TOChina Summer School

Introduction

In June 2020, 70 PhD candidates, graduate students, young scholars and professionals gathered online for the 14th edition of the TOChina Summer School: two high-powered weeks of advanced training in the politics, political economy and foreign policy of contemporary China.

The essence of the program lies in welcoming emerging China hands and China-literate practitioners from all over the world to one of Italy's most dynamic cities, whilst being exposed to valuable insights and cutting-edge research agendas by some of the world's most accomplished scholars on contemporary China.
‍
The 15th edition of the School will be held entirely online from Monday June 21 to Friday July 2, 2021.

As ever with TOChina activities, the aim is to work at the intersection between China’s long-term structural transformations in socio-political, economic and cultural terms, and those particularly salient trends that are currently informing international debates on China.

To ensure the pluralism of disciplinary and intellectual perspectives presented throughout the course, TOChina Summer School faculty members are academics and policy experts from a variety of fields, including Economics, Economic History, International Relations, International Political Economy, Political Philosophy and Culture, Political Science, and Sociology.

Activities – including lectures, seminars, round tables, and extensive Q&A sessions – run Monday to Friday, 10.00 am to 5.30 pm CET.

The TOChina Summer School is suitable not only for participants wishing to study the domestic aspects of China’s politics, but also for those who intend to explore the rapidly evolving dynamics of Asian and global geopolitics and economics. For those looking for insights into future career options, the TOChina Summer School offers a unique opportunity to engage in lively debates with senior scholars who are often in charge of PhD programs in their country, and affiliated to a variety of organizations. The informal sessions participants join to acquire greater knowledge of the work of TOChina faculty members are a trademark of TOChina’s hands-on approach to the study of contemporary China.

The School is run by the TOChina Hub - a partnership between the University of Torino, ESCP Business School & the Torino World Affairs Institute (T.wai) - which is supported by two of Italy’s largest banking foundations, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and Fondazione CRT.

Applications will be evaluated on a first come, first served basis.
‍
To apply for the TOChina Summer School, please fill the online application form:

Application Form

The intellectual salon is a rara avis among those outside China who would come to grips with that country’s complex socio-political, regional and economic topography. TOChina offers a unique educational salon for engaged young scholars and professionals from various backgrounds in which they can learn about, discuss and debate the presence of China on the global stage. A salon with edge and purpose like the TOChina Summer School prepares participants for the real world of China today and tomorrow.

Prof. Geremie Barmé

TOChina engaged me in dialogues with both leading experts and young scholars of China studies in a truly multicultural context, where I made lifelong friends who share my own vision and passion for this field of research. The TOChina Summer School is indeed an empowering experience.

MS. WANG GERUI 王格睿
(TOChina alumna 2012)

The intellectual salon is a rara avis among those outside China who would come to grips with that country’s complex socio-political, regional and economic topography. TOChina offers a unique educational salon for engaged young scholars and professionals from various backgrounds in which they can learn about, discuss and debate the presence of China on the global stage. A salon with edge and purpose like the TOChina Summer School prepares participants for the real world of China today and tomorrow.

Prof. Geremie Barmé

TOChina engaged me in dialogues with both leading experts and young scholars of China studies in a truly multicultural context, where I made lifelong friends who share my own vision and passion for this field of research. The TOChina Summer School is indeed an empowering experience.

MS. WANG GERUI 王格睿 (TOChina alumna 2012)

Introduction

In June 2020, 70 PhD candidates, graduate students, young scholars and professionals gathered for the 14th edition of the TOChina Summer School: two high-powered weeks of advanced training in the politics, political economy and foreign policy of contemporary China.

A blog post on The China Story captures the essence of the program, where emerging China hands and China-literate practitioners from Australia, China, Germany, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Pakistan, Romania, the UK, and the USA were welcomed to one of Italy’s most dynamic cities, being exposed to valuable insights and cutting-edge research agendas by some of the world’s most accomplished scholars on contemporary China.

The 15th edition of the School will be held entirely online from Monday June 21 to Friday July 2, 2021.

As ever with TOChina activities, the aim is to work at the intersection between China’s long-term structural transformations in socio-political, economic and cultural terms, and those particularly salient trends that are currently informing international debates on China.

To ensure the pluralism of disciplinary and intellectual perspectives presented throughout the course, TOChina Summer School faculty members are academics and policy experts from a variety of fields, including Economics, Economic History, International Relations, International Political Economy, Political Philosophy and Culture, Political Science, and Sociology.

