With Dr. John Israel (Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Virginia)
How to figure out what is going on in China? There is no substitute for reading official docu ments\, following public media\, getting to know individual Chinese\, and f ollowing informed scholarship\, analysis and commentary. However\, any visi tor equipped with some knowledge of the language or accompanied by a helpfu l local friend can learn quite a bit simply by walking down the street with eyes open.
Propaganda posters\, a political art form inspired by the Soviet Union\, enjoyed their halcyon age in China from 1949 through the 19 80s. They loomed above streets and public squares\, festooned bookstores\, and decorated homes\, offices\, and commercial establishments.
In rec ent years\, at least in some parts of China\, streetside political art has seen a renaissance. John Israel’s richly illustrated presentation focuses u pon Kunming\, a city where he has lived for periods of time over the course of nearly four decades.
About the speaker:
John Israel\, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Vi rginia\, received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin\, Madison (1955) and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard (1957\, 1963). His scho larly writing has focused upon students and higher education in 20th centur y China. His magnum opus is Lianda: A Chinese University in War and Revolu tion (1998). He has traveled\, lived\, and studied in Taiwan (1959-1962\, 1 985-1986) and the People’s Republic of China (since 1978).
After reti ring from the UVa faculty in 2003\, Professor Emeritus Israel taught Americ an history to Chinese students at the Yunnan Nationalities University and C hinese history to American students through the Duke in China program in Ku nming. On the 2010 spring voyage\, he helped to launch Semester at Sea’s Tu ng program in Sino-US relations. He and Professor Tao Xie teamed up for the Tung program in spring 2013. His commentaries on contemporary China have been broadcast through the Voice of America’s Mandarin Language Service. A veteran of the anti-Vietnam-war movement\, he has periodically conducted c olloquia and seminars on Vietnamese history and the Vietnam War.