Global China Research Centre
The rapid expansion of China and its increasing appetite for internationalisation need to be understood through the perspective of cultural diversification and global interaction. Currently there are University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ faculty members in several departments who are involved in China-related research. There are also growing numbers of faculties who are developing research connections with scholars working in China.
The centre aims to establish the University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ as a hub of scholarly exchange. It will, first stimulate new interdisciplinary research within the realm of humanities, arts, and social sciences; and second, channel the existing works of University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ scholars in these areas to the large Chinese-speaking audience.
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In this section
Centre staff
Our research involves staff and postgraduate students within the University, as well as academic staff from other institutions. More information about the research specialisms, publications and projects of our staff can be found within their individual profile pages.
Centre Director
Centre Deputy Director
Advisory Board
Postgraduate and ECR Seminar Series Convenors
Affiliated members
Head of Department - Languages, Cultures & Visual Studies
01392 724346 U.C.Zitzlsperger@exeter.ac.uk 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ
| Postgraduate affiliated members | |
|---|---|
| Zhangmei Tang | PhD student in Politics |
| External members | |
|---|---|
| Dr Bruce Currey | |
| Dr Catherine Owen | Assistant professor in Xi’an International Studies University |
| Dr Junqing Wu | Past & Present Fellow, Institute of Historical Research, University of London |
| International fellows | |
|---|---|
| International Fellow | |
| Professor Yongle Zhang | Associate Professor of Legal History, Peking University |
Centre aims and objectives
The centre has paradigm-shifting potential. With the growing connection between the UK and China, more British universities have introduced Chinese studies programmes and research centres. However, almost all of them have taken the conventional approach of area studies. By proposing the concept of “Global China”, the centre will provide an innovative perspective of seeing China not only as a geographic region, but more importantly as a non-European epistemology. It will mobilise UoE’s academic strength and serve as an incubator for scholarly innovation, which transcends the conventional boundaries of area studies and stimulates the construction and reconstruction of knowledge in general.
GCRC aims to first encourage interdisciplinary research about China. It also facilitates scholarly exchanges between University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ and Chinese institutes in order to encourage joint research activities on other subjects within the border area of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Recognising the growing connection between UoE and Chinese institutes, we have established GCRC in order to serve as:
- A hub for scholarly exchange
- An umbrella organisation which accommodates scholars and postgraduates with research interests in and about China.
- An incubator for creative interdisciplinary research published in both English and Chinese
- A stage to inspire a paradigm-shifting new approach to Chinese Studies
- An outpost to promote 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ scholars in China and attract Chinese students to pursuit postgraduate studies
News and events
The Global China Research Centre organises a variety of seminars, talks, conferences, workshops, lectures and symposia. Our upcoming events are displayed below. Seminars will usually take place between 3 and 4pm, unless otherwise stated. Locations may vary.
Guest lectures
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Friday 6 November 2026 - Hybrid Book Forum with John Minford: Ch’ing Çé: A Chinese Book of Love
Key Details:
- Date: Friday 6 November
- Time: 12:00-14:00
- Location: Seminar Room 1, Digital Humanities Lab, Queen’s Building, Streatham Campus, University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ
- If you would like to join remotely, get in touch with Yue Zhuang, Y.Zhuang@exeter.ac.uk to receive the Teams link.
The Global China Research Centre is delighted to invite you to a hybrid book forum with Professor John Minford éh¸£µÂ on his new anthology, (Reaktion Books, 2026).
This landmark anthology explores the rich tradition of Chinese writing on love, passion and desire, from the Book of Songs to modern poetry. Join John for an introduction to the book, followed by a conversation with our discussants and an open Q&A.
Discussants: Dr Jingjing Cao (51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ), Ms Yizhou Feng (51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ), Professor Yunchun Liu (Beibu Gulf University, China), and Ms Xi Min (51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ)
Moderator: Dr Yue Zhuang (51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ)
John Minford is a world-renowned sinologist and literary translator, best known for his translations of Chinese classics including The Story of the Stone,The Art of War, the I Ching, and the Tao Te Ching. From 2006 to 2016 he served as Professor of Chinese at the Australian National University. He is currently completing his translation of the remaining Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling. He is a Senior Honorary Research Fellow at the University of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ.
All are welcome. We hope you can join us for this stimulating conversation about the pleasures, desires and poetic sophistication of Chinese love literature through the ages.
Postgraduate and ECR Seminar Series 2026
The theme of the Global China Research Centre (GCRC) postgraduate and ECR seminar series 2026 is "China as Method: Encounters, Narratives, and Heritage". It draws on the conceptual framework developed by Mizoguchi Y¨±z¨, who called for rethinking global perspectives by viewing China not simply as an object of study but as a constitutive element of the world itself. We understand "China as Method" not as a prescriptive model, but as a flexible framework that encourages researchers to place approaches grounded in Chinese contexts at the centre of their inquiry and to reflect critically on how these perspectives interact with broader global formations.
Seminar Series Convenors
For more information about past and upcoming seminars in 2026, please visit .
Key Topics
This panel invites papers that examine the construction of the Other and the production of exotic knowledge within historical literature from the medieval period onward, with a focus on the Chinese context. We seek papers that explore how China was represented and understood as a site of otherness in premodern global discourse; and how foreign lands and peoples were conceptualised within historical Chinese texts. Topics may include, but are not limited to: depictions of the East and China in historical literature from a Global Medieval Perspective; accounts of China by early modern Western travellers and missionaries; and conceptions of ‘the Other Land’ (yiyu ÒìÓò) in Chinese historical sources from the 11th century onward.
This panel examines how stories – told from both Chinese and non-Chinese perspectives – (re)shape our understanding of China’s role and relationships in the world. We are interested in how narratives about cultural identity, historical memory, and future possibilities are constructed, circulated, and received across different cultural and political landscapes. Topics may include, but are not limited to: cross-cultural translation, adaptation, and reception; science fiction and the imagining of alternative Chinese and global futures; digital platforms and the (re)shaping of narrative power.
This panel explores how heritage has served as a key arena for negotiating modernity in China. It considers how different actors (such as state institutions, experts, and local communities) construct and contest ideas of value, authenticity, and authority. We are particularly interested in how Chinese approaches have interacted with Western models of conservation, as well as how local cases offer alternative ways of thinking about heritage. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: heritage and politics, heritage and cultural memory, heritage legislation and institutional practice, museum building and knowledge production, and ritual or landscape traditions that complicate material notions of value and authenticity.
