Scholar examines China's "culture of anxiety" at Faculty Colloquium.

Release Date: 10/16/12

DULUTH, MN -  Thomas Zelman, professor of English at The College of St. Scholastica, will be the next speaker in a faculty colloquium monthly lecture series. His talk is at 3:40 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, in room 4119 of Tower Hall on campus. Admission is free and open to the public. 

The title of Zelman's discussion is "'I Built It:' Counterfeit Landmarks and China's Culture of Anxiety." His talk is part of a faculty colloquium series by the College's School of Arts and Letters to highlight diverse faculty research projects. The presentation will last one hour and include a 40-minute lecture followed by 20 minutes of questions and answers.

In his presentation Zelman will look at the manufacturing of buildings in China that re-create the country's history.  "In a country that claims 5,000 years of civilization, direct evidence of China's antiquity has become increasingly scarce, apart from what is housed in museums. Wars, political violence, and urban development have erased much of China's visible history.  

"The last 35 years, however, have seen a national resurgence of interest in the past, which has led to a widespread recreation of Chinese monuments and of foreign ones as well. In Jean Baudrillard's terms, it is simulacra, which erases the past while claiming to portray it," notes Zelman.

The presentation centers on buildings that claim to represent other buildings but that reflect a culture of "capitalist anxiety" - an uncertainty about what is real and what is valuable.  Drawing from visits to China and from his experiences with Chinese students on the St. Scholastica campus, Zelman will supplement his discussion with photographs.

For more information contact the Spotlight box office at (218) 723-7000 or spotlight@css.edu. Spotlight.css.edu is the one-stop shop for all St. Scholastica arts and lectures information.

The College of St. Scholastica is regularly recognized as one of the finest colleges in the Midwest. The 2013 "America's Best Colleges" survey by U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks St. Scholastica in the top tier of Midwestern universities. The Washington Post has rated St. Scholastica as one of the nation's 100 "hidden gems" among U.S. colleges and universities.