Institute for U.S.-China Issues

Photo from the Institute's Feb. 4, 2020 panel on the Coronavirus.

Institute co-directors Jonathan Stalling, Newman Chair of U.S. -China Issues, and Bo Kong, ConocoPhilips Associate Professor of Chinese and Asian Studies

During the past year, the co-directors of the Institute for U.S. -China Issues have begun to implement a new strategic vision and continue to carry out the institute’s core activities while adapting to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The co-directors organized two timely seminars, including one of the first public events on COVID-19 in the country: “Understanding the Coronavirus Crisis: Its Causes, China’s Response, and Implications, ” with a panel including Nelson Agudelo-Higuita, Robert Andrew, Miriam Gross, Bo Kong and Thomas Zhang, on Feb. 4, 2020. Additionally, the institute hosted a webinar, “China’s Belt, Road, and Beyond: Political Mobilization and Fragmented Implementation, ” with Associate Professor Min Ye of Boston University, on Nov. 11, 2020. The Institute’s affiliated faculty also gave online lectures on a wide variety of topics throughout the academic year.

While postponing the 2020 U.S. -China Poetry Dialogue, the institute created a COVID-19 U.S. -China children’s poetry exchange in collaboration with China’s Poetry Society, which received extensive media coverage in China. The institute received five nominees for the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature, and the winning juror, Eric Abrahamsen, successfully nominated Yan Lianke, who was celebrated in March 2021 at an inperson ceremony in Beijing and a Zoom ceremony hosted by the institute. Further, the institute continued to expand its international ties by extending the Newman Prize for English Jueju to the UK.

On the research front, the institute achieved two major accomplishments, publishing another volume of its peer-reviewed academic journal Chinese Literature Today and conducting a successful international search for the inaugural Newman Post-Doctoral Fellow in U.S. -China Issues. The fellowship was awarded to Zhu Zhang of Tulane University, who will join the institute in fall 2021.