Literature, Science & Arts

Closely linked to the other 18 UM schools and colleges, LS&A is noted for its vast array of opportunities in interdisciplinary learning and teaching. Although activities and programs are organized here by academic department, the College’s far-reaching engagement with China crosses disciplinary boundaries.

COLLEGE OF LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND THE ARTS

Folk Art

Anthropology

Involved in research projects throughout the world, faculty and students in the Department of Anthropology have found China a particularly valuable area and subject matter for research and exchanges. In 2002, Erik Mueggler, Associate Professor of Anthropology, was named MacArthur Fellow by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for his work on ethnic minority communities in China.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Faculty Research

Carla Sinopoli, Professor of Anthropology; Director, UM Museum of Anthropology
Project Title: Culture contact and social change on the “savage” frontiers of the Han State: Exploration of a Bronze Age society in the Qujing Plain of Yunnan, China
External Funding: $7,828
External Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Duration of Funding: 09/01/2005 – 08/31/2006

Henry Wright, Professor of Anthropology; Curator, Curator of Near Eastern Archaeology, UM Museum of Anthropology
Project Description : A regional archaeological survey project focused on the earliest state center in Central China
Project Partners : Chen Xingcan, The Institute of Archaeology, Beijing; Li Liu, Latrobe University, Melbourne, Australia; and Yunkuen Lee, Harvard University

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Asian Languages and Cultures

The Department of Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC) offers a wide variety of courses in Chinese language, literature, philosophy, and culture in general, and ALC faculty includes some of the most respected Sinologists in academia.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Research

Miranda Brown, Assistant Professor of Early Chinese Culture
Project Title: Chinese medical epistemology in transition, ca. 350 BCE - 220 CE
External Funding: $20,000
External Funding Source: Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange
Duration of Funding: 01/01/2006 – 12/31/2006

James Robson, Assistant Professor of Chinese Buddhism Project Description: A collaborative research project studying local religious statuary from Hunan province.
Project Partners: Beijing bureau of the École Française d'Extrême-Orient

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CENTER FOR CHINESE STUDIES

CCS

The Center for Chinese Studies (CCS) at the University of Michigan was founded in 1961 and has maintained its leading position among centers nationwide for more than 40 years. The Center’s thirty-plus faculty forms an intellectual community fostering collaboration among humanists, professionals, and social scientists, in an environment appreciative of the interdependency of past and present. Situated within the International Institute, the mission of the Center is to provide students, specialists and the public at large with expert resources and a deeper understanding of issues ranging from today’s headlines to time-honored questions of value and meaning. CCS collaborative projects, outreach initiatives, and the M.A. Program all make full use of the multiple disciplines and analytical perspectives promoted by the Center.

In addition to the Master’s Degree program, the course requirements of which include four CCS-administered seminars, CCS also offers regular events, such as the CCS Noon Lecture Series and CCS Chinese Film Series, which serve to enrich the growing interdisciplinary discourses on China across the UM community.

In 2006, CCS received a four-year grant of $185,819 from the National Resource Centers and Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships Programs, administered by the US Department of Education.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Research

James Lee, Frederick Heutwell Professor of History and Sociology; CCS director
Project Title: Demographic responses to community and family context
External Funding: $866,875
External Funding Source: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
Duration of Funding: 04/01/2006 – 01/31/2009

Albert Park, Associate Professor of Economics
Project Title: Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad (Also see section on UM-Peking University Joint Institute and “Study in China”)
External Funding: $80,000
External Funding Source: U.S. Department of Education
Duration of Funding: 04/01/2005 – 08/31/2006

Martin Powers, Sally Michelson Davidson Professor of Chinese Arts and Cultures
Project Title: The Tang Junyi Lecture Series in Chinese Philosophy
External Funding: $19,897
External Funding Source: Chiang Ching-Kou Foundation
Duration of Funding: 08/01/2002 – 06/30/2007

Martin Powers, Sally Michelson Davidson Professor of Chinese Arts and Cultures
Project Title: China Mirror – A Web based project for internationalizing content in undergraduate humanities courses
External Funding: $180,000
External Funding Source: National Endowment for the Humanities
Duration of Funding: Two years

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Economics

The Department of Economics is home to Robert Dernberger, Professor Emeritus, one of the most prominent American scholars who combined research on China with scholarship in economics. Remaining true to this academic legacy, the department continues to foster China-related research, such as the work of Albert Park, Associate Professor of Economics. Professor Park was a co-principle investigator of “China Urban Labor Surveys I and II” (2001 and 2005, respectively), two-part surveys of urban residents and migrants in five large Chinese cities. Funded by the World Bank, with the Institute of Population and Labor Economics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the surveys focused on labor market outcomes and access to social insurance programs.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Project

