Agenda for the Third CACI Seminar

Date: October 25, 2024

Time: 9:00-11:00AM

The seminar was conducted online.

1. Watch the two films

· Upstream(逆行人生) (ask Juan about the links)

· The Successor (抓娃娃) (ask Juan about the links)

2. Readings for the seminar.

· https://womensmediacenter.com/shesource/expert/dr-ying-zhu

· Introduction and Chapter 7 in Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World’s Largest Movie Market, by Ying Zhu (New Press, July 2022).

· Dominic Morgan, “‘Upstream’: The Delivery Rider Drama That’s Dividing China,” Sixth Tone (Aug 19, 2024): https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1015715

· Ruiwen Zhang, “China’s New Box Office Hit Brings Laughs, but Not Heart” The World of Chinese (August 6, 2024) https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2024/08/chinas-new-box-office-hit-brings-laughs-but-not-heart/

· https://www.thinkchina.sg/culture/how-black-myth-wukong-navigates-chinas-political-and-cultural-trends

3. Meeting agenda

During this seminar, we will go over the following questions:

(1) General discussions about the readings and films

o What’s worth noting about the films described in Hollywood in China and the two new films recommended for us to see, so far as teaching China through film and popular culture is concerned?

o Which issues are covered by these two movies that hinge upon the current reality of China?

o What aspects of the assigned readings and films do you consider relevant to your respective China expertise?

(2) Break room discussions

o What class activities could be derived from these two movies?

o How can we assess learning outcome at the end of these activities?

(3) More general discussions

o How can we use films and other videos for teaching about China?

o How can we use films and other visual materials to research China?

Session

See the slides here

The session began with the introduction of professor Ying Zhu, professor at Hong Kong Baptist University founding editor and editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed academic journal Global Storytelling: Journal of Digital and Moving Images. A leading expert in Chinese film and television, Her research areas encompass Chinese cinema and media, Sino-Hollywood relations, and streaming media and serial narrative. She has published four research monographs including Hollywood in China: Behind the Scenes of the World’s Largest Movie Market (2022) and Two Billion Eyes: The Story of China Central Television (2013), and six co-edited books including Soft Power with Chinese Characteristics: China’s Campaign for Hearts and Minds (2019).

Professor Zhu introduced some movies that can be used for different teaching purposes, including the two movies assigned.

Fellows introduced themselves to coordinate collaboration possibilities with Professor Zhu and to discuss how to best use movies in the classroom to teach.

The session was followed by a discussion on how women are portrayed in the films assigned for the session in the two movies and the underlying societal forces that explain them. The discussion went over on the approaches to teaching students in New York that are less familiar with China.

Different discussions emerged from parallels of China and the U.S. reflected in the movies.

• Labor protections and unionization.
• Delivery workers, the algorithms and the platform economy.
• The role of the state and neoliberalization: the absence of the state.
• Promotion of social mobility by the state.

Additional Resources

• China’s Protection of workers: https://www.ilo.org/publications/new-forms-employment-and-labour-protection-china
• Article on China’s gig workers: https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/UEMUXGAUUKTDYREP8QVT/full
• https://umassmsp.org/sidebar/announcements/statement-of-solidarity-with-chinese-labor-activists/
• https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/06/china-malicious-conviction-of-metoo-and-labour-activists-shows-beijings-growing-fear-of-dissent/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/as-workers-grow-disgruntled-in-a-slowing-economy-china-targets-labor-activists/2019/12/24/28a92654-2534-11ea-9cc9-e19cfbc87e51_story.html
• https://www.amazon.com/Labor-Activists-Working-Class-China/dp/B010CLD6WU