Current NYU Shanghai Global Research Initiatives Fellows

Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (January 7 - February 9)：

Cho’s dissertation examines Taiwan Pulp, a boom of exploitation film culture in Taiwan and other Southeast Asian regions from the 1970s to 1980s. With an integrative approach, the research seeks to construct a historiography of the production and consumption of desires which mediated the political, social, and economic transitions in East Asia as a consequence of the geopolitics shaped by the Cold War. In order to conduct thorough fieldwork about the underground film collection/circulation history in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Cho has mapped out film archives and old theaters as well as established contact with scholars, filmmakers, and film collectors in cities such as Taipei, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (September 7 - November 15)：

Linked to Confucianism in the revolutionary upheavals of the first half of the 20th century and abandoned, roundly critiqued and further disestablished during the socialist period, filiality or xiaoxun, is now suffering a revival at the government’s initiative that is precarious and not uncontested. Professor Zito is collecting and analyzing various material cultural expressions of this revival, including images, texts, TV watching, and film. They represent the current aspects of a book project that will combine essays on filiality in the 18th century and these present-day revivals. Professor Zito will be collecting further instances of the popular propaganda (and discussions) on family values and filiality. She will also participate in the MODO Workshop at the Institute for Anthropology at ECNU, headed by Professor Huang Jianbo. 

Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (January 9 - February 7)：

Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (September 2 - November 21)：

Combining Chinese, Hungarian, German, Dutch, English and Russian sources, Mervay’s project focuses on Central Europeans from the former territories of the Habsburg Empire who lived in China between 1915 and 1931. Careful examination of the ever-changing relationship between former refugee Central Europeans and the Chinese authorities will provide a better understanding of Chinese sovereignty in a period when central power was constantly contested both by internal and external forces. The application of the Beijing government’s initial policy to admit and intern the Austro-Hungarian refugee prisoners of war also sheds light on the rise of a new form of Chinese humanitarianism that sustained cooperation between Beijing and the Northeastern provinces. Thirdly, by focusing on municipal archives (e.g. police records), he will gain a better sense of how these refugees were perceived from the ground up. By examining this hitherto overlooked group, he intends to develop a new lens for exploring Chinese state and society in the Republican era. Three research questions aim to keep Mervay’s project on track as of the current stage of his dissertation proposal draft. First: What happens to stateless people in a semi-colonial context? Second, what happens when a state leaves behind its citizens in a foreign country? Finally: How do we connect this historic experience with the present? Does this instance represent an important precedent in the Sino-foreign encounter?

Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (January 11 - February 5)：

Hudelson’s research examines four technologically-mediated sonic phenomena and their associated cultural milieux to show how each produces a unique conception of the body. Through these four case studies, he argues that sound and sound technology are co-constitutive: sound technology makes sound accessible and manipulable, but it also exerts an epistemological back-pressure on the listener. Hudelson plans to consult with two faculty members of the field at NYU Shanghai. Professor Anna Greenspan’s global perspective on cyberculture will be particularly informative for Hudelson’s chapter on ASMR. Professor Marianne Petit’s artistic practice may offer alternative ways of conceiving of the various forms of “amateur science” that Hudelson’s dissertation explores. He also plans to research similar techno-cultural phenomena taking place amid the rapid modernization underway in present-day China.