Du Topographe Et Méfiez-Vous Des Parachutistes De Fouad Laroui, Carla Calargé

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In this article, I examine two novels by Fouad Laroui, Les dents du topographe (1996) and Méfiez-vous des parachutistes (1999). I analyze the difficulties encountered by their narrators when they try to find and define non alienating cultural and geographical spaces to which they could belong. For that purpose, I study the composition of the two novels, the play of intertextuality as well as the language of the main characters.

La Parole Au Féminin : La Narratrice De Cette Fille-Là De Maïssa Bey, Ana Soler

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

In Maïssa Bey’s novel, Cette fille-là, the character of Malika serves as a narrative plea for change. Since her childhood, Malika has strived to create an inward, personal imaginary for herself, as a defence mechanism against a hostile environment. In the workhouse, she adopts the role of storyteller for all those companions of hers, excluded as she is, from society. As the receptor of confidential information, she delights in verbally re-enacting their intimate stories, sprinkling them with accounts of her own experiences. By thus establishing Marika’s voice as a “link-route” to the novel’s subjacent vocal polyphony, the character is presented …

La Dimension Cachée De L’Art Sénégalais Contemporain, Allen F. Roberts, Mary Nooter Roberts

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

For nearly fifty years now, Dakar has been an epicenter of contemporary art, not just for continental Africa but for the entire world. Senegalese artists are well known internationally through participation in biennials, exhibitions, and gallery shows ; and many argue that they are contemporary artists from Senegal rather than “Senegalese artists” defined or constrained by their african identity. Among these, however, some match the global techniques and aesthetics of their works with local meanings derived from mystical Islam. Indeed, this “hidden side” can be very significant to the artists themselves even though it may be ignored by cosmopolitan connoisseurs.

Projets De Collection Et D’Exposition D’Art Sénégalais : Être Mécène D’Art À Dakar, Joanna Grabski

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The collection of Bassam Chaitou and its recent exhibition in Dakar offers a focal point to examine issues associated with private projects of collecting and exhibiting Senegalese art in Dakar. This article considers the relationship of Dakar’s collectors to historical patronage under Senghor and Dakar’s contemporary art scene. It proposes that private Dakar-based projects of collecting make visible a story about local propositions and dialogues about art. Dakar-based projects of collecting reveal a great deal about the city’s art scene, its history, artists, and trends.

L’Éthique De La Différence En Traduction : Le Cas De Deux Romans Africains Francophones Et De Leur Restitution En Anglais, Augustine H. Asaah

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Translation advances the cause of the international community as it plays a vital role in global development and understanding. The literary text needs to be translated before readers from diverse linguistic communities can apprehend and enjoy it. To a large extent, the success of the translation enterprise is a function of the accuracy of the target-text. With illustrations drawn from two francophone african masterpieces, Ahmadou Kourouma’s Les soleils des indépendances and Mariama Bâ’s Une si longue lettre, this article seeks to determine the extent to which the target-texts in English respect the spirit and the letter articulated by the source-texts. …

Raharimanana : « Le Viol Des Douceurs », Patricia Célérier

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

constant and paradoxical paradigm, violence is at the core of the Malagasy writer, Jean-Luc Raharimanana’s work. What are its representations, its modulations and functions in his shortstories, his novel, Nour, 1947, and his narrative, L’arbre anthropophage ? His poetic elaboration of violence puts his production at the juncture of postmodern and committed literatures and gives it a singular value in the world of postcolonial literature.

Gregory Veeck, Margaret Von Steinen

International Faculty Researchers

Dr. Gregory Veeck, professor of geography, has completed extensive international research specializing in economic geography, agriculture, rural development and rural environmental/ecological issues in the United States, China, Japan, and Korea. Veeck has been conducting field research for 29 years.

Gregory Veeck's website

Wmu International News June 2008, Haenicke Institute For Global Education

WMU International News

In this issue:

Jordan university turns to WMU to build its faculty

Masquerading was a ball

Digging into the archaeology of New France

Major National Security Exchange Program awards for two WMU students

Study abroad experience translates into a career

Canadian Bronco footballer and teammates preparing for 2008 season

The Forbidden City By Barmé—Don’T Leave For The “Great Within” Without It

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

“I think there’s a lack of books that serious, educated non-specialists can pick up…I’ve read a lot of great books recently by academics but few that I could recommend, say, to my father.” These lines come from an interview with the Wall Street Journal’s Ian Johnson that “China Beat” ran at the end of January, back when our site was still young (now that we’ve been going for more than a third-of-a-year, we hardly count as youthful anymore, so quickly does the blogosphere change). He was responding to a question Nicole Barnes had put to him about what he’d like …

A Difusão Do Orçamento Participativo Brasileiro: ‘Boas Práticas' Devem Ser Promovidas?, Brian Wampler

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The "third wave" of democratization has been accompanied by the spread of new institutions that allow citizens to deliberate and decide policy outcomes. Leading international organizations, such as the World Bank and the United Nations, have disseminated "best practice" programs identified with "good government" policy reform efforts. One of the most well-known programs, Participatory Budgeting (PB), was first adopted by Brazil's Workers' Party (PT) in 1989 as a means to promote social justice, accountability, and transparency. There has been widespread adoption of PB in Brazil, led by the PT. Yet, by 2001, nearly half of PB programs had been adopted …

Biennale Et Effervescence Artistique Au Sénégal : Conjonctions Et Passerelles, Hélène Tissières

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The Dakar Biennial, Dak’Art, plays a key role and is the only event of this kind on the african continent. Held in a country where there is an abundant artistic production, it prolongs Senghor’s objectives (underlining the importance of the collective, intertwining art forms, investing mystical positions). Made of an “In” and “Off”, its structure dismantles divisions between popular/theoretical, accessible/obscure, autodidact/trained and promotes a dialog between people and approaches. Many Senegalese artists proceed in a similar fashion, assembling concepts (orality, signs, cultural references, categories), drawing from the world at large. Inscribing memory, they invite us to interrogate our future beyond …

Initiating A New Information Systems Course: A Case Study In Educational Innovation, Michael Eccles, June Pym, Kevin Johnston

The African Journal of Information Systems

If South Africa is to transform its educational landscape, access to higher education is crucial. However, if equity of access is not coupled with equity of success, participation, and relevance, access can become problematic.

The Information Systems Department at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, has been concerned for a number of years about both the relevance and coherence of its first year Information Systems course. In 2007, the Department re-conceptualized this course. This case study looks at the background to the problems and motivation for the change and the proposed changes and course redesign, as well as the …

E-Government For Development: A Case Study From Mozambique, Gertrudes Macueve

The African Journal of Information Systems

This paper draws upon Amartya Sen’s concept of "development as freedom" as an effective approach to analyze e-government for development initiatives. An interpretive analysis of three projects ongoing in Mozambique report that although some "freedoms" are currently reachable through these initiatives, a lot needs to be done to achieve "development as freedom." The use of this theoretical approach provides a valuable contribution to the research domain of ICTs for development. This article also draws practical recommendations to assist managers of e-government projects in Mozambique, as well as other developing countries.