Lobsang Sangay is a lecturer at Harvard Law School. He was a democratically elected Sikyong (President) of the Tibetan Government in Exile and served two terms (2011-2021).

Light refreshments will be served

As Law and Literature takes root around the world, from the United States to Germany, from Israel to Hong Kong, scholars working in the interdiscipline have been exploring what it might mean to study legal-literary relations in a more global frame. In this seminar, Marco Wan posits one answer to this question by drawing on the notion of ‘circulation’ as it has been considered in debates about world literature. He will begin with a survey of recent developments in Law and Literature, and then examine questions of reception, interpretation, and translation raised by the ways in which literary texts circulate into new legal-cultural environments. He will anchor his analysis in a close reading of Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (2000), a Franco-Chinese novel about two young men who are sent to the mountains for re-education during the Cultural Revolution in China, and who discover a suitcase of forbidden Western classics.

Nicola Di Cosmo, East Asian Studies, Institute for Advanced Study

Among the many facets of the Manchu conquest of China, a relatively unexplored one is that of Manchu ideology and propaganda. This talk examines the early justification of the anti-Ming war articulated by the Manchu ruler Nurhaci (Qing Taizu, 1559-1626) and its reception in Europe, in particular in the work of Martino Martini, De Bello Tartarico. While there have been a few studies on Nurhaci's manifesto, known as the “Seven Great Grievances,” this talk draws special attention to his reasons to justify the war against the Ming, and to explicitly stake his claim to rule All Under Heaven in light of the “just war theory”. Nurhaci's unprecedented pronouncement, moreover, not only underpinned the Manchu war effort for the following decades but also influenced the reception of the Qing conquest in Europe and the arguments made by Jesuits in favor of transferring their loyalty to the new dynasty.

Learn about the prestigious Boren Scholarships that fund study abroad outside Western Europe, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. Boren Awards focus on developing linguistic and cultural knowledge among aspiring federal government employees. Boren Awards are funded by the federal government and are open to U.S. citizens who are currently matriculated students. Maximum undergraduate awards are determined by duration of study: up to $25,000 for 25-22 weeks and up to $8,000 for 8-11 weeks (STEM majors only).

Unfortunately, this 4C's text reading with Andrew Schonebaum is canceled. For more information, please contact: eap-guwen@cornell.edu.

The Cornell Classical Chinese Colloquium (CCCC) 古文品讀 is a reading group for scholars interested in premodern Sinographic text (古文). The group meets monthly during the semester to explore a variety of classical Chinese texts and styles. Other premodern texts linked to classical Chinese in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese have been explored. Presentations include works from the earliest times to the 20th century. Workshop sessions are led by local, national, and international scholars.

Participants with any level of classical Chinese experience are welcome to attend.

At each session, a presenter guides the group in a reading of a classical Chinese text. Attendees discuss historical, literary, linguistic, and other aspects of the text, working together to resolve difficulties in comprehension and translation.

No preparation is required; all texts will be distributed at the meeting.Contact eap-guwen@cornell.edu for more information and subscribe to CCCC news for updates about events. Please make sure to send your subscription request from the email address at which you wish to receive CCCC updates.

Cornell faculty hosts are TJ Hinrichs, History, and Suyoung Son, Asian Studies.