Event Details
WHAT: In Defence of Scholarship โ Three PKU Yenching post-grads defend their Master's dissertations in-person in front of a RASBJ panel.
WHEN: Thursday May 15, 7.00-8.00 PM, Beijing time; refreshments from 6.30 PM.
WHERE: La Maison Lyonnaise 2F, 44 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
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MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: As a rehearsal for their actual dissertation defence, three Masters students at Yenching Academy of Peking University have five minutes each to give us insight into their dissertations, after which moderators David Moser and Alan Babington-Smith attempt to recreate the inquisitive vibe of a panel of professors at their actual defence later this month.
Their topics are:
Ariel: United States and PRC's responses to a UN stalemate over the future of space resource governance
Morrison: Ideological and political education and State legitimacy; comparing China and UK
Lauryn: How do country nicknames used online (such as little Japanese, old American, etc. ๅฐๆฅๆฌใ่็พใๆๆๆฐๆใๅทด้) reflect or create nationalism, national identity and sentiments towards other countries?
All attendees may ask questions to round off the event.
This is an experiment based on the "3-Minute Thesis" competition that is increasingly common at universities, and may become an annual RASBJ/Yenching event.
The image used in the notice is from a painting "And When Did You Last See Your Father?" by William Frederick Yeames (1835-1918), an imagined but possible moment in The English Civil War , by courtesy of The Walker Art Gallery Liverpool UK
MORE ABOUT THE SCHOLARS
Ariel Silverman earned a bachelor's in Social Studies from Harvard College in 2023 and is currently a Yenching Scholar at Peking University pursuing a master's in international relations. Ariel has given lectures and workshops around the world on geopolitical conflict, specializing in China's approach to shaping international law of the sea and outer space..
Lingyun (Lauryn) Li is a graduate student at the Yenching Academy of Peking University, where she focuses on China Studies with a concentration in Politics and International Relations. Her research interests lie broadly in quantitative and computational social science, with a particular emphasis on public opinion and digital media.
Morrison Cleaver is a graduate student at PKU researching Chinese politics and Chinese thought. Previously, he completed his undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in Chinese Studies, including one year studying abroad in Taiwan. Recently, he spent four months working at Control Risks analysing geopolitical risks of the APAC region and is currently working at the China Britain Business Council in policy and advocacy
MORE ABOUT THE MODERATORS:
Alan Babington-Smith is the founder of RASBJ. Alan has a Masters from Cambridge UK in History and Economics, has lived and worked as a banker in the UK, Saudi Arabia, Poland, The Baltics, Russia and China. During his 25 years in China since 2000, he has helped set up 3 quasi-banks, a choir, China's first leadership coaching business, and RASBJ.
David Moser holds a Master's and a Ph.D. in Chinese Studies from the University of Michigan, with a major in Chinese Linguistics and Philosophy, and was Associate Dean of the Yenching Academy at Peking University from 2017 to 2019. He is currently Associate Professor in the Foreign Languages department of Peking Normal University. Moser is author of the book A Billion Voices: China's Search for a Common Language, published by Penguin, and with Jeremiah Jenne co-hosts Barbarians at the Gate, a biweekly podcast covering aspects of Chinese history and modern culture.
HOW MUCH: Admission is RMB 200 for members of RASBJ and partner RAS branches, RMB 50 for Yenching Scholars; RMB 300 for non-members. The cost includes a token for one free drink and canapes. Interested in becoming an RASBJ member? Please sign up at https://rasbj.org/membership
HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click "Register" or "I Will Attend" and follow the instructions. For payment, you may find Alipay easier than WeChat. You can also pay by credit card. After successful registration you will receive a confirmation email. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder. Please register by noon, Wednesday 14 May.
REFUND POLICY: Attendees will be refunded in full if RASBJ cancels this event. Registrations for those who have not paid by 14 May at noon will be cancelled. After noon on May 14, registrants who cannot attend for personal reasons will not be refunded.
