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.

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

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 (2020)

This section is currently being updated.



time

Monday
22 JuNE

Tuesday
23 JUNE

Wednesday
24 JUNE

Thursday
25 JUNE

Friday
26 JUNE

10.00
-
12.30

Patricia THORNTON

Uniquely unique? Genesis and implications of the CCP's assertive exceptionalism

FANG Jin

No one left behind? Economic logic, strategies and players behind China's fight against poverty

François GODEMENT

What road ahead for EU-China relations?

ZHA Daojiong

China's Foreign Relations in the 2000s: a non-traditional security perspective

Marco ALIBERTI

Cooperation and competition in outer space: China, Europe and the USA

lunch break

15.00
-
17.30

ZHANG Xiaobo

China’s governance in the face of COVID-19: performance and economic implications

Juliette GENEVAZ

The political implications of Xi Jinping's military reform

Sébastien BILLIOUD

Yiguandao: spirituality and politics across the Sinophone oecumene

Kaiser KUO

Sup China? How the American conversation on China is defining the 2020s

Duncan FREEMAN

China and restriction of FDI in the EU: national or economic security?

time

Monday
29 JUNE

Tuesday
30 JUNE

Wednesday
1 July

Thursday
2 July

Friday
3 July

10.00
-
12.30

Isabelle THIREAU

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

Sarah KIRCHBERGER

Military innovation in the maritime domain: whither China in the 2020s?

Kristin SHI-KUPFER

The politics and policies defining China’s digital ecosystem

Ori SELA

Sino-Israeli relations from past to future

Mohammed
AL-SUDAIRI

China’s soft power in the Arab world: from past to present

lunch break

15.00
-
17.30

Sebastian VEG

Hong Kong: from liberal patriotism to the rise of civic identity

Stéphanie BALME

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

Anthony SAICH

What the emergence of China’s philanthropy means for the world

Brandon FRIEDMAN

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

Mohsen SHARIATINIA

Iran’s China policy after COVID-19

Faculty & Sessions

This section is currently being updated.
‍

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: TBD

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: TBD

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.

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: TBD

FANG Jin

China Development Research Foundation

Dr. Fang Jin is a Board Member and Secretary General of China Development Research Foundation and also a research fellow at the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council, People’s Republic of China. His main area of research is China’s economic relations with the outside world; he has written extensively on China’s foreign economic policy, globalization and world economy. Before joining DRC, Dr. Fang had worked in the corporate sector for many years. He holds a Doctoral degree from School of Economics, Peking University and a Master Degree and a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University in Australia.

LECTURE: TBD

Brandon FRIEDMAN

tEL AVV 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: TBD

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.

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

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: TBD

Aelius PARCHAMI

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Aelius Parchami is a Senior Lecturer in Defence & International Affairs at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Educated at Oxford, he previously held a Stipendiary Lectureship in Politics at Exeter College in the University of Oxford and was a Visiting Lecturer in Politics & International Relations at the University of Reading. With a research portfolio that traverses the disciplines of History, International Relations and Regional Studies, he has published on the themes of empire and hegemony, the liberal international order, and strategic developments in the Middle East.

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

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: TBD

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: TBD

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: TBD

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 5 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

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

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