Report on the Launch of Third Space Lab

By Junyi Tao

Class of 2023

Third Space Lab (TSL) held its first launch event on April 6th at 9PM CST. Considering the COVID-19 epidemic, this event took the form of an online zoom meeting and was also recorded and posted on the TSL Sakai site. In total, 97 students, faculty, and staff from DKU and Duke, and from various institutions in China and in the US, attended this exciting event.

Third Space Lab is a research lab at Duke Kunshan University (DKU) which aims to, “accompany and understand students’ experiences and learning in intercultural spaces and encounters” by examining the transformation of multilingual identities both at DKU and abroad. Currently, TSL has a series of workshops and research projects led by co-directors Dr. Chiocca, Dr. Naghib, and Dr. Zhang. Currently, the co-directors are in the process of planning more interesting events in the future, such as panel discussions, other webinars, as well as forum discussions. Continue reading “Report on the Launch of Third Space Lab”

Interdisciplinarity and the Future of the Planet

Thursday 30 April, 9am Eastern / 9pm China
Zoom: 695-290-0771

Interdisciplinarity lies at the heart of Duke Kunshan University’s innovative curriculum for the 21st century. Recently DKU appointed James Miller, Co-Director of the Humanities Research Center to be its first Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary Strategy. Join Professor Miller and students from the HumanSpace+ research group as they embark on a series of conversations with leading theorists and practitioners of interdisciplinarity in the world today to explore how interdisciplinarity is tied to innovation and future of knowledge.

Thomas Bruhn

The third conversation in this series is with Dr Thomas Bruhn from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) at Potsdam University. Dr  Bruhn is a physicist who has been working transdisciplinarily at the IASS since 2012. His research initially focused on climate engineering and CO2 utilisation. In 2016 he began to co-lead the AMA (A Mindset for the Anthropocene) project together with Dr Zoe Lüthi on the question how the cultivation of mental qualities like mindfulness and compassion can contribute to sustainability. He has also been engaged in research on collective learning and co-creation in the context of political decision-making for sustainability since 2017. Dr Bruhn’s  ambition is to bring together a variety of stakeholders in reflexive processes that allow for the emergence of truly shared perspectives and action pathways for a context-specific implementation of specific sustainability targets.

Continue reading “Interdisciplinarity and the Future of the Planet”

Freedom Lab Event Report on “Gandhi, Vegetarianism, and Culinary Cosmopolitanism”

By Ruihan Wan

Class of 2022

On April 13, 2020, The Freedom Lab invited Professor Nico Slate from Carnegie Mellon University to lead a discussion on the topic of “Gandhi, Vegetarianism, and Culinary Cosmopolitanism.” The Freedom Lab co-directors, Professors Jesse Olsavsky and Selina Lai-Henderson hosted the discussion. Humanities Research Center co-director Professor James Miller, Lab Manager Tim Smith, Professor Titas Chakraborty, and around 25 students attended the discussion. Continue reading “Freedom Lab Event Report on “Gandhi, Vegetarianism, and Culinary Cosmopolitanism””

媒体艺术系列讲座 | 算法时代的叙述者

English

讲座系列介绍

昆⼭杜克⼤学媒体艺术系列讲座活动⾃本⽉起每双周举办⼀次,主办者将邀请媒体艺术领域的领军⼈物给整个昆杜的学⽣以讲座与互动问答的形式来介绍他们的⼯作及实践。第⼀个系列将⽬光聚焦在三位中国本⼟的艺术家与策展⼈身上,他们的作品能够让学⽣了解媒体和艺术在当代中国背景下的更⼴泛的表现。

该系列第三场Zoom在线讲座将于5⽉1⽇(周五)晚9点举办,特邀来⾃北京的策展⼈、研究员龙星如主讲。本系列讲座由 Vivian Xu (徐维静) 教授和 Benjamin Bacon 教授主办,并由昆⼭杜克⼤学艺术与⼈⽂学科及⼈⽂研究中⼼提供⽀持. Continue reading “媒体艺术系列讲座 | 算法时代的叙述者”

The Media Art Speaker Series | StoryTeller in Algorithmic Times

中文

Series Introduction

The Media & Arts Speaker series at Duke Kunshan University is a bi-weekly event that invites leading practitioners in media and arts to speak about their work and practice and engage with our DKU community.

The first short series focuses on three artist and/or curators from China who’s work can give students an understanding of the broader scope of media and arts in it’s present-day manifestation within the Chinese context. Continue reading “The Media Art Speaker Series | StoryTeller in Algorithmic Times”

Third Space Lab – Research Assistants – Recruitment

We are looking for 4 undergraduate research assistants to support research projects and events sponsored by the Third Space Lab.

Preference will be given to those who are interested in the following fields: intercultural communication, international education, sociolinguistics (language, culture, and society), conflict resolution, and applied linguistics (focus on language learning), and who are interested in developing a Signature Work out of their work as student-researchers of the lab or out of their own Third-Space story-building and storytelling.

