Dienstag
04
JUN
| 18.15 Uhr | Taiwan Rising
Michael Meyer in conversation with Barbara Mittler
 As part of the Public Lecture Series Encounters: New Perspectives On Asia, America, And Europe, Michael Meyer (American Academy Berlin) will present his ideas for a Biography of Taiwan and engage in a conversation with Barbara Mittler, co-initiator of the Encounters series and the Taiwan Studies Program.
The Talk:
Taiwan Rising—How do you write the biography of an island, particularly one with competing narratives about its provenance, polity, and legal status? In this talk, Michael Meyer illustrates the tightrope of Taiwanese history, detailing the island’s experience before, during, and after colonial and Chinese arrivals and exploring how contemporary Taiwanese see their palimpsest home. His talk is using elements from his book-length “biography” of Taiwan on which he is working during his residency as fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. Taiwan Rising: Biography of a Modern Nation combines archival research with immersive reportage, and will trace the history of the island from the perspectives of contemporary Taiwanese residents, including a historian, schoolteacher, computer engineer, soldier, and rice farmer. Focusing on Taiwanese history before, during, and after colonial Dutch, Japanese, and Mainland Chinese control, Meyer explores how contemporary Taiwanese see their island and which historical narratives and characters are today commemorated, ignored, or forgotten. In Berlin, he will interview European academics and policymakers for a broader perspective on Taiwan, in particular the shifting US commitment to its defense, which affects Germany, Europe, and indeed the world. Meyer also conducts interviews with German academics and policymakers, “who themselves,” he writes “have studied or lived in a divided nation, where families were torn asunder by ideology and geopolitics.”
The Speaker:
Michael Meyer, Professor of English, University of Pittsburgh, Holtzbrinck Fellow - Class of Spring 2024 American Academy Berlin
Michael Meyer is Professor of English and Faculty Electus member of the Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh, where he teaches journalism and nonfiction writing and received the 2023 Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He earned his BS in Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, MA in Education from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed programs in advanced Chinese studies at National Taiwan University in Taipei and Tsinghua University in Beijing. Meyer was previously a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong, and, in 1995, one of the first Peace Corps volunteers sent to China.
Meyer is the author of A Dirty, Filthy Book: Sex, Scandal, and One Woman’s Fight in the Victorian Trial of the Century (Penguin UK and Harvard US, 2024) Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet: The Favorite Founder’s Divisive Death, Enduring Afterlife, and Blueprint for American Prosperity (HarperCollins, 2022); The Road to Sleeping Dragon: Learning China from the Ground Up (Bloomsbury, 2017); In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China (Bloomsbury, 2015); and The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed (Bloomsbury, 2008). Meyer’s journalism has appeared in publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Smithsonian, Slate, Foreign Policy, and on NPR’s This American Life. A Fulbright Scholar, Guggenheim fellow, and Whiting Award winner, Meyer has also received support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center, Bellagio, MacDowell, and University of Oxford’s Centre for Life-Writing.
Adresse HCA Atrium Hauptstraße 120 69115 Heidelberg Homepage Veranstaltung https://www.hca.uni-heidelberg.de/veranstaltungen/encounters.html Veranstalter Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS) Homepage Veranstalter https://www.cats.uni-heidelberg.de Kontakt Dr. Anja Schüler Alle Termine der Veranstaltung '„Encounters” - New Perspectives on Asia, America, and Europe': Encounters
… is a series of dialogues initiated by the Center for Asian and Transcultural Studies (CATS) and the Heidelberg Center for American Studies (HCA) at Heidelberg University. The events focus on the relationship between the two superpowers of the twenty-first century – the United States of America and China. With the rapid rise of the People’s Republic in recent decades, this relationship has become increasingly confrontational.
… looks at this new constellation and its consequences for Germany and Europe: How do the European Union and its individual member states position themselves in the conflict between China and the United States? Which social and cultural interactions and processes can we observe in this special bilateral relationship?
… brings prominent Chinese and American artists and authors, activists, representatives from the business community, and public intellectuals to Heidelberg where they engage in conversations with scholars from the HCA and CATS.
… offers a nuanced discussion on a wide range of critical issues of these exceptional bilateral relations, such as environmental and trade policies, technology and innovation, white-collar crime and digital surveillance as well as human rights and freedom of expression.
… thus contributes to an informed exchange among academia and the general public, including the business community, the political sphere, and the media. The critical dialogues of the series constitute part of an informed public debate on one of the most important issues for the future of Germany and Europe. Dienstag, 30. November 2021, 19.15 Uhr Transforming U.S.-China conflicts? Common interests and transnational perspectives • Dr. Cheng Li, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. (USA), John L. Thornton China Center • Prof. Dr. Sebastian Harnisch, Heidelberg University, Institute of Political Science
Dienstag, 25. Januar 2022, 12.30 Uhr Visions of a new global order - A view from China • Prof. Dr. Wang Hui, Tsinghua University, Peking (China), Department of Chinese Language and Literature
• Dr. Marina Rudyak, Heidelberg University, Institute of Chinese Studies
Donnerstag, 07. April 2022, 18.15 Uhr Die liberale Weltordnung in der Krise? Die EU zwischen den USA, Russland und China Reinhard Bütikofer (MEP), Florian Böller (TU Kaiserslautern)
Dienstag, 31. Mai 2022, 12.30 Uhr „Enfant Terrible, Minister of Culture, Silent Loner?” Lung Ying-tai in conversation with Barbara Mittler Lung Ying-tai & Barbara Mittler
Dienstag, 26. Juli 2022, 20.30 Uhr Peaceful World, Where Are You? Activism and Art in a Global Context. Pat To Yan & Barbara Mittler
Dienstag, 18. Oktober 2022, 18.15 Uhr Rivals or Enemies? The United States, Russia and China Fiona Hill (Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.) in conversation with Martin Thunert
(Heidelberg Center for American Studies)
Dienstag, 14. Februar 2023, 19.00 Uhr China and the U.S. – Ambition and Frustration in Fragile Societies Biao Xiang (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle) in conversation with Manfred Berg (HCA)
Dienstag, 04. Juni 2024, 18.15 Uhr Taiwan Rising Michael Meyer in conversation with Barbara Mittler
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