Search results
1 – 10 of 193This writing reveals Hong Kong’s role as the center of China research. Before Reform and Opening in 1979, the British colony was the only place in the world where all…
Abstract
Purpose
This writing reveals Hong Kong’s role as the center of China research. Before Reform and Opening in 1979, the British colony was the only place in the world where all international China experts stopped over and obtained the latest and the most accurate accounts of PRC.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyzes how Hong Kong serves as the intellectual mecca through examining the lives of China scholars amid building up their international profiles. What prompted them to join the China field? How were their lives like in the British crown colony? This paper also unveils the roles of the two research institutions played on Communist China studies: University Services Center (USC) and Union Research Institute (URI). In addition to relying on archival correspondences, personal interviews were also conducted in the last two years.
Findings
Despite being the mecca of PRC research, Hong Kong was not the first destination for most aspiring China scholars from the West. Most of these Western scholars did not even plan to devote their whole working lives to the study of China. Through luck, draft avoidance and generous grants from Ford and Carnegie Foundations, these young men and women became internationally iconic figures of East Asian research. To complete their Ph.D. theses and subsequent China-related projects, Hong Kong was a “must-go” destination for them. Under the full protection of the Union Jack, these scholars enjoyed the freedom to speak, write, research and publish. God blessed Hong Kong with such a unique political status amid the Cold War.
Originality/value
155 Argyle Street was the Art Deco compound where Red China experts produced most groundbreaking scholarships. It was not only a two-story structure where they acquired their first-hand resources but a platform where any China-related topics were discussed openly under the auspices of British colonial rule of law. Despite claiming themselves as apolitical, both USC and URI were products of US containment policy against communism. Even so, the colonial government never prohibited the two’s operations. Through this paper, readers will also discover how young men and women became inspired into a career in China studies.
Details
Keywords
This paper gives a comparative analysis of the foundation of sinology in two Canadian universities. Despite not having diplomatic exchanges, Canada's new relationship with the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper gives a comparative analysis of the foundation of sinology in two Canadian universities. Despite not having diplomatic exchanges, Canada's new relationship with the People's Republic of China (PRC) ignited a China interest in the Canadian academe. Through York University and the University of Guelph (U of G)'s experiences, readers will learn the rewards and challenges that sinology brings to Canadian higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper offers an overview of the historical foundation of sinology in the Canadian academe. Who pushes through this process? What geopolitical developments triggered young and educated Canadians to learn about China? This paper assesses York and Guelph's process in introducing sinology by relying on university archival resources and personal interviews. Why was York University successful in its mission, which, in turn, made into a comprehensive East Asian Studies degree option in 1971? What obstacles did the U of G face that prohibited it from implementing China Studies successfully?
Findings
After 1949, Canada took a friendlier relationship with the PRC than its neighbor in the south. As China–Canada relations unfolded, Canadian witnessed a dramatic state investment in higher education. The 1960s was a decade of unprecedented university expansion. In the process, sinology enjoyed its significant growth, and both York University and the U of G made their full use of this right timing. However, China Studies at the U of G did not take off. Besides its geolocation disadvantage, Guelph's top-down managerial style in the 1960s, which resulted in collegial disillusionment, was also a significant barrier to this program's success.
Originality/value
Before the Internet age, universities were the first venues for most Canadians to acquire their initial academic knowledge of China. After the Second World War, sinology became popular among students as China became one of the world's “Big Fives”. More Canadians became romanticized with Maoism while opposing America's containment policy. York and Guelph exemplified this trend in Canadian history. Contrary to popular belief, historian Jerome Chen did not establish York's China Studies. Likewise, an ex-US diplomat John Melby did not bring China into Guelph, sinology arrived due to individual scholastic initiatives. Visionaries saw envisioned China's importance in the future world community.
Details
Keywords
This writing examines the remarkable career of the founding East Asian scholar at Montreal's Concordia University. He was the individual who did more than merely a college…
Abstract
Purpose
This writing examines the remarkable career of the founding East Asian scholar at Montreal's Concordia University. He was the individual who did more than merely a college professor after 37 years there. He had helped to shape a new course in Sino-Canadian relations.
Design
This paper will look at an element of soft power engagement between Canada and China before Deng Xiaoping's Open Door Policy. It also examines Concordia's achievement in establishing a China foothold in the early-1980s.
Findings
Canada has always been a pioneer in engaging Red China. Despite not having formal diplomatic ties until October 1970, Ottawa never abandoned its wish to seek a friendship with Beijing. Amidst the thawing China–Canada relations since 1970, Concordia University recruited a 25-year-old graduate student named Martin Singer to inaugurate its East Asian courses. Singer's auspicious academic career not only gave him to organize Canada's first and the largest student delegation to China but also enabled him to pioneer the first joint-postgraduate studies program between a Chinese and a Western postsecondary institution. He was also a key player in establishing a novel and unique relationship between the PRC and the Western world.
