The Worldly Engagement of the Greater Pearl River Delta Region
Factories in Canton (Peabody Essex Museum)
The 2018/19 Yip So Man Wat Memorial Lecture
with Professor Helen F. Siu (Yale University)
South China has long been part of what is now popularized as the Maritime Silk Road. Over the centuries, the movement of goods, people, and ideas has bridged continental divides. The talk focuses on the rise of trading hubs with multi-ethnic identities and resources and tracks strategic footprints across the oceans from Canton to Zanzibar. It will comment on the region’s paths of development and conflict.
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2018
6pm Reception with light refreshments
7pm Lecture
Asian Centre Auditorium, 1871 West Mall, Vancouver
Free & open to the public. Online registration is required.
Dr. Helen F. Siu of Yale University. Photo by David Ausserhofer
About the Speaker
Helen F. Siu is a professor of Anthropology and former chair of the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University. She grew up in Hong Kong and attended Carleton College and Stanford University. Prof. Siu has conducted decades of fieldwork in South China, exploring agrarian change, the nature of the socialist state, and the refashioning of identities. Lately, she has become interested in rural-urban interface in China, inter-Asian connections, and China-Africa encounters. Prof. Siu has served in numerous funding and research assessment committees in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and she was the founding director of the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, which is devoted to cross-disciplinary research and global collaborations. Her recent publications include Asia Inside Out (2 volumes; Harvard University Press, 2015); Tracing China: A Forty-Year Ethnographic Journey (Hong Kong University Press, 2016); and “China-Africa Encounters: Historical Legacies and Contemporary Realities,” Annual Review of Anthropology 46 (November 2017).
About the Yip So Man Wat Memorial Lecture
The Yip So Man Wat Memorial Lectures are made possible by the generous support of Messrs. Alex and Chi Shum Watt in honour of their mother, the late Mrs. Wat, and her passion for Chinese literature and culture. Please visit the full lecture list here.
Associated Events
How Big is “Local”? The Historically Global Nature of Hong Kong Culture and Society
Community Conversation (program in Cantonese 粵語講座)
with Prof. Helen F. Siu 蕭鳳霞教授 (Yale University)
Thursday, October 4th, 2018
7:30 pm
Richmond Public Library, 7700 Minoru Gate, Richmond
For Hong Kong, what is deemed “local” is a multi-layered historical experience shared by generations of immigrants and emigrants. Each of these layers has given the place unique cultural characteristics. The talk urges us to uncover and cherish these global footprints. They have provided the resources for Hong Kongers to connect with extensive overseas communities, to capture unusual opportunities, and sail through political storms. What will be the strategic steps to take as Hong Kongers face an assertive China and an uncertain global future?
Free & open to the public. Registration is required.
Visit the event page for details >>
Professor Siu will also be giving a guest lecture, titled “Tracing China: A Forty-Year Ethnographic Journey,” to students of “History of Cantonese Worlds” (ASIA 323/HIST 377) on October 4th.