Activities – including lectures, seminars, round tables, and extensive Q&A sessions – run Monday to Friday, 10.00 am to 5.30 pm CET.
‍
The TOChina Summer School is suitable not only for participants wishing to study the domestic aspects of China’s politics, but also for those who intend to explore the rapidly evolving dynamics of Asian and global geopolitics and economics. For those looking for insights into future career options, the TOChina Summer School offers a unique opportunity to engage in lively debates with senior scholars who are often in charge of PhD programs in their country, and affiliated to a variety of organizations. The informal sessions participants join to acquire greater knowledge of the work of TOChina faculty members are a trademark of TOChina’s hands-on approach to the study of contemporary China.

Details of the program will available on this website starting from March 2021, with information being updated regularly. Applications will be evaluated on a first come, first served basis.
‍
To apply for the TOChina Summer School, please fill the online application form:

Application Form

timetable



time

Monday
21 JuNE

Tuesday
22 JUNE

Wednesday
23 JUNE

Thursday
24 JUNE

Friday
25 JUNE

10.00
-
12.30

Patricia THORNTON

The CCP at 100: Party all the time?

ZHA Daojiong

Global Health: a Chinese perspective

Christian GÖBEL

Thinking outside the box: the politics and political economy of regime stability in China

TBC

TBD

Yuri PINES

The Chineseness of political culture in the PRC

lunch break

15.00
-
17.30

Gregory T. CHIN

Chinese development finance and RMB internationalization for the Belt & Road

Chris ALDEN
‍

A common destiny? China and the Global South

Sébastien BILLIOUD

Yiguandao: spirituality and politics across the Sinophone oecumene

Kristin SHI-KUPFER

China’s digital society: (ir)rationales and consequences

Kaiser KUO

‘Sup China? How the American conversation on China is shaping up after 2020

time

Monday
28 JUNE

Tuesday
29 JUNE

Wednesday
30 JUNE

Thursday
1 July

Friday
2 July

10.00
-
12.30

Romano PRODI
& Roundtable

Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

CUI Hongjian

Sino-European relations under the Biden presidency: challenges and opportunities

Stéphanie BALME

China's STI and party-nation building in the 21st Century

Katherine MORTON

China’s Response to the Climate Crisis: A New Turning Point

LIANG Yabin

What and whose international order? Views from China

lunch break

15.00
-
17.30

Isabelle THIREAU

From vox populi to public spirit? Investigating urban gatherings in contemporary China

Brandon FRIEDMAN

How does the changing nature of US - China relations affect ME politics? An Israeli Perspective

ChinaMed Roundtable

The Mediterranean region looks at China: challenges and opportunities of China’s growing role in the region

Anthony SAICH

Domestic NGO development and the work of international NGOs in China

Jude BLANCHETTE

The domestic politics of US-China relations

Faculty & Sessions

Chris ALDEN

London School of Economics and Political Science

Dr Chris Alden teaches International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science and is Director of LSE IDEAS. He is a Research Associate with the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). He has published widely on China-Africa relations including China in Africa (Zed 2007), co-edited China Returns to Africa (Hurst 2008) and is co-author of The South in World Politics (Palgrave 2010) and South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Foreign Policy (Oxford 2003). He taught at the University of the Witwatersrand from 1990 to 2000.

LECTURE: A common destiny? China and the Global South

Giovanni B. ANDORNINO

UNIVERSITY OF TURIN & T.WAI - Torino world affairs institute

A tenured Assistant Professor of International Relations of East Asia at the University of Turin, Dr Giovanni B. Andornino (欧阳乔) is the Director of the TOChina Centre and the founding General Secretary of the China-Italy Philanthropy Forum. Dr Andornino is Vice President and Head of the Global China program at the Torino World Affairs Institute (T.wai), Director of the ChinaMed Business Program at Peking University (Beijing), and Editor of OrizzonteCina, Italy's leading academic journal on contemporary China studies in the social sciences. His research focuses on China’s domestic politics, foreign policy, and relations with Italy and the wider Euro-Mediterranean region.

