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In Summer 2015, thanks to the CAS Tang scholarship, 12 students had the opportunity to study modern Chinese history in Shanghai with history professor and CAS Associate Director Tim Weston. Students gained a strong appreciation for both the content of modern Chinese history and how that history is remembered and made use of in China today.

The purpose of this Global Seminar, which receives Tang Fund scholarship funding to cover most stduent expenses, is to make use of the wide variety of museums and historical and contemporary sites in and around Shanghai to explore that city’s uniquely important role in modern Chinese history. The group begins by studying historical events and themes in a classroom setting and then venture into the city itself to study the multiple ways those same events and themes have been memorialized, or in some instances erased, in present-day Shanghai. Students learn to think critically about the relationship of the past to the present; the ways the past is used by actors in the present; the way memorials capture and present meaning; the role of museums and how to view them with a critical eye; and the ways Shanghai, as a key site in modern China, has constantly re-invented itself in tandem with the dramatic transformation of the country as a whole over the course of modern history.

Responses to the Summer 2015 Global Seminar:

This program was so much fun, because we were living right next to the campus we got to explore a little bit outside of the classroom. It was a lot of fun to interact with locals and try to get something to eat when there is a language barrier.
Summer 2015 Participant

The course was beyond interesting and eye opening. Shanghai was more than I expected, such a beautiful place. Not much of a local interaction due to all the places the group was scheduled to see in such a short time frame.
Summer 2015 Participant

“The course was very interesting and relevant to current affairs. The location of Shanghai could not have been better since so many things are happening there!”
Summer 2015 Participant

“The students learned a great deal about modern Chinese history, about China, and also seemed to have learned more about the United States and themselves through comparisons between China and the United States…I have no doubt that the students’ eyes were opened wide and that they gained a perspective on their world that will benefit them going forward in whatever they do.”
Timothy B. Weston, Global Seminar Director