I am organizing a panel on the revived interest in Republican-era Christian universities in China, not merely as missionary legacies, but as contested and reimagined sites of cultural memory, institutional innovation, and intellectual formation. With the opening of archives in the reform era and the broadening of scholarly approaches, studies have shifted from viewing these institutions as purely Western impositions to examining their role in processes of indigenization, contextualization, internationalization, Asianization, and Sinicization (Ng 2024).
This panel tries to put together a collection of studies focusing on how these missionary institutions are remembered, memorialized, and even revived, symbolically, pedagogically, or ideologically, in today's China, even in some popular social media sites (some of the CityWalk recommendations often recommends the old buildings of these institutions as sites for phototaking). The studies of this panel will contribute to broader discussions of cultural memory, postcolonial identity, and educational modernization.
Possible themes include:
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Historical and institutional narratives of specific Christian universities
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Memory politics and the cultural legacies of missionary education
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Indigenization of Christian liberal arts education in Chinese contexts
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The role of archives, alumni, and state discourse in constructing legitimacy
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The implications of revived interest in Christian universities for understanding contemporary Chinese higher education, religion, or nationalism
- Christian legacy and its role in building world-class universities.
This is a late call. But if you are interested in joining the panel, please send a 150–200 word abstract to xin_wang@baylor.edu by August 4. If you want to serve as the discussant, please let me know too. Thanks!
Xin Wang
Associate Professor of China Studies
Baylor University
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Xin Wang
Associate Professor
Baylor University
xin_wang@baylor.edu------------------------------