ROUNDTABLE: Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

Alessandro ARDUINO

National University of Singapore & Shanghai Academy of Social ScienceS

Alessandro Arduino is the principal research fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), National University of Singapore. He is the co-director of the Security & Crisis Management International Centre at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS-Polito) and an external associate at Lau China Institute, King’s College London. His two decades of experience in China encompasses security analysis and crisis management. His main research interests include China, Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa relations, sovereign wealth funds, private military/security companies, and China’s security and foreign policy. Alessandro is the author of several books and he has published papers and commentaries in various journals in Italian, English and Chinese. His most recent book is China’s Private Army: Protecting the New Silk Road.

CHINAMED ROUNDTABLE: The Mediterranean region looks at China: challenges and opportunities of China’s growing role in the region

Stéphanie BALME

Sciences Po Paris

Stéphanie Balme is Professor Dean at Sciences Po Paris, former visiting Professor at Columbia University (Law School) and at the Tsinghua University School of Law (Beijing), former scientific attachée at the French Embassy in Beijing and consultant for various international organizations. Her books (10) and articles have been published in French, Chinese and English. Vice-president and co-founder of the European China Law Studies Association (ECLS) as well as the European Science Diplomacy Initiative (ESDI), Balme currently teaches Science Diplomacy, China's science, technology and innovation (STI), Introduction to China's Legal System and US-EU-China relations.

LECTURE: China's STI and party-nation building in the 21st Century

Lina BENABDALLAH

WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

Lina Benabdallah is an assistant professor at Wake Forest University. She is the author of "Shaping the Future of Power: Knowledge Production and Network-Building in China-Africa Relations". Her research has appeared in the Journal of International Relations and Development, Third World Quarterly, African Studies Quarterly, and Project on Middle East Political Science, as well as in public facing outlets such as The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage and Foreign Policy. Dr. Benabdallah is also a Johns Hopkins China Africa Research Initiative research associate and a contributing editor for Africa is a Country. She earned a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida in 2017 and has conducted fieldwork in Beijing, Jinhua, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, and Bamako.

CHINAMED ROUNDTABLE: The Mediterranean region looks at China: challenges and opportunities of China’s growing role in the region

Sébastien BILLIOUD

UNIVERSITé DE Paris

Sébastien Billioud is Professor of Chinese studies at Université de Paris. Based on a cross-disciplinary approach, his research explores the modern and contemporary fates of Confucianism. His main works include Thinking through Confucian Modernity (Brill, 2012), The Sage and the People (with Joël Thoraval, Oxford University Press, 2015) and Reclaiming the Wilderness, Contemporary Dynamics of the Yiguandao (Oxford University Press, september 2020).

LECTURE: Yiguandao: spirituality and politics across the Sinophone oecumene

Jude BLANCHETTE

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Jude Blanchette holds the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Previously, he was engagement director at The Conference Board’s China Center for Economics and Business in Beijing, where he researched China’s political environment with a focus on the workings of the Communist Party of China and its impact on foreign companies and investors. Prior to working at The Conference Board, Blanchette was the assistant director of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego.

LECTURE: The domestic politics of US-China relations

Gregory T. CHIN

york university & JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

Gregory T. Chin (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Political Science at York University, Canada, and a Senior Fellow of the Foreign Policy Institute at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies. His research is focused on international and comparative political economy, China, Asia, the BRICS, and international organizations. He is on the advisory board of the journal Review of International Political Economy, and on the editorial board of the journal Global Governance. He has published widely on China’s international monetary and financial affairs, Asian regional organization, and global governance reform. Dr. Chin has worked in the Government of Canada from 2000 to 2007, at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canadian International Development Agency, and was First Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing from 2003 to 2006.

LECTURE: Chinese development finance and RMB internationalization for the Belt & Road

Guglielmo DI COLA

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Guglielmo Di Cola works in the cabinet of the European Commissioner responsible for innovation, research, culture, education and youth. In the cabinet, he oversees the international dimension of the portfolio as well as the culture, youth and sport in addition to the New European Bauhaus. Before joining the cabinet in 2019, he was diplomatic advisor to the President of the European Parliament with a focus on Africa and Latin America. Guglielmo holds a MA in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies located in Geneva, Switzerland and a MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. He speaks fluently Italian, French, English and Spanish.

ROUNDTABLE: Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

Enrico FARDELLA

PEKING UNIVERSITY & T.WAI - TORINO WORLD AFFAIRS INSTITUTE

Enrico Fardella is an Associate Professor of the History Department of Peking University (Beijing, China) and Director of the Center for Mediterranean Area Studies of Peking University. A Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Dr. Fardella is Director for Area Studies of the ChinaMed Business Program and Advisor of the ChinaMed Project. His research interests range from Chinese foreign policy, to History of international relations, and History of contemporary China.

