What do we really know about the rich history and heritage of China, and how does it compare with the history and heritage of the West? What is Chinese literature, and how did it develop? What were the dominant philosophies that helped the development of Chinese culture in art, music, and performance? These questions were discussed by a panel of Chinese observers in the first of a new series looking at the comparisons between the cultures of China and the West.
This event was part of the China and the West: Cultural Dialogues series, sponsored by Georgetown University's Future of the Humanities Project (a partnership with Campion Hall, Oxford, and Blackfriars Hall, Oxford) in cooperation with the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding in London.
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Kerry Brown is professor of Chinese studies and director of the Lau China Institute at King’s College, London. From 2012 to 2015 he was professor of Chinese politics and director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, Australia. Prior to this he worked at Chatham House from 2006 to 2012 as senior fellow and then head of the Asia Programme. From 1998 to 2005 he worked at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office as first secretary at the British Embassy in Beijing, and then as head of the Indonesia, Philippine and East Timor Section. He is the author of almost 20 books on modern Chinese politics; Brown has written for every major international news outlet and been interviewed by every major news channel on issues relating to contemporary China.
Tong Ping is an entrepreneur and international education specialist. She has extensive experience with both Chinese and British higher education systems, and she has cooperated closely with government organizations. She runs three education-related companies in China and the United Kingdom, helping institutions to establish links and students to pursue their studies abroad.
Kathryn Temple is a professor in the Department of English and a senior fellow with the Future of the Humanities Project at Georgetown University. Her teaching and research interests include eighteenth century British literature and culture, cultural legal studies, history of intellectual property, and feminist jurisprudence. Temple has published on eighteenth-century authorship and "crimes of writing," the gothic, legal literature for women, affect and justice, and the history of emotion.
Michael Wood is an English historian and broadcaster. He is the author of several highly praised books on English history including In Search of the Dark Ages (1987/2005), The Domesday Quest (1986/2005), In Search of England (2010), and In Search of Shakespeare (2005). He has over 80 documentary films to his name, among them Art of the Western World, Legacy, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, Conquistadors, and In Search of Myths and Heroes. Wood completed his post-graduate research in Anglo-Saxon history at Oriel College, University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Barnaby Powell (moderator) is a veteran of development banking in East Asia and author, with Alex Mackinnon, of three books on China: China Calling (2008), China Counting (2010), and 2018 – China Goes Critical (2013).
Michael Scott (moderator) is Fellow and Senior Dean at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. He is also senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University and leads the Future of the Humanities Project. He has previously served as pro vice chancellor at De Montfort University, Leicester, and was the founding vice chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University. His books include studies in Shakespeare and his contemporaries and in twentieth century theatre. He has been a fellow and visiting professor at two Chinese universities and published a book on King Arthur with the Foreign Research and Teaching Press in Beijing.