Please join the China Studies Program for a special colloquium with Yidi Wu, O’Briant Developing Professor and Associate Professor of History at Elon University.
Thursday, May 14, 2026
Noon – 1:30 PM
Why do liberal arts colleges no longer exist in China today? The answer to this question lies in the Communist reform of higher education in 1952. In Chinese, this reform is characterized by an understated name: “reorganization of departments and colleges.” What occurred was a fundamental shift from American-style liberal arts education to Soviet-style technocratic training.
This talk provides a peek into the transformation through a case study of Oberlin College’s connections in China and Taiwan. Professor Wu argues that while the reform of Chinese universities reflected anti-US and pro-Soviet ideologies of the early 1950s, the transformation followed global patterns in high education that predated the regime change.
Refreshments provided. Please register for this event.