CHINAMED ROUNDTABLE: The Mediterranean region looks at China: challenges and opportunities of China’s growing role in the region

Brandon FRIEDMAN

tEL AVIV unIVERSITY

Brandon Friedman, Ph.D, is the Director of Research at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle East and African Studies at Tel Aviv University. Brandon is also the Managing Editor of the Dayan Center’s journal Bustan: The Middle East Book Review. His research interests include contemporary Middle East geopolitical and historical analysis, the history of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, and the modern history of Saudi Arabia. Brandon’s PhD research focused on the political relations between the rulers of the Persian Gulf littoral during the period of British military withdrawal from the region (1968 to 1971).

LECTURE: How does the changing nature of US - China relations affect ME politics? An Israeli Perspective

Andrea GHISELLI

fudan unIVERSITY & t.wai - torino world affairs institute

Andrea Ghiselli is an Assistant Professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs (SIRPA) of Fudan University. He is also a Non-Resident Research Fellow with the TOChina Hub, the Head of Research for the TOChina Hub’s ChinaMed Project and a member of the Editorial Team of OrizzonteCina. Andrea's research revolves around Chinese foreign policy and China’s role in the wider Mediterranean region, with a special focus on Sino-Middle Eastern relations. More broadly, he is interested in the factors that shape the policy-making process and the use of force vis-à-vis non-traditional security threats.

CHINAMED ROUNDTABLE: The Mediterranean region looks at China: challenges and opportunities of China’s growing role in the region

Christian GÖBEL

unIVERSITY of vienna

Christian Göbel is Professor for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Vienna. He is the Principal Investigator of the EU-funded research project "The Microfoundations of Authoritarian Responsiveness: E-Participation, Social Unrest and Public Policy in China". A political scientist and sinologist by training, his research is concerned with the adaptability of the Chinese Party-State to social, economic and political challenges. He is especially interested in effects of digital technology on local governance in China. Dr. Göbel is the author of "The Politics of Rural Reform in China" and co-author of "The Politics of Community Building in Urban China". In addition, he has published on popular protest, rural reforms and central-local relations in China as well as corruption in Taiwan. He is currently preparing a book manuscript on participation, repression and state power in China.

LECTURE: Thinking outside the box: the politics and political economy of regime stability in China

Jean-François HUCHET

Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Jean-François Huchet is currently President of Inalco (the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations) in Paris and Full Professor on China Economic Development and Comparative Development in Asia in the same institution. Between 2017 and 2019, he was Vice-President for research of Inalco. Between 2006 and 2011, he was director of the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) in Hong Kong, editor of the review China Perspectives (and its French edition Perspectives Chinoises) and associate Professor of Economics at the University of Rennes 2 in France. He was based in Asia for 16 years and has occupied several academic positions at the Maison franco-japonaise in Tokyo, CEFC in Hong Kong, and Peking University. He has published numerous articles and books on the Chinese economy.

ROUNDTABLE: Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

Erik JONES

Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Erik Jones is Professor of European Studies and International Political Economy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a Senior Research Associate at at the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (ISPI) in Milan. From 1 September 2021, Professor Jones will be Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. Professor Jones is author of The Politics of Economic and Monetary Union (2002), Economic Adjustment and Political Transformation in Small States (2008), Weary Policeman: American Power in an Age of Austerity (2012 — with Dana H. Allin), and The Year the European Crisis Ended (2014). He is editor or co-editor of a number of books and special issues of journals on topics related to European politics and political economy including reference works like The Oxford Handbook of the European Union (2012) and The Oxford Handbook of Italian Politics (2015).

ROUNDTABLE: Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

Kaiser KUO

SINICA PODCAST

Kaiser Kuo is co-founder of the Sinica Podcast, the most popular English-language podcast on current affairs in China. Until April 2016, Kaiser served as director of international communications for Baidu, China’s leading search engine. In 2016, Kaiser returned to the U.S. after a 20-year stint in Beijing, where his career spanned the gamut from music to journalism to technology. He speaks frequently on topics related to politics, international relations, and technology in China.

lecture: ‘Sup China? How the American conversation on China is shaping up after 2020

