Newsletter No. 39

CUHK Newsletter- No.39 February 1993 International Conference on Cul tural Cr i t icism 1993 An International conference jointly organized by the University's Research Institute for the Humanities and the Center for Psychosocial Studies in Chicago was held in Hong Kong from 29th December 1992 to 10th January 1993. With cultural criticism as its central theme, the conference was a key event in the University's 30th anniversary celebration programme, and brought together some 100 leading scholars and cultural workers from different parts of the world. Participants came from diverse cultural backgrounds and had different specialities, ranging from philosophy, ethnic studies, social science, literature, political studies, journalism, and architectural design to the visual and performing arts. Some of the prominent guests included Prof. Charles Taylor of the Department of Political Philosophy at McGill University; Prof. Craig Calhoun, director of International Studies of the University of North Carolina; Prof. Richard Rorty of the University of Virginia; and Boris Mikhailov, head of the US -Canada Institute of the Academy of Sciences in Moscow. The conference aimed at promoting cross-cultural and cross-discipline exchange, which could stimulate participants to reflect on their indigenous culture and strengthen their international perspectives. A series of keynote speeches, talks, and round- table discussion sessions were held in the 13 days, covering six major themes respectively entitled 'Culture, Modernity and Democracy in Comparative Perspectives', 'Cross-cultural Negotiations: Images and Boundaries', ‘Cultural Identification and the Public Sphere', ‘Cultural Criticism and the Public Sphere', ‘Modernity, Identity and Cultural Ambivalence', and ‘For a Politics of Cultural Criticism'. International Research Meet ing on Chronic Fatigue and Neurasthenia An international research meeting on the chronic fatigue syndrome and neurasthenia was held on the Shaw College campus from 19th to 23rd December 1992. Jo i n t ly organized by the Department of Psychiatry and Shaw College, the meeting drew together 26 researchers from eight centres of learning to carry out collaborative clinical and anthropological studies on chronic fatigue in different societies. Eminent participants included Prof. Arthur Kleinman from Havard, Prof. Keh-Ming Lin from UCLA and Prof. Derson Young from Hunan, China. Prof. C. N. Chen of the Department of Psychiatry was the chairman of the meeting. Funded by the Pacific Rim Research Program at the University of California, the multidisciplinary meeting enabled researchers to reach a consensus regarding the conceptual and methodological issues in the study of chronic fatigue. Data collection and analysis are expected to follow in the coming nine months. The research group also plan to establish formal mechanisms for other trans-Pacific collaborative research endeavours in the future. Wei Lun Lecture Prof. Tang Au-chin, honorary chairman of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, delivered a lecture on 'Fundamental Scientific Research in China - The Role of the National Natural Science Foundation' on 14th January as the University's Wei Lun Visiting Professor. 2