Public Matters: Intellectuals and Political Life in China: A Symposium in honor of Merle Goldman (1931-2023)

Organized by the Fairbank Center, and co-sponsored with the Harvard-Yenching Institute

Please join us at the Fairbank Center for a day-long workshop in honor of the work of Merle Goldman, a leading figure at the center and a foremost scholar of her generation who pioneered the study of contemporary Chinese intellectuals.

In a full day of panel presentations and discussions, an interdisciplinary group of China scholars from North America, Asia, and Europe will highlight ongoing research that either builds directly on Merle’s work or addresses some of the central concerns that animated her professional career: literary dissent, state-intellectual relations, conceptions of citizenship and political rights, and more.

The panels will explore the myriad ways in which Chinese intellectuals, from imperial days to the present, have sought to express political agency and the extent to which their impact has matched their aspirations.

Please join in this celebration of our late colleague’s important legacy!

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