Visiting Scholars at the Center for Chinese Studies, 2006-07
Meet our Visiting Scholars
Published: Thursday, December 14, 2006
Each year the Center for Chinese Studies hosts a number of Visiting Scholars (senior scholars, generally with the PhD or equivalent) and Visiting Research Associates (advanced graduate students). While here, our visitors avail themselves of UCLA’s resources to pursue research projects that are intended to lead to publication (or, in the case of visiting advanced graduate students, to a doctoral dissertation).
Our visitors participate in the Center’s activities, and actively interact with our faculty and students, enriching our program and at the same time benefiting the visitors themselves. Following is a list of our visitors for 2006-07, most of whom will be here for one year, and some for a shorter time. Most will also be presenting public talks for the Center.
Visiting Scholars
| Yu-tzung Chang (Political Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei). PhD, Political Science, National Cheng Chi University, 2000. -- Professor Chang’s research project focuses on the social and political problems plaguing the so-called third-wave democracies (principally Taiwan and South Korea) that emerged in East Asia in the 1990s. These new democracies have been paralyzed by inconclusive and even disputed electoral outcomes, incessant political strife and partisan gridlock, bureaucratic paralysis, and recurring political scandals. Based on a survey conducted by the Asian Barometer Survey, an applied research program on public opinion on political values, democracy, and governance in the region, Professor Chang’s project explores the level of popular support for democracy and the sources of the popular belief in the legitimacy of democracy. |
| Chang-gyeong Kim (International Area Studies, Pukyong University, Pusan, Korea). PhD, Chinese Literature, Peking University, 1998. -- Conventionally, Chinese civilization has been considered "continental," unlike Western civilization, which has been considered "oceanic." While the ancient Chinese paid a great deal of attention to "water," they neglected the concept of the "sea." Professor Kim’s project explores the meaning of "water" and "sea" in Confucian and Daoist texts of the pre-Qin period (that is, before 221 BC). It seeks to analyze and clarify the sources and nature of Chinese thinking about these two images, and to compare that with ways the images of water and sea were recognized in the ancient West. |
| Eung kweon Lee (International Trade, Konyang University, Chungnam, Korea). PhD, International Business Administration, Santo Tomas University (Manila), 2000. -- Many observers, in view of China’s astonishing economic performance, have described China as gigantic "black hole" that is absorbing almost all of the world’s economic resources, products, and capital. Professor Lee’s research project undertakes a comparative analysis of the supply side of the export market and the competitive advantage of export countries and multinational firms. In particular, it investigates the strategies of multinational firms in promoting and protecting their business interests against highly competitive firms from China, Japan, and Korea. |
| Li Meitian (History, Beijing Normal University). PhD, Archaeology, Peking University, 2003. -- During the era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (317-589 AD), the cities of Luoyang and Ye became the core of the Chinese empire in the north. The material remains of the grave culture in Luoyang and Ye reveal a huge transition, especially in displays of grave decoration. Professor Li’s research project analyzes two local tomb chamber portraits as a window on changes in culture, society, and thinking during the Northern Dynasties. Professor Li’s research visit has been made possible by a grant from the Luce Foundation / American Council of Learned Societies program in East Asian Archaeology and Early History. |  |
| Hee Tae Suk (Law, Kyonggi University, Seoul). PhD, Law, Yonsei University, 1988. -- China is moving toward establishing a new property system, to be enshrined in a revised Civil Code. This change promises to fundamentally reshape legal relationships among people, firms, and even countries. Professor Suk’s project involves an in-depth study of the draft of the new Civil Code, focusing on the controversial points and their social, economic, and political background. This project will culminate in a publication that will not only address these issues, but will explore the possible implications for other countries. The publication will also offer Suk’s suggestions for consideration by Chinese scholars and legislators. |
| Sun Hua (Archaeology, Peking University). MA, History, Peking University, 1987. Professor Sun’s research project, "The Salt Industry of Ancient Sichuan: Archaeological and Comparative Perspectives," is part of a larger collaborative research project between UCLA (under the direction of Professor Lothar von Falkenhausen) and Peking University. In Professor Sun’s project, artifacts excavated by Professors von Falkenhausen and Sun and their collaborators in Zhong County, in the province of Sichuan -- generally in the famous Three Gorges area of Sichuan -- will be analyzed to uncover their connections to the economic life and environment of this area at the time (stretching back to the Neolithic era). Professor Sun’s visit is made possible by a fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. |  |
| Zhou Li (Economics, Renmin University, Beijing). PhD, Economics, Fudan University, 2000. -- The transition in rural China from a socialist economy to the present system has been difficult and problematic. But Chinese farmers have refused to become mere victims of systemic changes, and instead have been grappling with the issue of their economic survival and of production financing through creative arrangements. Professor Zhou’s research project explores those arrangements in detail. The data for this project comes from an investigation of two villages: one in East China, and the other in the province of Gansu, in West China. The present project -- which will lead to an article to be entitled "Changes in the Village Economy in East China, 1980-2004," deals with the former. |  |
Visiting Research Associates
| Li Rongrong (doctoral student, Anthropology, Peking University). -- As China becomes more and more complex and as social differentiation becomes increasingly clear, the question of the role of religion in China, and especially of its relationship with a nascent civil society in China, becomes salient. Ms. Li’s research project looks at this question from a comparative perspective. Ms. Li notes that religion in America has a political dimension and that religion has been considered a positive factor in society. Her questions are: Does religion still bind individuals together in society? Does religion contribute to the growth of citizenship and to the construction of civil society? If it does, how does this process happen? To explore these questions, Ms. Li is undertaking one year of fieldwork in California, in which, through participant observation, she seeks to understand the dynamics of religion as a positive factor in the construction of civil society. |  |
| Wang Dan (doctoral student, History and East Asian Languages, Harvard University). -- Wang, well known for his role in the Tiananmen democracy movement of 1989, is working on his PhD dissertation, "A Comparative Study of Political Terror in Taiwan in the 1950s." |  |
