WHAT: A discussion between Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian of their co-authored book "The Great Transformation: China's Road from Revolution to Reform," moderated by Melinda Liu. The event is hybrid---Arne Westad will participate online, Chen Jian will attend in person. The event is jointly organised by RASBJ and Yale Center Beijing.

WHEN: 7-8PM, Wednesday 26th May at Yale Center Beijing,36th Floor, Tower B, IFC Building, 8 Jianguomenwai Avenue

建国门外大街8号 北京国际财源中心 B座 36层

ABOUT THE EVENT:

With gripping detail and deep insight, authors Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian will discuss their new book "The Great Transformation: China's Road from Revolution to Reform". Focused on the tumultuous events of the long 1970's and their impact, the authors will show how understanding this period in Chinese history is key to understanding what China has become today. In conversation with Melinda Liu, they'll reveal how they unearthed the revealing, granular details which make the book memorable – and why the book they published is not exactly the book they envisaged at the beginning of the project – a story behind the story. (Westad will be livestreamed; other participants and the audience will be in-person at the Yale Center Beijing; this event is co-organized by RASBJ and YCB.)

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS



Odd Arne Westad is a Norwegian scholar of modern international and global history, with a specialization in the history of Eastern Asia since the 18th century. Arne Westad won the Bancroft Prize for "The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times". "Restless Empire: China and the World since 1750", was released in the US and UK in 2012 and made two Top 100 lists for that year. He is the Elihu Professor of History at Yale. Arne Westad joined the faculty at Yale after teaching at the London School of Economics, where he was School Professor of International History, and at Harvard University, where he was the S.T. Lee Professor of US-Asia Relations. He is a fellow of the British Academy and of several other national academies.

Chen Jian is Distinguished Global Network Professor of History at NYU and NYU Shanghai and Hu Shih Professor of History Emeritus at Cornell University. His books include "China's Road to the Korean War", "Mao's China and the Cold War", and "Zhou Enlai: A Life". Prior to joining NYU Shanghai, he was the Michael J. Zak Professor of History for US-China Relations at Cornell University, Global Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Philippe Roman Chair in History and International Affairs at the London School of Economics, and visiting research professor at the University of Hong Kong (2009-2013). Chen Jian holds a PhD from Southern Illinois University and an MA from Fudan University and East China Normal University in Shanghai.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR:

Melinda Liu is Beijing Bureau Chief for Newsweek Magazine, having lived and worked in the Chinese capital from November 1998 to the present. Liu also opened the first Newsweek Beijing Bureau and resided in Beijing from March 1980 to late 1982. In her journalistic career, Liu covered many aspects of China's post-Mao modernization; the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the fall of the Taliban; the first Persian Gulf War, and U.S. military interventions in Somalia and Haiti. Her firsthand reporting from Baghdad on the fall of Saddam Hussein was part of an award-winning Newsweek issue. Liu won the 2006 Shorenstein Journalism Award in recognition of her reporting on Asia. She is RASBJ vice president and co-director of the documentary film "Doolittle Raiders: A China Story". Liu recently reviewed "Zhou Enlai: A Life" by Chen Jian for the China Books Review.

HOW MUCH: Free for members of RASBJ and of RAS partner branches in London, Shanghai, Hong Kong. RMB 100 for non-members. Interested in becoming an RASBJ member? Please sign up at https://rasbj.org/membership/​​

NOTE: Members of the Yale community please register with the Yale Center Beijing by emailing yalecenterbeijing@yale.edu

HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: To register with RASBJ, please click "Register" or "I will Attend" and follow the instructions. Members of partner RAS branches, please register 72 hours in advance to allow time for membership verification. Non-members: please pay no later than noon May 24. You may find payment via Alipay easier than via WeChat; payments can also be made with international credit cards. After successful registration and payment, you will receive a confirmation email. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder.

REFUND POLICY: If the event is cancelled by the organisers, registrants will be refunded in full.