Department of China Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University invites submissions for its Language, Values and Communication: Investigating the Grammar of Chinese Culture Workshop in Suzhou, 25-26 October 2025. Please read more for information on the workshop and the application guideline.
The proposed research workshop is a collaborative project that takes perspectives of different cultural enquiry disciplines as a starting point and aims to investigate the specificity of Chinese values, norms, and self-perception. In a search for the ‘inherent grammar’ of Chinese culture, it will employ methodologies and research procedures specific to various disciplines. This variety of enquiry styles and methods aims to provide a blueprint of the interconnectedness of language, values, communicative styles, and identity within Chinese cultural and linguistic reality. In this search for the logic of interconnectedness between values, language and identity, we welcome insights from disciplines such as linguistics, philosophy, arts, literature, and cultural psychology. Aiming to investigate the structure of a specific culture, we also hope to provide a platform for the circulation of ideas and mutual enrichment.
Funding provided by the Department of China Studies will offer ten limited stipends, available on a competitive basis, to cover three nights’ accommodation in Suzhou.
Submission Guidelines:
An abstract of 300 words should be submitted by 31 July 2025 to Paweł Zygadło at
pawel.zygadlo@xjtlu.edu.cn
Invited speakers:
Prof Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik,
Professor of Chinese art history and history, Department of Asian Studies, University of Ljubljana. Co-founder and first president of the European Association for Asian Art and Archaeology (EAAA) (2013–2023).
Prof Lisa Indraccolo,
Associate Professor of Chinese Studies, Institute of Humanities, Tallinn University. Affiliated member of the Zurich Center for the Study of the Ancient World (ZAZH). Vice-president of the European Association for Chinese Studies (2022–)
Prof Daniel Z. Kádár,
Chair Professor and Director of Centre for Pragmatics Research, Dalian University of Foreign Languages; Member of Academia Europaea.
Please contact Paweł Zygadło (pawel.zygadlo@xjtlu.edu.cn) for further inquiries.
