Leading expert on China to speak during spring series - shollis

Yale's Dr. Jonathan Spence will speak on "China’s Rise: An Historical Perspective" at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, March 14, in Howard Auditorium. Spence is considered the foremost authority on Chinese civilization.

As part of Louisiana Tech's "Shaping the 21st Century: Focus on China" series, a lecture by the foremost authority on Chinese civilization is scheduled for Wednesday, March 14. Yale history professor Dr. Jonathan Spence will present "China's Rise: An Historical Perspective" at 9:45 a.m. in Howard Auditorium, Center for the Performing Arts. He is also a noted specialist on the role of history in shaping modern China.

Spence teaches Chinese history from around 1600 to the present and also focuses on Western images of China since the Middle Ages. His critically acclaimed "The Search for Modern China" has become one of the standard texts on the last several hundred years of Chinese history. Recent works include a biography of Mao Zedong and "Treason by the Book," exploring an intriguing episode of 18th-century history.

Other books include "The Death of Woman Wang" (1978); "The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci" (1984); "The Question of Hu" (1987); "Chinese Roundabout: Essays on History and Culture"; "The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution 1895-1980"; "The Chan's Great Continent: China in Western Minds"; and "God's Chinese Son" (1994).

Spence was president of the American Historical Association for 2004-2005.

A native of England, he holds a bachelor's degree from Cambridge University and master's and doctoral degrees from Yale. He began teaching at Yale in 1965 and was named the Sterling Professor of History in 1993.

His honors include the William C. DeVane Medal of the Yale Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 1978; the Los Angeles Times History Prize in 1982; and the Vursel Prize of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1983. Spence was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1985. He was a MacArthur Fellow in 1988, and that year was appointed to the Council of Scholars at the Library of Congress.

In June 2001, he was made a Companion of the Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, an honor given by the Queen of England for outstanding achievement.

"Shaping the 21st Century" is an annual initiative that includes distinguished lecturers, exhibits, films and panel discussions to provide an interdisciplinary look at a single country.