Beijing, China
Seeking Sustainability
During the last 30 years, in addition to numerous deep-reaching social and political changes, China has engaged in an immense and unprecedented experiment of explosive economic transformation. This has led to significant improvement in the material lives of many millions of people, but at the same time has created substantial social and environmental costs. This seminar, which focuses on the impacts on ethnic minority communities, examines this vitally important issue and the sweeping changes in Guizhou Province in southwestern China.
Seminar participants will begin examining this topic in Beijing where we will introduce a range of critical socio-cultural, political, religious, economic, and ecological issues through lectures and panel discussions. During days five through nine, the seminar travels to Guizhou where participants will continue to learn and exchange ideas on the problems and solutions, conflicts and compromises, different discourses and questions about survival, identity, and the future of a nation. Lectures, site visits, and discussions with national and international academics, NGOs, and community members will be our primary approaches of engagement.
Analysis of these issues is extremely vital in China, a country that has a vast and still growing population of 1.4 billion people. In this case, Western models of development simply have limited parallel application. The need for sustainable practices in China—balancing environmental, socio-cultural, and economic needs during development—is acute and the consequences of failure to do better will not only compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, but will also impact current generations living today. Participants of this seminar will have the unique opportunity to engage community organizations and academics working on these issues.
Locations
The seminar begins and ends in Beijing (four days), with five days in Guizhou.