About the event

A Sensational Encounter with High Socialist China is a recollection of the historic visit of fourteen American students (and one Canadian) to China in 1971. The visit was one of the first approved for American scholars after the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949 and occurred prior to President Nixon's famous trip (as well as that of a second group of scholars) in 1972. One of these students, Paul Pickowicz, kept a journal and photographically documented the trip. This book is a personal account of the events leading up to their visa approvals as well as those that occurred during the journey itself. The five senses are used to connect the reader to his experience and are placed in the context of a theatrical production. Professor Pickowicz will share photos and discuss his experiences covered in the book, then answer questions from the audience.

Paul G. Pickowicz（毕克伟） is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History and Chinese Studies at the University of California, San Diego, and inaugural holder of the UC San Diego Endowed Chair in Modern Chinese History.  His books (authored, coauthored, and coedited) include Marxist Literary Thought in China(1981), Unofficial China (1989), Chinese Village, Socialist State (1992, winner of the Joseph R. Levenson Prize of the Association for Asian Studies), New Chinese Cinemas (1994), Popular China (2002), Revolution, Resistance, and Reform in Village China (2005), From Underground to Independent (2006), The Chinese Cultural Revolution as History (2006), Dilemmas of Victory (2007), China on the Margins (2010), Radicalism, Revolution, and Reform in Modern China (2011), China on Film (2012), Restless China (2013), Liangyou: Kaleidoscopic Modernity and the Shanghai Global Metropolis (2013), Filming the Everyday (2017), China Tripping(2019), and A Sensational Encounter with High Socialist China (2019).  He has won three distinguished teaching awards: UC San Diego Alumni Association (1998), Chancellor’s Associates (2009), and Academic Senate (2003).  He has been invited to teach his famous course on the history of Chinese silent cinema at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Heidelberg, and Renmin University (Beijing).  In 2012 he taught the same course in Chinese at East China Normal University (Shanghai). Pickowicz has graduated 33 PhD students, with 7 more currently in the pipeline. He has held visiting appointments at the University of Oxford, National University of Singapore, University of Edinburgh, University of Heidelberg, East China Normal University, City University of Hong Kong, Ecole Normale Superieure (Lyon, France), Hong Kong Institute of Education, and Tsinghua University. He is associate producer of the documentary films China in Revolution, 1911-1949 (1989) and The Mao Years, 1949-1976 (1994). Pickowicz was honored by the German government in 2016 when it presented him with a Humboldt Research Award for lifetime accomplishments in research and teaching.

Tsinghua and other University students, faculty, and staff may register by scanning the QR code. Attendees must show their confirmed reservation and valid University ID to access this event. Attendees will be admitted to Schwarzman College on condition that they adhere to all building and event policies, which include joining the event no later than 30 minutes after start time. This event is not open to members of the media and will be held off the record. No attributions or descriptions of this event may be published or shared online without written consent from both Tsinghua University and Schwarzman College.This lecture will be given in English.