Institute for International Research

Recognizing the need for high-quality individual and collaborative research on a range of social-science issues related to China and China's relationship with the rest of the world, The Johns Hopkins University and Nanjing University established the Institute for International Research. Comparative analyses and inter-disciplinary projects are particularly encouraged.

Scope of Research
Research Environment
Selection of Scholars and Fellows
Research Institute

Scope of Research

The Institute's research program addresses a variety of topics related to political, economic, social, environmental, and health issues, especially as they relate to contemporary China. Scholars will be drawn from various disciplines, e.g. political science, economics, sociology, anthropology, history, public health, environmental studies, etc. Examples of the kinds of projects that may be undertaken include but are not limited to: judicial reform and the rule of law, the evolution of political institutions, the impact of economic reforms on a broad range of social issues, international relations and U.S.-China relations, the development of non-governmental organizations, patterns of labor force mobility, women's issues, environmental policy and health issues, trade issues, and changing cultural and sociological norms.

Comparative analyses and inter-disciplinary projects are particularly encouraged, promoting the development and enhancement of various academic disciplines in China. Joint work carried out by international and Chinese scholars will bring new methodological approaches to Chinese scholars and provide important access to contemporary China for international scholars.

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A Unique Research Environment

Scholars and Fellows of the Institute will have important resources at their disposal, including access to the superior collections, services, and technologies of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center Library, the Sheridan Libraries at Johns Hopkins University, and the Nanjing University Library. With the only uncensored, open-stacks library in China with both English and Chinese collections, the library is fully automated with access to electronic resources both directly from the Worldwide Web and through electronic connections to Johns Hopkins and Nanjing University libraries. Seventy-five thousand monographs, 400 journals and periodicals, and a growing number of Web and CD-based resources make the library at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center an unmatched resource in China.

Scholars will benefit from the intellectual stimulation of the other Scholars and Fellows in residence, as well as the faculty and students at the Center and the many visitors, including scholars, government officials, and business leaders who visit the Center during the academic year. Various formal and informal mechanisms such as colloquia, dinners, and workshops/conferences will bring Scholars and Fellows together on a regular basis.

Finally, Nanjing, the capital of China's wealthiest province, Jiangsu, provides an excellent location to observe contemporary Chinese society. Unlike larger coastal cities, Nanjing provides a "slice of life" which more accurately represents much of China and Chinese society. Yet, with high-speed trains and highways, Nanjing is a short three hours from Shanghai.

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Selection of Scholars and Fellows

Prospective Scholars and Fellows will be asked to submit their curriculum vitae and a brief description (up to five, double-spaced pages) of the proposed research project, including the extent of collaboration envisaged. Where projects have been developed to the point of identifying specific research partners, joint submission will be encouraged. see complete Request for Proposals.

A joint, eight-member Research Council [link here to Research - Research Council] will provide academic oversight of the Institute. Proposals from international (non-Chinese) scholars will be reviewed by the international members of the Research Council under the leadership of the Co-Chair appointed by Johns Hopkins University. Similarly, proposals from Chinese scholars will be reviewed by the Chinese members of the Research Council under the leadership of the Chinese Co-chair, according to jointly agreed upon criteria. At an annual meeting, the full Research Council will discuss all short-listed proposals and final selection of Scholars and Fellows will be made.

Appointment as a Scholar-in-Residence of the Institute will carry with it no financial award. Ordinarily, Scholars and Fellows will spend a semester or a year in residence, but there may be some instances where a shorter period in residence is appropriate. The flexible structure of the Institute will promote such creative possibilities.

Through a series of research reports and a regular newsletter, findings will be shared with the scholarly community as well as those in government and the corporate community. As well, scholars will have the opportunity to share ongoing research with the faculty and students in residence at the Center each year, benefiting from a ready-made incubator for new ideas and feedback during the research process.

