The center organizes a variety of activities to promote undergraduate learning at the university and sponsors academic colloquia and conferences open to the general public.
Undergraduate Learning
The center creates undergraduate learning experiences that connect the empirical social science research process with knowledge produced from it.
Freshman Orientation to Social Science (FOSS)
Duke Kunshan University’s first Freshman Orientation to Social Science happens on 28 September 2018. FOSS is a teaching session, which introduces freshmen to fundamental concerns, burning research questions, and the practical process of producing knowledge. It offers undergraduate students the opportunity to learn the steps of conducting rigorous and systematic research in social science.
The 2018 FOSS starts at 9:00 a.m. and finishes at 4:00 p.m. It consists of three 45-minute topic modules and one keynote presentation over lunch. This year’s FOSS focuses substantively on gender inequality in China. Three Duke Kunshan University professors tackle the topic from the perspective of their different social science disciplines. Professor Andrew MacDonald introduces the experiment as the gold standard in social science research. He presents research examples from studies of gender inequality in the workplace. Professor Mengqi Wang focuses on qualitative research methods. She will talk about doing ethnography on topics of gender and housing in contemporary China. Professor Yu Wang gives an overview of survey methods in social science. She presents applications of survey data in gender inequality studies. In her keynote presentation, Professor Cai Zuo, Associate Professor of Political Science at Fudan University, author of Trade-offs and Developments in Research Methods of Political Science, talks about her own social science research experience.
Who is eligible to register?
The orientation is designed for Duke Kunshan University freshman with an interest in social science. It is free to the university’s students, but the number of places is limited. Pre-registration is required. Students receive course materials and a class schedule by e-mail after successful registration online.
When and how to register?
Registration deadline: 16 September 2018
Use this link to register: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_00B088Y3iYVb0ZT
Other questions?
Contact Chi Zhang at chi.zhan323@dukekunshan.edu.cn
Undergraduate Poster Exhibition and Competition
The center’s first sponsored undergraduate poster exhibition on contemporary Chinese affairs happens on 22 April 2019. Students present research results from course papers, signature works, capstone projects, or other educational experiences. Cash prizes in the amounts of $100 for first place, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place are awarded to three posters that are particularly excellent in content, design, and oral presentation.
Why submit a poster?
The poster exhibition offers you opportunities to share your research product with your peers and professors at the university. It allows you to practice your skills in summarizing, advertising, and visual and oral presentation. It teaches you how to communicate your research with other scholars in a professional manner. It is also an opportunity to collect comments to strengthen your work. Not least of all, you may win a cash prize in recognition of your academic excellence.
Who is eligible to apply?
All Duke Kunshan University undergraduates are eligible to apply for the poster exhibition as long as the project has a substantial content related to contemporary China. You can either present one of your individual research products—based on a course paper, signature work, capstone project, or other educational experience. Alternatively, you can collaborate with others to present a group project.
How will my poster be evaluated?
A rotating panel of four Duke Kunshan University faculty members will serve as judges. They will evaluate posters on three dimensions: content, design, and oral presentation. A five-minute presentation that explains the background, research questions, methods, and findings, is needed for explaining your poster to the judges. You may wish to consult the links below for tips on poster design:
https://undergraduateresearch.duke.edu/resources-presentations
https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/presentations_poster.html#whatis
Schedule:
- 18 February 2019: Watch for the call for abstracts and link for online submission.
- 31 March 2019: Deadline for submission of abstracts
- 10 April 2019: Successful applicants are notified to produce posters for the exhibition and competition.
- 20 April 2019: Deadline for submission of posters
- 22 April 2019: Poster exhibition and competition
Academic Colloquia and Conferences
The center sponsors academic colloquia and conferences that bring together leading scholars from China and elsewhere around the world to freely exchange ideas and research findings about contemporary China. The colloquia and conferences are open to the Duke Kunshan University community and the broader public beyond the university.
Academic Colloquia
The center sponsors regular academic colloquia, open to the general public, at which an invited scholar from within or outside China presents research. In keeping with the cross-disciplinary organization of Duke Kunshan University and centrality of the university’s undergraduate program, colloquium scholars make a particular effort to communicate in a broadly accessible way their research puzzle, its importance, sources and methods, and key findings.
Upcoming Colloquia
Citizens’ Responsiveness to Electoral Mobilization under Authoritarianism: Evidence from China’s Grassroots Election
Ji Yeon Jean Hong, Assistant Professor at the Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Conferences
The center sponsors conferences at which scholars from China and beyond present research and engage in discussion organized around a theme in contemporary Chinese affairs.
Upcoming Conferences
13-14 OCTOBER 2018
“CHINA’S GREAT SILK ROAD ECONOMIC BELT”
A workshop and public symposium bring together leading experts to analyze the economic, financial, geostrategic, and environmental dimensions of China’s Great Silk Road Economic Belt.
Duke Kunshan University Environmental Research Center in collaboration with Duke University Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.
Duke University Center for International and Global Studies in collaboration with Duke Kunshan University Center for the Study of Contemporary China.
Great Silk Road Economic Belt of Central Asia Workshop
October 13
A workshop for invited participants only.
This workshop aims to look at investments in infrastructure and industry along the Great Silk Road Economic Belt to explore what institutions and safeguards are needed to foster regional cooperation, economic livelihoods, and sustainable development. Topics include sessions on global value chains and trade, financing and standards, geopolitics and security, civil society engagement, and environmental and social impacts. The workshop is designed to serve as a platform for building research collaborations across research institutions interested in understanding the impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Central Asia.
Geostrategic, Economic, and Environmental Dimensions of the Belt and Road Initiative
October 14
A symposium open to the public.
This public symposium will draw on themes and experts from the Great Silk Road Economic Belt of Central Asia Workshop and the Developing Spatial Solutions to Environmental Impacts of Infrastructure Development Workshop to introduce these topics to policymakers, academics, practitioners, and the engaged public interested in the Belt and Road Initiative. The symposium will be organized around several panel sessions to allow for as much interaction and dialogue as possible. Two or more keynote speakers will anchor the beginning and end of the symposium.
12 JANUARY 2019
“SINO-U.S. RELATIONS: SNYERGIES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND CHALLENGES”
A conference open to scholars, students, and members of the local community
To celebrate the new Center for the Study of Contemporary China at Duke Kunshan University, we invite four renowned experts in Sino-U.S. relations—one each based in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States—to offer their perspectives on the synergies, opportunities, and challenges in this important relationship. The conference also features contributions by Duke Kunshan University faculty and students.
- David Michael Lampton
- School of Advanced International Studies
- Johns Hopkins University
- Jisi WANG
- International Institute for Strategic Studies
- Peking University
- Richard Weixing HU
- Department of Politics and Public Administration
- University of Hong Kong
- Xiaojuan Mandy LIAO, PhD
- Department of Political Science
- National Taiwan University
