Bulletin No. 2, 2013

Engaging the World 21  studies among local, mainland and overseas scholars, and building its collection of research materials on China. Its ownership was transferred to CUHK in 1988, and it was this that eventually gave USC its reputation among celebrated China scholars as a library incomparable in its coverage of materials on post-1949 China. Duncan Alford , associate dean, director of the Law Library and professor of law at the University of South Carolina, who conducted legal research as a visiting scholar at the USC in 2006, hailed the centre as ‘A bridge between East and West’ for its strong collection of materials in Chinese, English and selected foreign languages on all aspects of China particularly in politics, history and economics. 3 Prof. Joseph Man Chan , director of USC, said scholarly exchange between the East and the West grew after CUHK took over the centre. On the one hand, the University invites mainland Chinese scholars to do research here. On the other hand, Western scholars continue to come because Hong Kong is a good transit stop before they head North, and the USC database of first-hand and reference publications in the social sciences and the humanities is unique and comprehensive. The scholars—local, mainland Chinese, and Western—join the USC’s many activities such as hiking trips, luncheon seminars, the Graduate Seminar on China, and the Methodology Camp on China Studies. Those who are here longer form a virtual research group that renders support to and networks with all scholars in the world interested in China research. ‘There’s communication at the personal level too,’ Professor Chan added, ‘ Stanley Rosen who studies China cinema comes here a lot and knows everyone. Gao Hua , author of How Did the Sun Rise Over Yan’an? , called the USC his spiritual home.’ Besides print resources, the centre sells DVDs of China’s documentary films and operates the Barometer on China’s Development (BOCD), an electronic GIS database on developments in China. One of the centre’s strengths is its free climate of academic discussion. The centre’s global advisory committee consists of scholars from five continents, headed by Ezra Vogel. The committee ensures that the USC will always be open to overseas scholars. The presence of researchers from different cultural backgrounds lends itself well to the building of a comparative perspective and that is another way in which the USC contributes to internationalization at the University. ‘Overseas scholars come with a comparative view. We hope that Chinese scholars do too—at least we hope to cultivate it. Besides research about the East and the West, we hope to see East-West comparative research,’ remarked Professor Chan. Prof. Joseph Man Chan __________________ 1 Vogel, Ezra F. (Jan., 2005) “Foreword: The First Forty Years of the Universities Service Centre for China Studies,” The China Journal : No. 53, Celebrating the Universities Service Centre for China Studies, pp. 1–7, The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the College of Asia and the Pacific 2 潘鳴嘯（歐陽因譯），（ 2009 ）〈前言〉，《失落的一代： 中國的上山下鄉運動．一九六八至一九八零》，頁xx – xxi， 中文大學出版社 3 Alford, Duncan (2006) “A Bridge Between East and West: The Universities Service Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong,” International Journal of Legal Information : Vol. 34: Iss. 3, Article 10