The Center for Global Studies will continue to host its Brown Bag Series throughout the spring semester. The series will feature global research projects in the graduate field as well as faculty research covering a wide range of international issues. The series will be hosted from 12:15-1:15 p.m. on Wednesdays in 157 Burrowes Building. Students, faculty and the community are encouraged to pack a lunch and enjoy a lecture from one of the many graduate students and faculty members speaking on various international issues.
The series will kick-off on Wednesday, March 2, with Penn State graduate student Kwok-leong Tang speaking on “Why did a Christian worship Confucius? Li Zhizao (d.1630) and his Pangong Li Yue Shu.” Tang's lecture will focus on the text Pangong Li Yue Shu, a manual on worshiping Confucius, and why a prominent Christian leader, Li Zhizao, would write such a text.
On March 23, the series will feature Penn State graduate student Loredana Abreu speaking on “What can U.S. companies do to get the most out of their expats in Hardship Locations?” Abreu's lecture will focus on where companies are lacking with international assignments and what they can do in order to avoid economic loss in the future.
On March 30, the series will continue with Helen Liu speaking on why the economy is “More than a temporary Challenge: The Characteristics and Outcomes of Contingent Work in China.” Liu's lecture will focus on the issues with Chinese companies utilizing weak labor institutions and poor enforcement to retain power to terminate employees at will.
On April 6, the series will host visiting professor Cara Judea Alhadeff, University of California Santa Cruz, and her lecture on “Decolonizing our Wombs: Gender Justice and Petro-Pharma Culture.” Alhadeff's lecture will focus on the vulnerability of the body as a strategy for social justice.
On April 20, the series will host its final lecture for the semester with Penn State graduate student Lauren Brooks speaking on “Kafka’s Humor: German Reception and the (Un)translatability into the American Idiom.” Brooks' lecture will focus on the translation of the Jewish/German text into English and whether or not Kafka's texts uphold their humor in a different translation and culture.
For more information on this and other Center for Global Studies events, visit http://cgs.la.psu.edu/events.