Waterville Public Library

The Waterville Public Library is partnering with the Maine Humanities Council, the Margaret Chase Smith Foundation and the Mid-Maine Global Forum to present a three-part speakers series, The World in Your Library.

Political Satire and the Authoritarian State in Contemporary China: 12 p.m., Wednesday, September 20, at the Alfond Youth Center, 126 North Street, Waterville, ME with Dr. Hong Zhang, Associate Professor of East Asian Studies, Colby College. The 9/20 event is a joint program of the Mid-Maine Global Forum and the Waterville Public Library.

To register for lunch, email: Elizabeth Helitzer at Elizabeth.Helitzer@maine.edu with your lunch choice. Lunch includes soup, sandwich, coffee, tea and dessert.
Please indicate your sandwich choice:
Turkey with LT on wheat, Chicken salad with LT on Brioche roll, or Veggie wrap.
Lunch catered by KVCC for $10. Please pay at the door.
Please register for this Wednesday lunch program no later than Monday September 18, 2017.

HONG ZHANG
Associate Professor of East Asian Studies, Colby College
Wednesday, September 20, 2017 @ 12:00p
Alfond Youth Center, 126 North Street, Waterville, ME 04901
Mid-Maine Global Forum & Waterville Public Library Event
Political Satire and the Authoritarian State in Contemporary China
One new social phenomenon in China’s post-Mao reform era is the resurgence and wide-spread popularity of political satire. Diverse and pungent satirical sayings of reform-era China poke fun at corruption, hypocrisy, bureaucratic inefficiency, as well as voice outcries at new social ills and injustices. This talk explores the popularity and role of political satire as a form of protest to vent dissent in the authoritarian China, and argues that as a social barometer, the political satire provides us an important window to understand how Chinese people develop their political astuteness through producing, circulating, and consuming political humor and satire in contemporary China.  
 

Dr. Hong Zhang obtained her Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University and a recipient of Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award. She is currently Associate Professor of East Asian Studies at Colby College, where she teaches both Chinese language and Chinese culture courses. Her research interests include changing family life and marriage patterns, gender and intergenerational relations, impact of one-child policy and new eldercare patterns, the development of civil society and NGOs and the politics of satire and humor in contemporary China. She has published book chapters and top-tier peer-review articles in Signs, China Quarterly, China Journal, Journal of Contemporary China, Asia Anthropology and Journal of Long Term Home Health Care. 

 
The Waterville Public Library has selected three speakers and topics for hour long presentations on global and domestic issues. The schedule of the series is as follows:
 
Political Satire and the Authoritarian State in Contemporary China: 12 p.m., Wednesday, September 20, at the Alfond Youth Center, 126 North Street, Waterville, ME with Dr. Hong Zhang, Associate Professor of East Asian Studies, Colby College. The 9/20 event is a joint program of the Mid-Maine Global Forum and the Waterville Public Library. To register for lunch, email: Elizabeth Helitzer at Elizabeth.Helitzer@maine.edu with your lunch choice. Lunch includes soup, sandwich, coffee, tea and dessert. Please indicate your sandwich choice: Turkey with LT on wheat, Chicken salad with LT on Brioche roll, or Veggie wrap. Lunch catered by KVCC for $10. Please pay at the door. Please register for this Wednesday lunch program no later than Monday September 18, 2017.

Educational Funding for Equity in Maine: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, September 26, at the Waterville Public Library, 73 Elm Street, Waterville, ME 04901 with Dr. Flynn Ross, ETEP Coordinator, University of Southern Maine.

 
Envisioning Waterville: A Photographic and Postcard History: 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 17, at the Waterville Public Library, 73 Elm Street, Waterville, ME 04901 with Dr. Libby Bischof, Associate Professor of History and Department Chair, University of Southern Maine.
 
This lecture series is made possible by the Maine Humanities Council. The hour long programs are free and open to the public.
 
FMI: www.watervillelibrary.org