The Institute of East Asian Studies in collaboration with the Academia Sinica, Taiwan, is pleased to announce the inaugural 2011 Summer Institute, a ten-day research workshop organized in collaboration with the Academia Sinica. This year’s theme is “Urban Living in the Chinese World, 1600-present.”

East Asia’s rapid economic growth has led to unprecedented urbanization in recent decades. The rise of population centers raises new questions about urban forms of existence within the Chinese context. Cities have been important centers of culture and politics throughout Chinese history. Scholars at the Summer Institute will discuss issues including, but not limited to, urban planning and spatial forms, municipal governance and political power, urban economies and resource sustainability, and urban cultures and society. Participants will be encouraged to think comparatively about urban living in the Chinese world through analysis of the connections, similarities, and differences across time and place.

In partnership with the Academia Sinica, the organizers at the University of California, Berkeley seek to convene a group of researchers currently engaged in relevant new projects concerning the Chinese world as described above. The purpose of the workshop is to provide opportunities for presentations of individual research, to facilitate scholarly exchanges, and to work towards further development of shared themes. The workshop will also provide opportunities for examinations of methodological and comparative questions. The working language of the workshop will be English.

The workshop will take place on Berkeley campus from Wednesday, August 3, 2011 to Friday, August 12, 2011. Participants are expected to arrive by the end of August 2, and may depart by the end of August 12.

Local accommodations including meals will be provided for all invited participants to the 2011 Summer Institute. Participants are expected to cover their own airfare.

Application guidelines:

Researchers currently engaged in research projects pertaining to the above-described themes are welcome to apply. Preferential consideration may be given to new projects or recent PhDs. Applicants are asked to submit the following materials:

• A letter of application, describing the overall state of the applicant’s current research and how the Summer Institute may contribute to its progress
• Curriculum Vitae
• 2 page (maximum) research proposal, single-spaced
• Name of two referees who may be asked to write on behalf of the applicant

Application materials due to Mary Trechock, marytrechock@berkeley.edu, no later than April 10, 2011.