Britain and China, 1840-1970: new book from BICC researchers

Britain and China, 1840-1970 coverJust published by Routledge, and very much a BICC volume, Britain and China, 1840-1970: Empire, Finance and War, is co-edited by Robert Bickers and Jonathan J. Howlett. The volume presents some of the research first aired at BICC’s August 2011 conference ‘Britain and China, pasts, presents and futures’. Held at the University of Bristol this event brought together over 30 speakers from across the globe.

The collection presents 11 essays, outlining the results of research into new archives, or exploring new paradigms for understanding the course of Britain-China relations.

Contributors include BICC researcher Isabella Jackson, and essays by Paul Bailey, John Carroll, Chen Qianping, Koji Hirata, Sherman Xiaogang Lai, Benjamin Mountford, Stephen R. Platt and Hans van de Ven. The cover photograph shows the pipes of the Shanghai Scottish Company of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps in action on a Shanghai street in 1924: source, Hutchinson collection, Historical Photographs of China project (C) Barbara Merchant.

‘Picturing China’ on film, and in Shanghai

As part of a series of events and films marking its tenth anniversary year, the AHRC, which funds the BICC though its LBAS scheme, has made a short film about the ‘Historical Photographs of China‘ project at the University of Bristol. The project has received a lot of support from BICC and the AHRC, and is also being showcased on 2-4 March at the government’s UK Trade & Investment’s ‘GREAT Festival of Creativity’ in Shanghai.

For China and the World: Sir Robert Hart

In the winter of 2012-13 BICC collaborated with Dr Weipin Tsai (Royal Holloway University of London), and Professor Hans van de Ven (Cambridge) on a project to restore the decrepit gravestone of Sir Robert Hart and Hester, Lady Hart. The Harts are buried in Bisham, near Marlow, yards from the bank of the River Thames. The initiative culminated in a rededication ceremony held in the churchyard on a cold February day in 2013.

A new 31 minute film, ‘For China and the World’, documents this process, and explores the story and legacy of Robert Hart, who for six decades led China’s Imperial Maritime Customs service. With narration by Tim Pigott-Smith, the documentary assess the private and public worlds of this enigmatic figure. The film gets its world premiere on Saturday 29 March during the Asian Film Expo at the 2014 annual meeting of the US Association for Asian Studies in Philadelphia. You can catch the trailer here, and copies of the DVD can be purchased here.

Director Jeremy Routledge, from Calling the Shots, and co-producer Robert Bickers, will be on hand for a Q & A after the film screening: 2:10pm room 309/310, Marriott Downtown Philadelphia. The film will be shown at Queen’s University Belfast this coming May, and in London, on 12 June.

China Dreams: The Debate

China Dreams: The Debate
, Directed by Bill Callahan.

Bill Callahan’s film gets a screening as part of the AAS Film Expo, followed by a Q & A with the director himself. When: Saturday, 03/29/14, 2:50pm

Since Chinese President Xi Jinping made the ‘China Dream’ his official slogan, many people inside and outside the PRC have been asking ‘What is the China Dream?’ Is it for national greatness or for a comfortable life? This 11 minute video’s provocative approach will inspire student discussions of Chinese identity, politics and international relations.

Next month Bill is presenting another film he has directed at the Ethnografilm Festival in Paris: “Border Crossings”. Time: Friday April 18, 2014, 3:00pm. Venue: Cine 13, 1 Avenue Junot, 75018 Paris, France

Borders not only separate things, but are the place where people come together. “Border Crossings” (10 min.) examines how Chinese and non-Chinese people experience their encounters with the Other (and thus with their Self) at the Lo Wu Bridge, the iconic border between Hong Kong and mainland China.

BICC HEFCE Scholarship opportunities

Two BICC scholarships are available for study on the M.Phil. Modern Chinese Studies course at the University of Oxford, commencing in October 2014.  Both scholarships provide £20,000 p.a. towards fees and maintenance.  One scholarship is for the full two years of the course.  The second scholarship is for one year only.  These scholarships will be awarded on the strength of each candidate’s academic background and on the quality of a proposal for doctoral study. The scholarships are funded by the HEFCE Postgraduate Support Scheme award to the ‘Sustainable Funding for Language-based Area Studies’ initiative, led by SOAS, University of London.

Who can apply?

To be eligible to apply, applicants must:

  • Either qualify for UK or EU fee status or be ordinarily resident in the UK or EU.
  • Have submitted an application to the M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies and expect to start the course in October 2014
  • Intend to continue to a doctoral degree after completing the M.Phil.

Students who have not yet applied to the M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford should do so using the application code 2014/MCS/BICC no later than 20 April 2014. Your scholarship application will not be considered until you have submitted a full graduate application. Further details about making a graduate application are available at http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/postgraduate/applyReceipt of one of these scholarships will be dependent upon the applicant meeting all requirements for admission to the M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies, and taking up a place on this course for 2014/15.

Application Process

The deadline for applications is 20 April 2014.

Applications should include:

  • A copy of the application materials submitted to the University of Oxford for entrance to the M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies
  • A statement outlining how undertaking the MPhil in Modern Chinese Studies would prepare the applicant for doctoral study and provide an indication of the applicants’ research interests for doctoral study.

Applications should be submitted by email to hums-bicc@bristol.ac.uk

All applicants will automatically be considered for both scholarships.

For more information on the M.Phil. in Modern Chinese Studies at the University of Oxford see: http://www.orinst.ox.ac.uk/ea/chinese/mph_modchst.html

Chinese Language Courses for Researchers, September 2013

Places are available for the upcoming teaching sessions in the BICC Chinese Language Course for Researchers (CLCR). The programme is open for postgraduate research students and early career academics.

Elementary or Intermediate Level: 28 September to 2 October 2014 [*please note revised date]

The BICC offers Chinese language courses at elementary and intermediate levels for researchers. These courses consist of week-long sessions of intensive teaching. Each teaching session will be followed by a term of online learning with feedback from the BICC language teachers.

The course runs from 10 a.m. Saturday 28 September, through to and including Wednesday 2 October. Classes will run on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th. The detailed teaching timetable will be advertised on  http://www.ctcfl.ox.ac.uk/BICC/index.htm It is most likely that the elementary classes will take place in the mornings and the intermediate classes will take place in the afternoons. The daily contacting time for each student will be 3.5 hours. The Language Laboratory is available every day for students to do their assignments and exercises over that period.

Applying for places

A limited number of partial bursaries are available for participants, to defray travel, accommodation and subsistence costs.

Applicants for the programme should contact the programme convenor, Mr Shio-yun Kan, by 4 pm on 5 September 2013, via the BICC administrator, Ms Grania Pickard, at hums-bicc@bristol.ac.uk. Please provide details of your doctoral topic and affiliation, name of your PhD supervisor, or your current position, as well as a brief description of your Chinese language learning experience, including how many Chinese characters (or words) that you have learnt, and how much time that you have spent in China.

We are likely to ask shortlisted candidates to secure a statement of support from their supervisiors.

‘Historical Photographs of China’ on new AHRC image gallery

The ‘Historical Photographs of China’ project, which has been supported over the past year by the BICC, has been chosen to provide materials for the second display on the new online Image Gallery on the website of the Arts & Humanities Research Council. A selection of images was made from a recently-digitised collection of photographs mainly taken by a young printing manager, Jack Ephgrave, who worked for the British American Tobacco Company in Shanghai from 1929 onwards. These have just gone live under the title Picturing China with commentary from Robert Bickers, with the assistance of BICC research associate Dr Tehyun Ma and Jamie Carstairs, Project Digitzation Officer.