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Peking University students and their contemporaries from neighbouring universities will soon have the opportunity to learn from the University of Auckland's Associat Professor Ralph Buck about the transforming role of dance in the world today. Dr Buck is keen to inspire students on the role dance can play in our modern society, citing that "the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has identified these three key global challenges for the 21st Century, and sought ways of responding to them. How can people around the world feel safer and healthier, and be provided with learning that stimulates, emancipates and cultivates their lives? How might addressing these three issues of security, health and education resolve so many other ecological, political and economic problems facing humanity?" Students can be expected to challenge their notions of the role of dance, but can also be expected to provide Dr Buck with their own opinions on the status and legacy of traditional and contemporary dance at Peking University and wider China."
Dr Buck says that he intends to challenge students perceptions of the role of dance through an informative and innovative seminar series. He said of his seminar's content "these are not going to be the questions, or the key challenges, that people might generally associate with dance, or studying dance at a university. Perceptions of studying dance are often limited to the practice and performance of classical and contemporary styles of dance. Within innumerable cultures and subcultures around the world however, dance provides a central way of understanding and communicating ideas about the body, about relationships with other bodies, and about the surrounding physical, political and intellectual landscape." The seminars will be held on 8 and 10 December, 2016. If you are interested in attending, but are not a student or researcher at Peking University, you can contact the Centre liaison officers for more information. Dr Buck's seminar has been prepared as part of a Visiting Fellowship with the New Zealand Centre. If you are a member of the academic staff from any of our eight partner institutions and you are interested in attending a fellowship at Peking University, get in touch with our liaison officers to learn more about the application process. Visiting fellowships for New Zealand academics are held year-round at Peking University, across a broad range of departments, forming a significant contribution to the advancement of academic exchange between China and New Zealand. |
