Event Details

Ning Zhang, associate professor in Political Science, and Andrew Morris, professor in History, will discuss Dr. Zhang’s book, Confucianism in Contemporary Chinese Politics: An Actionable Account of Authoritarian Political Culture. The conversation will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday April 28th. There will be time for audience questions and light refreshments will be served.

Dr. Zhang’s book, a volume in the Challenges Facing Chinese Political Development series published by Lexington Books, critically examines existing frameworks for understanding the Chinese political system. Drawing on a range of sources – surveys, interviews, archives, and Party Congress Reports, Dr. Zhang explores ways in which notions of authority, morality, reciprocity, and political legitimacy, as well as contemporary practices for connecting with the state, are rooted in traditional Confucian beliefs and practices.

Ning received her Ph.D. in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara and holds a B.A. from the School of International Relations at Beijing University. Her teaching at Cal Poly focus on comparative politics and international relations, and her previous research has explored the intersections of Chinese politics, democracy and popular culture.

Dr. Zhang’s conversational partner will be Dr. Andrew Morris of Cal Poly’s History Department. Andrew’s research interests focus on modern Chinese and Taiwanese history, examining such facets as sports and popular culture, nationalism, colonialism and transnational cultural flows. He has twice served as a visiting scholar at the Institute of Taiwan History in Taipei and his publications include the book, Colonial Project, National Game: A History of Baseball in Taiwan, published by the UC Press in Berkeley.

This public conversation is part of the Conversations with Cal Poly Authors series at Kennedy Library. Listen to podcasts of past conversations on SoundCloud.