Focus: China

Statement of purpose:

The 21st Century has been termed the “Chinese Century”. Building upon this ever growing interest in Chinese culture, and upon the successes of Critical Encounters and the engaging And the Beats Go On… programming, the Office of Academic Research is coordinating Focus: China, a campus wide programming initiative, with China and Chinese culture as its central theme. Scheduled during September and October 2009, it will comprise a variety of events developed by individuals and departments throughout the College. We hope to provide engaging, interdisciplinary, and cross campus programming which will further the Columbia College Chicago community’s understanding and appreciation of the contributions and influence of China in the modern world. We look forward to engaging our research centers in this thematically unified programming endeavor, and in fostering further opportunities for our units to work collaboratively with other departments across campus.

Disclaimer: Neither the College nor the Office of Academic Research is in any way taking a political position related to China and the cultural, economic, and political issues surrounding it. Rather, we are looking to create a space or a forum for dialog to take place and we anticipate that multiple points of view will emerge. Also, given the timeframe of the initiative and the number of participants involved, we in no way regard this as a comprehensive or exhaustive survey of all topics and opinions.

For more information, contact Conrad Winke at 312/369-7165 or at cwinke@colum.edu.

Click here for a brief overview of events by category: EVENTS GUIDE.

Participating Columbia departments and detailed event descriptions:

A+D Gallery
Art & Design Department in collaboration with the Arts, Entertainment & Media Management Department
Arts, Entertainment & Media Management Department
Center for Asian Arts and Media
Center for Book and Paper Arts
Department of Exhibition and Performance Spaces/Hokin Gallery
Department of Humanities, History, and Social Sciences
Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media
Library
Museum of Contemporary Photography
Radio

Affiliate individuals and organizations:

Hyde Park Art Center
Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: a Memoir of China
Millennium Park Chicago
Nohra Haime Gallery