Wednesday, April 3, 2019
4:30 PM - 6:30 PM (ET)
Mansfield Freeman East Asian Studies FEAS Seminar Room (Mary Houghton Freeman Room)
Event Type
Seminar/Colloquium
Contact
Kathleen Norris
2330
Department
Tan, Ying Jia
Link
https://eaglet.wesleyan.edu/MasterCalendar/EventDetails.aspx?EventDetailId=88243
An inter-disciplinary forum to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement and 30th anniversary of Tiananmen Student Movement featuring:
- Zhou Fengsuo (Student leader of Tiananmen Movement, Chairman of Humanitarian China)
- Rowena He (Scholar at Institute for Advanced Study; Author of Tiananmen Exiles)
- Kerry Ratigan (Assistant Professor, Amherst College)
- Steve Angle (Director, Fries Center for Global Studies)
On May 4, 1919, students gathered at Tiananmen gate to protest China's treatment at the Paris Peace Conference and inspired a movement for cultural and political awakening. Intellectuals looked towards "Mr. Science" and "Mr. Democracy" to emancipate the Chinese people from a culture of self-oppression. Seventy years later in 1989, students occupied the same location to call for democracy, accountability, and freedom of the press. The People's Liberation Army destroyed the statue of "Goddess of Democracy," as they moved into Tiananmen Square to brutally suppress the protests.
The twin anniversaries offer us an opportunity to reflect on China's "bitter revolution: How do intellectuals redefine their responsibilities after the May Fourth Movement and Tiananmen? What do these two events tell us about the future of "democracy" in China?
Sponsored by Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, Fries Center for Global Studies, College of East Asian Studies, Department of History