LIANG Yabin

CENTRAL PARTY SCHOOL OF THE CPC

Liang Yabin is currently associate professor of the Institute for International Strategic Studies, Party School of the Central Committee of the C.P.C. He earned his Ph.D. in International Relations from Peking University (2011). Dr. Liang’s other professional activities include: visiting student at Cornell University (from Sept. 2009 to Sept. 2010), sponsored by the China Scholarship Council; short term training at Senior School of Economics and Finance, Italy, sponsored by the Italian Government (2012); member of the Voluntary Visitor Program of the United States Department of State (2012). His areas of research and teaching specialization include international politics, Sino-U.S. Relations, Smart Weapons and International Relations. He is the author of The Secret of Hegemony: Financial Logic Behind American Power. He has also published dozens of articles in Chinese journals.

lecture: What and whose international order? Views from China

Nico LUCHSINGER

Asia Society Switzerland

Nico Luchsinger is Executive Director of Asia Society Switzerland. He graduated from the University of Zurich with a Masters Degree in History and Economics and worked for Neue Zürcher Zeitung, where he regularly commented on new technology and its effects on culture and society. From 2009 to 2013, he was a co-founder and CEO of Sandbox, a global community for young entrepreneurs with over 1000 hand-selected members from all fields in over 40 cities worldwide. Until the end of 2015, Nico Luchsinger was responsible for product and strategy at Mila, a startup based in Zurich and Berlin, which has developed a marketplace for local services and was sold to Swisscom in 2015.

ROUNDTABLE: Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

Katherine MORTON

Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University

Katherine Morton is Professor of Global Affairs at the Schwarzman College (Tsinghua University), an Associate of the China Centre at the University of Oxford and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. Professor Morton is a specialist on China and international relations with a particular focus on global governance, environment and climate change, and security studies. Her research addresses the domestic and international motivations behind China’s changing role in the world and the implications for foreign policy and the study of International Relations.

lecture: China’s Response to the Climate Crisis: A New Turning Point

Yuri PINES

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Yuri Pines 尤銳 is Michael W. Lipson Professor of Asian Studies, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Chair Professor Nankai University and Visiting Professor, Beijing Normal University. His research focuses on early Chinese political thought, traditional Chinese political culture, early Chinese historiography, history of pre-imperial (pre-221 BCE) China, and comparative studies of imperial formations worldwide. His monographs include Zhou History Unearthed: The Bamboo Manuscript Xinian and Early Chinese Historiography (Columbia UP, 2020); The Book of Lord Shang: Apologetics of State Power in Early China (Columbia UP, 2017); The Everlasting Empire: The Political Culture of Ancient China and Its Imperial Legacy (Princeton UP, 2012); Envisioning Eternal Empire: Chinese Political Thought of the Warring States Era (Honolulu, 2009), and Foundations of Confucian Thought: Intellectual Life in the Chunqiu Period, 722-453 B.C.E. (Honolulu, 2002). He co-authored (with Gideon Shelach and Yitzhak Shichor) 3-volumes All-under-Heaven: Imperial China (in Hebrew, Raanana, 2011, 2013, and forthcoming). In addition, he has several other edited and co-edited publications, and over 100 articles in scholarly journals and collected volumes.

LECTURE: The Chineseness of political culture in the PRC

Romano PRODI

FORMER President of the European Commission

Romano Prodi is an Italian scholar and former politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Prime Minister of Italy, first from May 1996 to October 1998 and from May 2006 to May 2008. Prof. Prodi was the first progressive candidate to ever come first at legislative elections since 1921 and to manage to form a government without the need of opponents' parliamentary support. In September 2008, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon selected Prodi as president of the African Union–United Nations peacekeeping panel.

ROUNDTABLE: Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

Maria Cristina RUSSO

European Commission

Maria Cristina Russo is Director for the Global Approach and International Cooperation in Research & Innovation at the European Commission since 2013. Previously, she was Head of Unit in the Secretariat-General of the Commission dealing with policy coordination, inter-institutional relations, and in the department in charge of consumers’ policies and financial services. She was also Member of Cabinet of European Commissioner Philippe Busquin at the time the European Research Area was launched.

