Workshop on “Localizing Global Culture in China and Beyond Workshop” successfully held, focusing on diversity in cultural exchange

The workshop on "Localizing Global Culture in China and Beyond Workshop" was successfully held at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University from December 7 to 8, 2024. The event brought together nearly thirty experts and scholars deeply engaged in the humanities and social sciences from renowned universities and research institutions from both China and abroad, including the University of Cambridge, National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University, Nanjing University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Sun Yat-sen University, Duke Kunshan University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), University of Macau, The Ohio State University, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), France. The academic backgrounds of the participants spanned a wide range of fields, including history, archaeology, history of science and technology, history of medicine, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, economics, gender studies, architecture and design, media and film studies, dance studies, museum studies, and art history. Through interdisciplinary exchanges, the workshop explored new orientations in the study of the localization of global cultures and reflected on how Chinese cultural landscapes are shaped by the influx of global cultures, and how the localization of foreign cultures unfolds through different paths.

Dr Zhoulin Ruan, Vice President of Academic Affairs at XJTLU, made opening remarks. He stated that, as a diverse and multicultural campus, XJTLU has always been committed to fostering and promoting the exchange and collision of global cultures, providing an open platform for cross-cultural collaboration and research.

The keynote speaker of the workshop, Dr Marta Hanson, a guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, former faculty member in the Department of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and former president of the International Society for the History of East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine (ISHEASTM), delivered a keynote address titled "Specimen Medicinae Sinicae (1682): A Sample of Chinese Medicine for 17th-Century Europe". In her keynote speech, Dr Hanson shared her latest research findings on the cross-cultural knowledge dissemination between 17th-century China and Europe through the medium of medicine, vividly illustrating the historical intersection of Chinese and Western cultures during that period. The keynote speech sparked enthusiastic discussions among the participants, creating an active and interactive atmosphere.

The workshop featured six panels, covering a range of topics including Producing, Consuming, and Recreation; Overseas Reception of Chinese Objects, Technique, and Culture; Encountering Alien Civilizations in China; Gender and Identity in Media and Performance; Visual and Material Cultures in Transnational Context; Localizing Western Science, Technology, and Institutions. Through multidimensional exchanges between Chinese and foreign cultures, the participating experts highlighted the diversity and complexity of the cultural "localization" process and engaged in in-depth discussions and reflections on the theoretical implications behind global cultural localization.

The workshop is organized by the Department of Chinese Studies, HSS, and convened by Dr Kan Li and Jing Zhu from the Department of Chinese Studies.

Reporter: Zhen Ma

Editor: Yiyi Gu

Translator: Jingling Wen