Overseas Young Chinese Forum
6th Annual Meeting
GENDER AND WOMEN’S ISSUES IN CHINA
Gregg Conference Center, American College
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania USA
May 28-31, 2004
Program
Chinese women fought for centuries for independence and equal treatment, and we thought we had it in the Mao era, when “women hold half the sky” was our motto. While China’s economic reform has transformed the nation in many ways toward a better society, women are facing increasing challenges. To name a few, women workers are increasingly subject to blatant employment discrimination as they are deemed a liability for higher productivity and profit, girls in rural areas have a much more difficult time than boys in attending schools, female college graduates cannot find jobs, many people advocate the return to home of women and revival of traditional gender values, and prostitution and women living off men are looming problems. In this conference, we will explore these issues, and examine the role of gender and women in Chinese society. Our goal is to enhance our understanding of gender and women’s issues, work toward removing barriers to gender equality, and promote women’s equal participation in every aspect of life in China.
Friday, May 28, 2004
6:00pm:
Registration, Check-in
9:00pm:
Welcome Reception
Saturday, May 29, 2004
7:30am: Breakfast
8:15am: Opening Remarks by Hao ZOU, President, and Junling MA, President-Elect
8:30-9:00am: Keynote Speech: “Important message from my new book Knowing China” by Gregory CHOW, Professor of Political Economy, Princeton University
PART I: Gender and Women Issues in China: from a Theoretical and Historical Perspective
9:00 am – 10:30am: What It Means to Grow Up Female in China: History and Culture
Moderator: Hao JIANG, Attorney-at-Law, Shaw Pittman LLP.
Speakers:
· Shirley L. Mow, Senior Researcher, Center on Chinese Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, “Women holding half of the sky: Chinese Women’s Past, Present and Future.”
· Weikun CHENG, Professor of History, California State University, Chico, “Women’s Life in Early Twentieth Century Beijing.”
10:30am-10:45am: Coffee Break
10:45am-12:15am: Toward Gender Equality: Women’s Liberation
Moderator: Zili ZHUANG, University of Pennsylvania
Speakers:
· Zhengxu WANG, Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, University Michigan, “Modernization and Gender Equality: China in generations and China in the World”
· Julia Chi ZHANG, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, Yale University, “Gender Assimilation as a Mode of Incorporation for Chinese Women in the Mao Era”
12:15pm – 1:30pm Lunch Break
PART II: Women Issues in Contemporary China:
1:30pm – 3:00pm: Reform and Women – The Public Sphere
Moderator: Xiaojiang HU, Harvard University
Speakers:
· Yuzhen LIU, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, York University, Canada, “Women's Situation in Information Technology Industries in China.”
· Yaping, YU, Professor and Dean of Research Center of Women’s Study, Shanghai Jiaotong University, “Shanghai Women’s Political Participation in Social Transformation Period”
· Huawei LING, Senior Reporter, Editor-in-Chief, Cai Jing ("Finance and Economics")
3:00am – 3:15am: Coffee Break
3:15pm – 4:45pm: Reform and Women – The Private Sphere
Moderator: Su SUN, Senior Economist, Economists Incorporated
Speakers:
· Jing LIN, Associate Professor, Department of Education Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland, “Finding Ways to Improve Girls’ Learning: An Examination of Chinese Girl Schools.”
· Zhenlin WANG, Ph.D. candidate, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, “I'm Chinese, but My Mom is not: Ethnic Identity Development of Adopted Children Born in China”
· Ying QIAN, Ph.D. candidate in Economics, Harvard University “Charactering the Sex Consumer in China.”
4:45pm: Reception with Speakers
6:00pm: Dinner
7:30pm: State
of OYCF Report by the OYCF Board
Honoring OYCF Directors and Officers
OYCF Annual Election
Sunday, May 30, 2004
7:45am Breakfast
PART III: Women and Culture
8:30am – 10:00am: Special Challenges – Sex and Sexuality
Moderator: Feng LIANG, Ph.D. student, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Speakers:
· Juhua YANG, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, Brown University, “How equal are women and men within the household boundary? An analysis of husbands and wives’ involvement in housework in contemporary China”
· Yingying HUANG, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, Renmin University of China, “Searching For Female’s Sexual Body: Images, Boundaries and Situations”
10:00am - 10:15am: Coffee Break
10:15am – 11:45am: Cross-cultural and Transnational Perspectives
Moderator: Yingquan SONG, University of Berkeley
Speakers:
· Bei WU, Assistant Professor, Center on Aging, School of Medicine, West Virginia University: “Cross-cultural Comparison of the Contributory Behavior of the Oldest Old Women in China and U.S.”
· Suowei XIAO, Ph.D. student in Sociology, UC Berkeley, “Gendered Orientation of Settlement”
· Yan LI, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology, Stanford University, “Interaction and Gender Stereotypes: Social Psychological Perspective on Perpetuation of Gender Inequality”
11:45am: Concluding Remarks
12:00pm – 2:00pm: Lunch
2:00pm – 4:00pm: A Movie:
"Through Chinese Women's Eyes," by Mayfair Yang (Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara) 1997, 52 min. (which offers an insightful journey into the transformations in the lives of Chinese women over the 20th century. See http://www.uni-muenster.de/EthnologieHeute/eh3/yang.htm for details).
4:00pm: Philadelphia Cup (Volleyball Team Competition)
6:00pm-12:00am: Dinner & Celebration Party
Monday, May 31, 2004
OYCF Guided Tour of Philadelphia
_______________________________________
OYCF 2004 Annual Meeting
Organization Committee
Laura Diao (Boston, MA)
Lei Guang (San Diego, CA)
Xiaojiang Hu (Boston, MA)
Hao Jiang (Washington DC) (Co-Chair)
Bo Li (Hong Kong)
Yan Li (Stanford, CA)
Feng Liang (Berkeley, CA)
Dongxiao Liu (Stanford, CA)
Junling Ma (Irvine County, CA)
Hong Qiao (Stanford, CA)
Yang Su (Irvine, CA)
Su Sun (Washington, DC)
Duan Wu (Boston, MA)
Qianli Wu (Rockville, MD)
Lu Zheng (Stanford, CA)
Hao Zou (San Francisco, CA) (Co-Chair)
Zili Zhuang (Philadelphia, PA)