ROUNDTABLE: Upgrading China knowledge in Europe

Anthony SAICH

Harvard Kennedy School

Anthony Saich is the director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School, teaching courses on comparative political institutions, democratic governance, and transitional economies with a focus on China. In his capacity as Ash Center Director, Saich also serves as the director of the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and the faculty chair of the China Programs, the Asia Energy Leaders Program and the Leadership Transformation in Indonesia Program, which provide training programs for national and local Chinese and Indonesian officials.

lecture: Domestic NGO development and the work of international NGOs in China

Kristin SHI-KUPFER

UNIVERSITY OF TRIER & MERICS

Kristin Shi-Kupfer is Professor for Contemporary China Studies at the University of Trier and a Senior Associate Fellow at MERICS. She previously worked as a research associate at the University of Freiburg’s Institute for Sinology. Dr. Shi-Kupfer is an expert on China’s digital politics, media policy, civil society and human rights. She earned her PhD from Ruhr University Bochum with a thesis on spiritual and religious groups in China after 1978. From 2007 to 2011 she was based in Beijing covering China for various German-speaking media like the Austrian magazine Profil, the German Protestant Press Agency epd or the public radio station Deutsche Welle. Since 2019 she is a member of the Sino-German Working Group on Digital Business Models initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

lecture: China’s digital society: (ir)rationales and consequences

Isabelle THIREAU

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales

Isabelle Thireau is Professor of Sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (Paris) and Research director at the CNRS. Her interests include the sociology of norms, justice and legitimacy in China. Among her recent publications: Les Ruses de la démocratie. Protester en Chine contemporaine; De proche en proche. Ethnographie des formes d’association en Chine contemporaine; "Contesting illegitimate situations, reassessing shared norms in contemporary China", European Journal of Social Sciences; "Les migrations à l’ombre de la période maoïste. Crise de la réalité sociale et méfiance publique en Chine contemporaine" in Migrations, réfugiés, exil.

LECTURE: From vox populi to public spirit? Investigating urban gatherings in contemporary China

Patricia THORNTON

University of OXFORD

Patricia M. Thornton is a political scientist whose research interests span the political, socio-economic, and cultural history of modern China. She received her PhD in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and previously served as the Director of the Institute for Asian Studies at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. She is an Associate Professor of Chinese Politics at the University of Oxford.

lecture: The CCP at 100: Party all the time?

Anastas VANGELI

University of Ljubljana & T.WAI - TORINO WORLD AFFAIRS INSTITUTE

Anastas Vangeli is a Visiting Professor at the School of Economics and Business at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Non-resident Senior Fellow at TOChina Hub’s ChinaMed Project. His research interests include the ideational impact of Global China, China's relations with Europe and the Balkans, and the dynamics of globalization in the (post) COVID-19 era. He is also a Research Fellow at the EU-Asia Institute, ESSCA School of Management and teaches at ESSCA's Shanghai Campus, and is a Contract Professor at the Department of Cultures, Politics and Society at the University of Torino.

CHINAMED ROUNDTABLE: The Mediterranean region looks at China: challenges and opportunities of China’s growing role in the region

ZHA Daojiong

PEKING University

Dr. Zha is a professor in the School of International Studies and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development, Peking University. His areas of expertise include international political economy and China’s international economic relations, particularly the fields of energy and natural resources, development aid and the economics-political nexus in the Asia Pacific region. In recent years his research extended to political and social risk management for Chinese corporations engaged in non-financial investments abroad, including the publication of an edited volume "Chinese Investment Overseas: case studies on environmental and social risks" and "Risk Management under the Belt and Road Initiative: economic and societal dimensions”.

LECTURE: Global Health: a Chinese perspective

TOCHINA SUMMER SCHOOL - Previous editions

Key Dates

15 March

The TOChina Centre begins accepting online applications for the 2021 edition of the TOChina Summer School.

Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.

14 JUNE

All complete applications reaching the TOChina Program Manager by this date (CET) are evaluated. No late application will be considered.

17 june

By this date the last successful applicants receiving an offer must formally accept it and send proof of fees payment (direct bank transfer, all banking expenses must be paid by the candidate) via email. Upon receiving these, the TOChina Program Manager will confirm the candidate’s enrollment. Applicants who should fail to meet this deadline will have their offer withdrawn.

21 june

The TOChina Summer School begins.

Admissions Criteria

The TOChina Summer School is designed for highly motivated students and professionals looking for one of the world’s best intensive programs focussing on the politics, society, political economy and foreign policy of contemporary China. A careful selection is carried out in order to make sure that the School’s working environment is as dynamic and challenging as possible. The Admissions Committee focuses on the following factors in reaching its decisions:

1. the applicant’s capacity to make a credible claim for a proficient research/professional career with China;

2. sound academic credentials and fluency in English;

3. individual potential as expressed by the applicant’s CV;

4. the candidate’s motivation as articulated in the personal statement.

