Upcoming Events

CTLgrads Learning Community - Into the Unknown: Teaching Futures and Uncertainty (Session 1) - for graduate students As teachers, we can sometimes feel pressure to present the world as certain, conclusive, and neatly structured. But global challenges like climate change, political divisiveness, and technological disruption remind us that the future is inherently uncertain—and that normative debates about what should be done are unavoidable. This two-part Learning Community explores how we can recognize and harness uncertainty in ways that are productive rather than…

Speaker: Anthony J. Spires, Associate Professor, Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, the University of Melbourne Moderator: Yao Lu, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University Profesor Spires is a sociologist and leading scholar on civil society in China. He is the author of two books: Global Civil Society and China (Cambridge), and Everyday Democracy (Columbia University Press). His talk will be based on his most recent book, Everyday Democracy. This book shows that even in an authoritarian state, bottom-up organizations nurture the…

Speaker: T.V. Paul, Distinguished James McGill Professor, Department of Political Science, McGill University, Montreal, Canada Moderator: Qin Gao, Maurice V. Russell Professor of Social Policy and Social Work Practice, Associate Dean for Doctoral Education, Director of China Center for Social Policy, Columbia School of Social Work The violent conflict in Ukraine triggered by Russia, China’s drift away from a “peaceful rise” strategy, and America’s near abandonment of liberal leadership have created deep uncertainty. This book project asks: Under what conditions…

We invite current Columbia graduate students with questions about maintaining an inclusive teaching environment and all other aspects of pedagogy to drop by office hours on Fridays from 2:00–4:00 pm. We also welcome conversations about CTL fellowships, programs, services, job market preparation, and making progress in the Teaching Development Program (tdp.ctl.columbia.edu). No appointment is necessary; you can join us in-person in 212 Butler Library, or via Zoom. To join office hours via Zoom, email CTLgrads@columbia.edu to obtain the link. Learn more about what you can…

Title: “Master, State and Patron: Three Models of Literati Engagement During the Warring States Period (481 B.C.E.-221 B.C.E.)” Speaker: Andrew Meyer, Brooklyn College CUNY Time: October 17, 2025 (4:30-6:30 PM EST) Venue: Faculty House Among the many contests evinced by the written record of the Warring States Period, one has received relatively little attention among modern scholars: the debate over the normative social forms that should structure literati’s life and work. In this essay I will unpack three different models…

Speaker: Michael Pettid, Professor of Korean Studies, Department of Asian and Asian American Studies, Binghamton University Moderator: Jungwon Kim, the King Sejong Assistant Professor of Korean Studies, Columbia University This talk examines the life of an upper-status woman, Lady Yi (1759–1824), and her household in the late Chosŏn period. Through her writings, we see a world shaped by resourcefulness and autonomy within the constraints of her time. Her guidebook, an encyclopedia of domestic practice compiled for her daughters and daughters-in-law, offers a…

Speakers:  Samuele Collu, Assistant Professor, Medical and Psychological Anthropologist, McGill University Nick Bartlett, Assistant Professor of Contemporary Chinse Culture and Society, AMEC/EALAC, Columbia University Moderator:  Ying Qian, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures, East Asian Languages & Cultures, Columbia University Samuele Collu will discuss his ongoing research on the phenomenology of scrolling through TikTok, which reveals algorithmic feeds functioning as externalized dream sequences that modulate the user’s unconscious life. Nick Bartlett will then speak about his work in…