Identifying with a “Rising China”? Overseas Chinese Student Nationalism

Identifying with a “Rising China”? Overseas Chinese Student Nationalism

Rowena He - Assistant Professor of History, St. Michael’s College; Research Associate, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University

Thursday, October 8, 2015 - 4:00pm
Room 203, Henry R. Luce Hall See map
34 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511

In this talk I will discuss two questions concerning nationalism among Chinese students overseas: To what extent has the “patriotic” indoctrination to which students are exposed at school survived, or perhaps been reinforced by, the experience of being confronted overseas with contradictory information and values? And what factors might explain student responses to this experience? My sources are interviews with students, as well as my own personal encounters on campus, in cyberspace, and in other contexts within North America, “new” patriotism exhibited on Western campuses by Chinese students, and postings submitted to online student forums. The talk will also feature vignettes of Chinese students who have come to adopt a more critical perspective vis-à-vis mainstream patriotic discourse, highlighting the aspects of their experience that appear to have prompted this stance.

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China