Applications are welcome from any professional or student who is in possession of the required qualifications. These are a Bachelor honours degree at 1 or 2:1 level (or an equivalent European title, such as the Laurea triennale for Italian students with a minimum grade of 100/110) and full command of the English language. Special consideration will be given to applicants who can demonstrate their English ability in the following ways:

1. being of a nationality where English is the first language;

2. having studied at university level in English as shown on the transcript uploaded in the Online Application form;

3. having studied English at school (e.g., GCSE, A-Level, International Baccalaureate…) and achieved good grades;

4. having taken an approved English Language test and met the following standards: IELTS – 6.5; TOEFL (Internet based) – 100 points; TOEFL (Computer based) – 250 points; TOEFL (Paper based) – 600 points; Cambridge Advanced English (CAE) – Pass; Cambridge Proficiency in English (CPE) – Pass.

Outstanding undergraduate students (i.e. students who will not yet have a degree at the start of the Summer School) who are enrolled in a university course with a strong China focus may also apply, provided that they have completed at least one year of course.

auditors

In order to render the TOChina Summer School at least temporarily accessible to students and professionals who are unable to attend the entire duration of the course (2 weeks), a maximum of 15 auditors will be admitted for each session.

Anyone can apply to audit one or more sessions. Unsuccessful Summer School applicants too may re-apply as auditors. There is no restriction on the number of sessions a single auditor may attend. The cost for attending each session as auditors is EUR 100.00. Attendance for the whole day (i.e. both morning and afternoon sessions in the same day) costs EUR 150.00.

Those wishing to apply as auditors should send an email with their updated résumé or CV to the TOChina Program Manager (summerschool@tochina.it) indicating which session(s) they would like to attend (day, time, lecturer).

fees

Tuition fees depend on the status of the applicant, as shown by the following chart:

Applicant status

FEES

Students from University of Torino
and from partner institutions:

ThinkIN China Registered Followers
Tel Aviv University
TOChina Academic Network
TOChina Alumni

EUR 290.00

All other students

EUR 490.00

Professionals

EUR 1,000.00

These amounts cover tuition and working materials, and must be paid in full by all admitted participants ahead of joining the program.

Selections of participants from specific partner institutions are regulated through ad-hoc agreements with such institutions.

scholarships

(nOT APPLICABLE FOR ONLINE EDITIONS)

Students only may apply for following type of scholarship:

• FREETORINO: scholarships covering accommodation and, partially, meals. Those who are awarded a FREETORINO scholarship will be lodged at one of Torino’s student halls (or similar kind of accommodation). A single or double (depending on availability) en-suite room and one meal per day (dinner) will be provided. These scholarships may be applied for by all School participants who are currently students (i.e. undergraduates who will not have completed their China-related degree at the time of the School, or applicants who either are studying at the postgraduate level or will be doing so in the next academic year).

Applicants must not be resident in the Province of Torino (IT).

To be awarded a TOChina Summer School scholarship, candidates must:
• be currently enrolled in a university course, either as postgraduate or undergraduate students. The latter need to be enrolled in a university degree with a strong China focus;
• be residing outside the province of Torino;
• send relevant application documents: copy of CV, copy of university enrollment certificate, copy of most recent academic transcript;
• have paid their fees in full;
• have attended a minimum of 40 hours of lectures/seminars;
• have achieved at least a “pass” grade in the final exam.

If not all conditions are met, scholarship recipients will be asked to reimburse the expenses for accommodation and meals by Fall.

how to apply

Competition to secure a place in this program can be very intense: early application is strongly recommended.
Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. No applications will be accepted beyond the deadline defined in the "Key Dates" section.

Applicants are requested to fill in the online application form.

Upon receiving candidates’ online application, the TOChina Program Manager will request supplementary documents (CV, enrollment letter, academic transcript, scanned copy of passport) via email, will check that compulsory requirements are met and pass their application package on to the Admissions Committee, which will be appointed by the Director of the Department of Culture, Politics and Society of the University of Torino, where the TOChina Hub is based.

Successful applicants receiving an offer must formally accept it and send proof of fees payment (direct bank transfer) via email to the TOChina Program Manager at summerschool@tochina.it by the set deadline (see the Key Dates section). Upon receiving these, the applicant will be officially enrolled in the program.

Applicants who should fail to send such confirmation and proof of fees payment by the set deadline will have their offer withdrawn. Any newly-available place will be offered to the highest-ranking applicants not selected in the first round.