Originality
This paper provides a glimpse into China's early experience in engaging the world as it left behind decades of communist isolation. It also highlights how serendipities allowed people and institutions to advance in the wake of this exciting period in modern Chinese history.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the development of Chinese studies in selective Canadian universities through examining the remarkable careers of three middle-aged ethnic…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reveal the development of Chinese studies in selective Canadian universities through examining the remarkable careers of three middle-aged ethnic Chinese intellectuals.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyses the origin and growth of East Asian Studies programs in Canada by first describing the backgrounds of the three scholars. Why did Canadian universities accept them despite their Chinese origin?
Findings
Canadian universities are indeed the incubators of racial tolerance. Racism existed in the 1950s but was only confined to the collegial level. Universities generally welcomed a diversified representation of their payroll. While none of three academics founded East Asian Studies programs in their institutions, they had forcibly become their mascots and had lured more students into lifelong studies of the Far East. Despite the early fanfare of their recruitments, all three had become disillusioned with their employers as years passed. They felt their contributions were taken for granted and had shifted their career focuses elsewhere. The Asia-Pacific is still marginally focussed in the Canadian academe.
Originality/value
The three men and many others in the field have sowed the seed for the study of China and the East Asian region in Canada. It is up to future “East Asianists” to carry on this tradition that they had built in the twentieth century.
Details
Keywords
There is a hierarchically related set of fundamental securitytechnologies that have been used (sometimes without need for thehierarchy) in the late 1970s and 80s to protect…
Abstract
There is a hierarchically related set of fundamental security technologies that have been used (sometimes without need for the hierarchy) in the late 1970s and 80s to protect information. The critical assumptions which provided the rationale for protection of information in those times are now challenged by the networked information resource environment of the 1990s. The weakest link in most information security systems is the reliance upon inappropriate methods of identifying and authenticating authorized users to the exclusion of all others. Proposes token based, two‐factor identity authenticator as a solution which reconciles the security hierarchy with the typical 1990s distributed information environment.
Details
Keywords
Abstract
Details
Keywords
Nancy T. Walker, Jennifer Wimmer and Thomas Bean
This article considers the current state of teacher discourse and reflection, situated in daily practice, craft knowledge, multiliteracies and new literacies. Based on studies of…
Abstract
This article considers the current state of teacher discourse and reflection, situated in daily practice, craft knowledge, multiliteracies and new literacies. Based on studies of content area teachers' use of multiple texts in social studies fields like economics, the authors profile Kenneth, an experienced teacher whose practice is grounded in craft knowledge and ideas about principled practices. In addition, Kenneth is an active proponent of new and digital literacy practices in his classroom simulations. The case example of Kenneth is then used to suggest how the process of practical argument might offer other content area teachers a useful framework for teacher reflection based on teachers’ craft knowledge and principled practices.
A number of developments and activities in the British Library arereviewed. Developments in the field of copyright are outlined and thedevelopment of internal networking is…
Abstract
A number of developments and activities in the British Library are reviewed. Developments in the field of copyright are outlined and the development of internal networking is described in some detail. A number of recent exhibitions in the Library are briefly reviewed and significant additions to the collections are described.
Details
Keywords
The University of Ibadan Library is the first largest library to automate its library services in Nigeria. It is now a focal point for library automation in the country…
Abstract
The University of Ibadan Library is the first largest library to automate its library services in Nigeria. It is now a focal point for library automation in the country. Highlights the span of library automation in this library and also reflects the impact of the World Bank Book Project started in 1991 in research and teaching in the university.
Details
Keywords
Lan-Lan Chang, Kenneth F. Backman and Yu Chih Huang
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between tourists’ motivation, experience, perceived value and revisit intentions to creative tourism destinations…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between tourists’ motivation, experience, perceived value and revisit intentions to creative tourism destinations. The ever-growing concept of creativity has been introduced into the tourism field. Creative tourism has been viewed as a strategy to regenerate destinations physically, culturally and socially. To develop tourism products and provide services that integrate the concept of creativity to satisfy tourists’ needs by developing a more active and long-lasting form of experience, this study aims to examine tourist consumption psychology in the context of creative tourism destinations. Past studies have identified motivation, perceived value and experience as three major antecedents affecting tourists’ revisit intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study was carried out in three popular creative tourism spots, Meinong, Shuili and Yingge, located, respectively, in the north, middle and south Taiwan. These creative tourism sites provide pottery, crafts, arts, workshops and other creative activities that integrate authentic local culture to engage tourists with fulfilling and meaningful experiences. The on-site survey was conducted on both weekdays and weekends during March 2012. Self-administrated questionnaires were distributed to participants who were systematically selected at the main gate of the study areas. In total, 417 questionnaires were collected.
Findings
The results indicated that on-site tourism experience was the most influential antecedent of revisit intention to creative tourism sites in terms of the magnitude of the standardized coefficient. The unique variances of motivation factors and perceived value were too small to be statistically significant to explain revisit intentions. The present study contributes to the ever-increasing tendency for creative industries in Taiwan to develop creative tourism products and services that encompass authentic local culture and art in enhancing tourist experience.
Originality/value
For business operators, this study suggests that if owners of creative destinations would like to attract repeat tourists, the tourists’ experiences are surely critical in developing service blueprints to meet the needs and wants of customers; they should pay more attention to understanding what tourists experience when they visit creative tourism attractions.
Details