Exchanging ideas with China

Cambridge is benefiting from two recent Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) awards that share a common goal: the creation of interdisciplinary research networks between China and the West.

‘Translations and transformations: China, modernity and cultural transmission’, which launched in March in the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), aims to examine literary and cultural exchange between China and the West. ‘Modernity is transforming the China of today. Two-way translation is crucial, not just in commerce and business but also in culture – in art, film and literature,’ said Professor Mary Jacobus, Director of CRASSH. ‘This raises issues about how the arts can be translated and transmitted between China and the West.’

‘Narrascape: Urban environment as narrative system in the UK and China’ launches in July in the Department of Architecture and builds on the strengths of its Digital Studio in using digital media for studying architecture and cities. The project will examine urban places and experiences by investigating the role of human narratives in the fabrication of the urban landscape – using the camera as a tool to unravel how we experience the city around us. ‘Urban environments in Cambridge and China are very different and, through a series of workshops, this will provide a fascinating cross-fertilisation of ideas between researchers,’ said Dr François Penz, who leads the project.

‘Projects such as these foster international links and build research capacity for all concerned in a highly productive way,’ said Professor Jacobus. ‘Chinese academics are as keen as we are to make connections and exchange ideas.’

For more information, please contact Professor Mary Jacobus (mlj25@cam.ac.uk) or Dr François Penz (fp12@cam.ac.uk).