Please refer to the following information about current lab projects. Send your CV or resume to the corresponding principal investigator(s) with a short cover letter with a description of yourself and a short statement of interest explaining: 1) why you want to work on this part of the project, and 2) why you think you are a strong candidate for the position (what your skills and qualifications are, and what personal experiences may prepare you and help you to enrich this research project). You are encouraged to mention the name of a reference who can attest to your skills (no letter of recommendation needed).

Note: Given the current pandemic, the projects described below are subject to change and are based on the geographical location of students.

Please send your application materials via email by April 26th. Continue reading “Third Space Lab – Research Assistants – Recruitment”

Interdisciplinarity and the Future of the Mind

Thursday 23 April, 10pm Eastern / Friday 24 April, 10am China
Zoom: 695-290-0771

Interdisciplinarity lies at the heart of Duke Kunshan University’s innovative curriculum for the 21st century. Recently DKU appointed James Miller, Co-Director of the Humanities Research Center to be its first Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary Strategy. Join Professor Miller and students from the HumanSpace+ research group as they embark on a series of conversations with leading theorists and practitioners of interdisciplinarity in the world today to explore how interdisciplinarity is tied to innovation and future of knowledge.

Evan Thompson

The second conversation in this series is with Professor Evan Thompson from the University of British Columbia and focuses on the future of the mind. Evan Thompson is a writer and professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He works on the nature of the mind, the self, and human experience. His work combines cognitive science, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, and cross-cultural philosophy, especially Asian philosophical traditions. He is the author of Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy (Columbia University Press, 2015); Mind in Life: Biology, Phenomenology, and the Sciences of Mind (Harvard University Press, 2007); and Colour Vision: A Study in Cognitive Science and the Philosophy of Perception (Routledge Press, 1995). He is the co-author, with Francisco J. Varela and Eleanor Rosch, of The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (MIT Press, 1991, revised edition 2016). Evan is an Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Continue reading “Interdisciplinarity and the Future of the Mind”

Undergraduate Conference 2020 Relaunches in September

Due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, the undergraduate humanities research conference was postponed. Today we are happy to announce that the Humanities Research Center has decided to hold the conference from September 18 – 20, 2020.

The conference will be combined with our annual Fall conference, featuring keynote speeches, faculty panels, as well as student panels. Undergraduate students from universities in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are welcome to present papers on all topics broadly within the humanities and interpretive social sciences; the papers need not relate to the conference theme.

Timeline

By April 30: Submit your application online. Applications must be written in English, and will require a paper title and an abstract (max 300 words). Each student may make only one application.

Abstract Writing Workshop
Monday April 27
9PM China Time / 9AM EST
Zoom Meeting ID: 695 290 0771

Note: If you have already submitted an abstract, there is no need to resubmit unless you want to revise what you previously submitted. For those who submit multiple abstracts, only the most recent one will be considered.
Continue reading “Undergraduate Conference 2020 Relaunches in September”

Interdisciplinarity and the Future of Knowledge

Tuesday April 14: 10am Eastern, 10pm China
Zoom: 695-290-0771

Interdisciplinarity lies at the heart of Duke Kunshan University’s innovative curriculum for the 21st century. Recently DKU appointed James Miller, Co-Director of the Humanities Research Center to be its first Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary Strategy. Join Professor Miller and students from the HumanSpace+ research group as they embark on a series of conversations with leading theorists and practitioners of interdisciplinarity in the world today to explore how interdisciplinarity is tied to innovation and future of knowledge.

Simon Goldhill

The first conversation in this series is with Professor Simon Goldhill from Cambridge University. Professor Goldhill was the first director of CRRASH,  the Centre for Research in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cambridge University. During his tenure as director, CRRASH  became the world’s leading interdisciplinary research institute of its kind, employing over 40 postdoctoral researchers on a number of groundbreaking collaborative projects. Continue reading “Interdisciplinarity and the Future of Knowledge”

The Media Art Speaker Series | BioArt and Pan BioArt – With Exhibition Quasi-Nature as Case Study

Friday April 17
9pm China Time/ 9am EST

Zoom Meeting ID: 873-243-562

The second Zoom lecture of bi-weekly Media Art Speaker Series is scheduled on Friday April 17th, 2020 at 9am (US Eastern) / 9pm (China Central) and features Beijing-based curator and researcher Jo Wei. This series is organized and hosted by Prof. Benjamin Bacon and Prof. Vivian Xu, and supported by the Division of Arts and Humanities and the Humanities Research Center at Duke Kunshan University.

This event is open to the public.

媒体艺术系列讲座第二场定于2020年4月17日中国时间晚上9点(美国东部时间早上9点)。这次请到的是策展人、研究者魏颖。媒体艺术系列讲座由Benjamin Bacon教授和Vivian Xu教授策划组织,并由昆山杜克大学艺术与人文学科提供支持,每两周一次在Zoom线上开讲。

活动面向公众开放。

Continue reading “The Media Art Speaker Series | BioArt and Pan BioArt – With Exhibition Quasi-Nature as Case Study”