China in Search of Its Soul
In this concluding session, the Study Group leader will guide the students through a discussion on the question of tradition and values in today's China. The Cultural Revolution swept aside old cultural norms -- but what values have risen to replace them? This session will look at the breakdown of traditional family structures due to the one-child policy and its implications; the rise of "money worship;" the prevalence of “fake degrees and sports cheating scandals, and the debate in China on the breakdown of morality and the need for a return to Confucian values. This session will also look at the implications of this moral breakdown for China and the world by asking; can a country become a superpower while still searching for its soul?
Guest: Jeff Bader, via Skype, Senior Fellow in International Diplomacy at the Brookings Institution and fmr NSC for Asia to Obama Administration
Room: FDR
***************Final Study Group Session for Spring 2013*****************