Tuition fees range between EUR 290.00 and EUR 1,000.00, depending on the type of applicant (student, professional…). Please see the Fees section of this website for further information. All successful applicants must pay their full fees.

Applicants may be called for an interview before a final decision on their application is made.

All candidates will be notified of the outcome of their application at the earliest possible time.

Torino, Travel and Accommodation

Torino, the first capital city of united Italy in 1861, is an ancient place. Established by the Romans with a distinctive rectangular grid which mesmerizes visitors to this day, each moment in history has left its mark on the city, generating a legacy of culture, architecture and monuments. In 2012 the New York Times devoted to Torino one of its “36 hours in…” pieces.

The Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games showcased a cosmopolitan city, still attached to its industrial tradition – the now global FCA car manufacture was founded here – while transforming into an Italian hub of technological and cultural innovation with a high quality of life. The UN System has its Staff College here (UNSSC), together with the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC-ILO). UNESCO has recently approved the creation of a centre for research on world cultural heritage to be based in the baroque Venaria Reale palace, one of several world heritage sites in the area.

World-renowned Juventus football club – one of Torino’s glories – has its brand-new Stadium in town, alongside the world’s second-largest Egyptian antiques museum after Cairo (Museo Egizio), the Automobile Museum, the Cinema Museum (few know that in the early days cinema was being developed here), and the Mountain Museum (Museo Nazionale della Montagna), aptly located on Torino’s hills overlooking the Alps. Torino’s region – Piedmont (Piemonte) – means “at the feet of the mountains” and Europe’s most charming peaks are within a couple of hours drive.

Sampling the local cuisine is a cultural must in Torino. Its informal trattoria, refinded top-end restaurants and exotic ethnic eateries make the city one of the undisputed world capitals of taste, including for its illustrious wine scene, whether one is looking for whites (Gavi, Arneis, Moscato), superb reds (Dolcetto, Grignolino, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Barbaresco and Barolo), or even sparkling wines, which, through Martini & Rossi, gave rise to the tradition of Asti Spumante.

Seemingly closer to the Northern European no-nonsense, hard-working style than it is to Italy’s Mediterranean allure, Torino transforms at sunset: by aperitif time the streets are lit up and buzzing with people enjoying live jazz, exclusive dj sets, the local philharmonic orchestra performances, theatre and opera, but also shows, cabaret, literary cafes, street festivals and crazy notti bianche, all night non-stop events that animate the city streets until dawn.

GETTING TO KNOW TORINO AND ITS REGION

Torino Piemonte

arriving in town

By plane (Milan)By plane (Torino)

MOVING AROUND

Public Transport Car-sharing

Trenitalia (Train)Italo (Train)Motorway

MOVING AROUND

Public Transport Car-sharing Trenitalia (Train)Italo (Train)Motorway

Accommodation in Torino (not APPLICABLE FOR ONLINE EDITION)

As explained in the “Fees and Scholarships” section, TOChina staff will provide accommodation for the applicants who qualify for the Freetorino scholarship. All other participants will have to organize their stay in Torino independently. TOChina staff will do their best to advise successful applicants as they seek adequate accommodation in town.

The following links may be a useful first port-of-call.

Sportello CASA Service Collegio Universitario Einaudi Turismo Torino ReSocialClub

As for meals, all participants will be given a dossier during induction with a list of venues for all budgets, together with other useful tips.

For local transport information, best to log on to the GTT transport group. Please note that the venue of the Summer School – though located in the city centre – may not be within walking distance of your accommodation.

faqs and contacts

Please note that our FAQs are updated on a regular basis and the majority of enquiries tend to be answered there. The TOChina Program Manager may choose not to reply to queries that are clearly answered here.

Due to international time differences, we strongly advise you to contact the TOChina Program Manager by email. We answer email enquiries every day. Should you need to contact TOChina by telephone, please email the TOChina Program Manager to fix an appointment.

The email address for enquiries on the TOChina Summer School is
summerschool@tochina.it.

We will respond as soon as possible to your email enquiry. However, please be aware that during peak periods the office is very busy and there may be a turnaround time of approximately 48 hours.

The TOChina Hub Manager is Mr. Kavinda Navaratne. Upon appointment, arranged via email, he may be reached at:

Room 1D325, “LUIGI EINAUDI” CAMPUS, LUNGODORA SIENA 100/A TORINO – ITALY

map