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History

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The Department of History has long fostered important scholarship in Chinese history. Albert Feuerwerker, A.M. & H.P. Bentley Professor Emeritus of History, was one of the main contributors to the venerable Cambridge History of China and is still an active researcher of Chinese history. Ernest Young, Professor Emeritus, continues to be the foremost scholar on the history of Jesuit missionaries in China. Currently, the teaching and research efforts of Professors James Lee, C.S. Chung, Pär Cassel and Christian de Pee contribute to the department’s strength in the study of ancient and modern Chinese history. Visiting Professor Li Bozhong (Professor of History, Peking University) brings his expertise in modern China to the training of undergraduate students.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Research

James Lee, Frederick Heutwell Professor of History and Sociology; Director, Center for Chinese Studies
Project Title: Demographic responses to community and family context
External Funding: $866,875
External Funding Source: Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
Duration of Funding: 04/01/2006 – 01/31/2009

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History of Art

Folk Art

In recent years, the department has enjoyed ongoing collaborations with the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington DC, which boast one of the finest museum collections of Chinese art outside of China. This relationship has enabled the development of academic programs benefiting both students and faculty in the study of history of Chinese art. Additionally, the department maintains the Asian Art Archives, offering a complete photographic collection of the major works held in the National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Research

Martin Powers, Sally Michelson Davidson Professor of Chinese Arts and Cultures
Project Title: The Tang Junyi Lecture Series in Chinese Philosophy
External Funding: $19,897
External Funding Source: Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation
Duration of Funding: 08/01/2002 – 06/30/2007

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Physics

Professor Franco Nori has engaged in highly productive collaborations with several Chinese physicists, including Professor J.Q. You (Fudan University), Professor L.F. Wei (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), Professor C.P. Sun (Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences), and Professor X.B. Wang (Tsinghua University). The work of these researchers has been documented in an impressive list of publications in international refereed journals. Professor Nori’s partnerships with Chinese researchers constitute an interdisciplinary inquiry into quantum information science, a research interest that interfaces physics, applied mathematics, computer science and engineering.

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Political Science

The faculty of the Department of Political Science has contributed to an illustrious history of public service, and their involvement in shaping national policy on China was no exception. In 1977, Michel Oksenberg, professor of political science and former director of the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), was appointed special assistant to President Jimmy Carter and senior staff for East Asia and China at the National Security Council. Under his efforts, formal diplomatic relations between China and the US were finally established in January 1979.

Another former CCS director, Kenneth Lieberthal, Professor of Political Science, Distinguished Fellow and Director for China at the William Davidson Institute, and William Davidson Professor of Business Administration, was appointed as special assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. During his tenure (August 1998 to October 2000), the relationship between the US and China entered a new stage, as the two nations pledged to build a “Constructive Strategic Partnership.” Professor Lieberthal continues to be an active teacher and researcher in the study of China and US-China relations. He has published the second edition of his book, Governing China: From Revolution Through Reform and is working on projects on US-China energy cooperation and on the evolution of the Chinese political system. Mary Gallagher, Assistant Professor, studies Chinese politics, law and society, and comparative politics. She is currently working on two projects. The first examines the development of rule of law in China and studies the dynamics of legal mobilization of Chinese workers. The second project examines labor standards and practices in four Chinese regions.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Faculty Research

Mary Gallagher, Assistant Professor
Project Title: The Rule of Law in China: If they build it, who will come?
External Funding: $328,926
External Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Duration of Funding: 03/01/2004 – 02/28/2007

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Psychology

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In 1979, Michigan psychologist Harold Stevenson invited the first Chinese psychologists to the United States since the Cultural Revolution. This visit resulted in the establishment of the Collaborative Research Center at the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Twila Tardif, Associate Professor of Psychology, has spent the past ten years documenting and studying fundamental differences in Chinese- and English-speaking children's early language. Additionally, she has begun to conduct studies to examine the biological underpinnings and processing characteristics of linguistic differences in noun and verb use.

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Sociology

The Department of Sociology is consistently at the forefront of new thinking and research in the field, and the expertise of Professors Ching Kwan Lee, James Lee and Yu Xie serves to strengthen sociological scholarship with research on China. Specialized research conducted by Professors Arland Thornton and George Steinmetz also contributes to the studies of sociological issues related to China.

Current Externally Funded and/or Collaborative Research

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