UCI Libraries Newsletter, Spring 2009

Jeffrey Wasserstrom

The Libraries’ spring exhibit, “Shanghai’s Two Faces: Cosmopolitanism and Glocalization,” opens on April 22 at 5:30 p.m. in Langson Library. The exhibit depicts Shanghai’s transformation from a fishing and market town into a major global commerce and finance center.

The exhibit will portray two key time frames in Shanghai’s history: as a free treaty port from the late 19th century to the early 20th century and as an open economic development zone from the late 20th century to the present. The exhibit will also highlight how Shanghai has successfully evolved into the “Pearl of the East” due to local and global influences. Dr. Ying Zhang, Research Librarian for Asian Studies and a former college teacher in Shanghai, is the curator of the exhibit.

The opening night event will feature a talk titled “Imagining Shanghai: Representations of a Cosmopolitan City,” by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, UCI Professor of History. Dr. Wasserstrom is an expert on contemporary social, cultural and political issues relating to China, and has regularly traveled to and taught and written about the country for more than 20 years. His books include China’s Brave New World – And Other Tales for Global Times (2006) and, most recently, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: A History in Fragments (2008), which compares and contrast the two eras when the city was dramatically transformed, largely because of international flows of people, ideas, products, and capital. Wasserstrom writes regularly for China Beat, a popular UCI-based blog covering Chinese culture, and has contributed to Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, and the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal. He has been a guest on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and has been interviewed by BBC radio and on Australian television.

A reception and exhibit viewing will follow the program. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be on display through October 2009 in the Langson Library Reynolds Gallery during regular library hours. For more information or to make a reservation, please call the Library Development Office at 949.824.4651 or email partners@uci.edu.

Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community where one is free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments– i.e. at home all over the world.

Glocalization is the creation of products or services intended for the global market, but customized based on the local culture– i.e. to think globally and act locally.


		Jeffrey Wasserstrom The Libraries’ spring exhibit, “Shanghai’s Two Faces: Cosmopolitanism and Glocalization,” opens on April 22 at 5:30 p.m. in Langson Library. The exhibit depicts Shanghai’s transformation from a fishing and market town into a major global commerce and finance center. The exhibit will portray two key time frames in Shanghai’s history: as a free treaty port from the late 19th century to the early 20th century and as an open economic development zone from the late 20th century to the present. The exhibit will also highlight how Shanghai has successfully evolved into the “Pearl of the East” due to local and global influences. Dr. Ying Zhang, Research Librarian for Asian Studies and a former college teacher in Shanghai, is the curator of the exhibit. The opening night event will feature a talk titled “Imagining Shanghai: Representations of a Cosmopolitan City,” by Jeffrey Wasserstrom, UCI Professor of History. Dr. Wasserstrom is an expert on contemporary social, cultural and political issues relating to China, and has regularly traveled to and taught and written about the country for more than 20 years. His books include China’s Brave New World – And Other Tales for Global Times (2006) and, most recently, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: A History in Fragments (2008), which compares and contrast the two eras when the city was dramatically transformed, largely because of international flows of people, ideas, products, and capital. Wasserstrom writes regularly for China Beat, a popular UCI-based blog covering Chinese culture, and has contributed to Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, and the Asian edition of the Wall Street Journal. He has been a guest on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and has been interviewed by BBC radio and on Australian television. A reception and exhibit viewing will follow the program. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be on display through October 2009 in the Langson Library Reynolds Gallery during regular library hours. For more information or to make a reservation, please call the Library Development Office at 949.824.4651 or email partners@uci.edu. Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community where one is free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments– i.e. at home all over the world. Glocalization is the creation of products or services intended for the global market, but customized based on the local culture– i.e. to think globally and act locally.