Annually, the Institute will host a minimum of one international conference or workshop to bring together a range of scholars from China and around the world to focus on specific topics in keeping with the research mission of the Institute. Scholars unable to spend significant amounts of time in residence may thereby still be able to take advantage of the Institute.

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Institute Council

A joint, eight-member Institute Council provides academic oversight of the Institute reviewing research proposals according to jointly agreed upon criteria and making the final selection of scholars and fellows. The American Council is chaired by David M. Lampton and includes Cheng Li , Margaret Pearson, and Ezra Vogel. The Chinese Council is chaired by Zi Zhongyun and includes Li Jianming, Liu Haiping, and Wu Jinglian.

American Co-Chairperson

David M. Lampton is the George and Sadie Hyman Professor of China Studies and Director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies as well as Director of China Programs at the Nixon Center. Before coming to SAIS, Dr. Lampton served as President of the National Committee on U.S. China Relations in New York, Director of Policy Studies at The American Enterprise Institute, and Associate Professor at Ohio State University. Dr. Lampton's most recent publications include, Same Bed, Different Dreams: Managing U.S.-China Relations 1989-2000, forthcoming University of California Press; and David M. Lampton, ed., The Making of Chinese Foreign and Security Policy in the Era of Reform, 1978-2000, Stanford University Press.

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American Council Members

Cheng Li is a Professor of Government at Hamilton College and a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. As a fellow of the U.S.-based Institute of Current World Affairs, Dr. Li observed grassroots change in his native country, interviewing business and political leaders as well as ordinary people. He published his research in Rediscovering China: Dynamics and Dilemmas of Reform (1997). His most recent work is China's Leaders: The New Generation (2000).

Margaret Pearson is a Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Pearson came to Maryland after teaching at Dartmouth College (1987-1995). Her publications include Joint Ventures in the People's Republic of China (1991)and China's New Business Elite (1997). A recipient of the Fulbright Research Fellowship in the fall of 2002, she is currently researching China's integration into global trade regimes (particularly the WTO) and the emergence of China's regulatory state.

Ezra Vogel is the Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences at Harvard University. He has served as Director of Harvard's East Asian Research Center (1996-99 and 1972-77) and Chairman of the Council for East Asian Studies (1977-80). Since 1958, Dr. Vogel has spent each summer in East Asia. He holds honorary degrees from the universities of Maryland, Massachusetts (Lowell), Wittenberg, Bowling Green, Albion, Ohio Wesley, and Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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Chinese Co-Chairperson

Zi Zhongyun founded and served as the first President of the Society for Chinese Scholars of Sino-American Relations (1993-1998). Prior to this, she served as Deputy Director and Director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) from 1985-1992. She has held academic positions at top U.S. and Chinese institutions including Princeton University and Beijing University. She is the recipient of the CASS prize of "Best Scholarly Achievements in the Period of 1979-1991" for her book U.S. Policy Towards China, 1945-1950.

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Chinese Council Members

Li Jianming is a professor of U.S. history at Nankai University and in 1998 received a national award for the Study of Humanities and Social Sciences of University Faculty. He received a Fulbright fellowship in 1996-97 based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He currently serves as Vice President and Secretary General for the American History Research Association of China. His most recent book is A Compilation of the Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States (1995).

Liu Haiping is a Professor of English at Nanjing University and is active in international cultural exchange between China and the United States. He has taught and conducted research at such U.S. universities as Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and New York University and has served as a fellow for the Aspen Institute Seminar: The Chinese in a Global Community (1998). Professor Liu is currently serving as President of the Chinese Association of Comparative Literature.

Wu Jinglian has worked as a senior research fellow for the Development Research Center of the State Council of the PRC. He is also Professor of Economics at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chief Economist for the China International Capitalist Corporation Limited (CICC), and is a member of the Academic Council for the China Europe International Business School (CEIBs) in Shanghai. His most recent publication is Fifteen Issues of State Owned Enterprise's Reform.

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