MONDAY, 24TH FEBRUARY 2020
5:00PM TO 6:30PM
ROOM 120, C.K CHOI BUILDING, 1855 WEST MALL, UBC
Abstract
Many commentators claim that China’s ongoing global rise reflects a restoration of its earlier international prominence, while others highlight that China’s emergence reflects distinctive characteristics of the country’s current political leadership under Xi Jinping.
Drawing from his new book, Making China Modern, Klaus Mühlhahn of the Free University of Berlin will focus on the lessons from history that provide insight into China’s evolving international position and how the United States and others should respond.
About the Speaker
Prof. Dr. Klaus Mühlhahn studied Sinology at Freie Universität Berlin and National Taiwan Normal University and graduated in 1993 with a Magister degree. After working at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Turku, Finland, the Indiana University, Bloomington US, he returned to Freie Universität Berlin as professor of history and culture of China in 2010. He is now deputy director of the Graduate School of East Asian Studies and since 2014 Vice-President of Freie Universität Berlin.
He has published widely on modern Chinese History (18th to 20th centuries) with focus on social history, comparative and transnational history. His book “Making China Modern”, published by the Harvard University Press in January 2019, rewrites China’s history, telling a story of crisis and recovery, exploring the versatility and resourcefulness essential for China’s survival as well as its future possibilities.