Zhongwen Red

Posted by Celia Walter | 17 May, 2009
Zhongwen Red
Zhongwen ('Chinese language') Red is a free online tool with which to learn and practise Mandarin Chinese. It is made up of 110 themed lessons which can be reached through a side bar on the main page. Lessons range from basic statements of place and identity to expressing more complex opinions and ideas. For each lesson, users are introduced to sample sentences, which are written in simpified Chinese characters, pinyin romanisation, and in English translation. There is also a literal translation of the meaning of each character to ease understanding of sentence structure. Users can download each lesson in Adobe pdf format for use offline. It is also possible to hear and then download sound files of native Chinese speakers reading through the phrases. Users can listen to two different native voices in order to listen to phrases in different accents and with different stresses.

Zhongwen Red is a useful supplementary online tool for those with a basic knowledge of Chinese sentence structure, tones and with a grasp of written characters. Those with no knowledge at all might find a more basic foundation helpful - however, this is not to deny the usefulness of Zhongwen Red as language learning continues. The resource also acts as a gateway to other online Chinese language teaching aids, including its companion websites, Zhongwen Green and Zhongwen Blue.
http://www.zhongwenred.com/

From Intute.ac.uk

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From: Backdoor Broadcasting Company

Posted by Celia Walter | 30 Apr, 2009

Backdoor Broadcasting Company. We are a mobile audio webcasting service, broadcasting sound or any audio source from anywhere to anywhere via the Internet. We are based in the United Kingdom, in Oxford, and at present only operate within the UK...

We offer two different kinds of services:

The Academic Service is specifically designed to broadcast academic conferences, symposia, public lectures and workshops to further the dissemination of academic research and knowledge. Our other service, the Sound Experiment, wishes to encourage new and experimental music, sound art and sonic events by making them available to the widest possible audiences...

Two items from the Academic Service archive

 

Professor Michael Mann (UCLA): Explaining the Rise and Fall of Fascism

speaker_michaelmannThe Birkbeck-Wiener Library joint lecture series cotinued on 15 April 2009 with a lecture by Professor Michael Mann on ‘Explaining the Rise and Fall of Fascism’. This lecture took place at Birkbeck, University of London (main building, Malet Street, WC1E 7HX, in Room B34) at 7pm.

Professor Michael Mann is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles and a world authority on political theory and history. He is widely well known for his publications on capitalism, nationalism, militarism, globalisation, imperialism, ethnic cleansing and fascism. His major works include ‘Fascists’, a comparative study of fascism in six European countries (2004); ‘The Dark Side of Democracy’ on ethnic cleansing (2004); ‘Incoherent Empire’ on contemporary American imperialism (2003); and the prize-winning series ‘The Sources of Social Power’ (Volume I: A History of Power from the Beginning to 1760, published in 1986, and Volume II: The Rise of Classes and Nation-States, 1760-1914, published in 1996).

The lecture is followed by a commentary from Professor Lucy Riall (Birkbeck), who has published widely on European and Italian history. Her most recent book is ‘Garibaldi: Invention of a Hero (2007), which analyses the political strategy behind the construction of a popular cult of Garibaldi in nineteenth century Europe.

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Round Table:  THE DECLINE AND RISE OF CHINA: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. Royal Holloway University of London Department of History

 

Dr Weipin Tsai: The ‘Self-Strengthening Movement’ Revisited

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Dr Chi-Kwan Mark:  Negotiating with Communism: Britain and China.

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Dr Evelyn Goh: China’s Rise and the Regional Hierarchy in East Asia

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Questions/Discussion

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WUN China Center

Posted by Celia Walter | 28 Apr, 2009
WUN Contemporary China Center
Part of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), the WUN China Center aims to combine the expertise of member institutions in the US, Great Britain, Australia, and China in order to reach a more thorough understanding of China and the Chinese through a cross-disciplinary approach. On the main page, users will find a textual introduction to the centre's aims and ideals, and can access links to staff members in participating universities (for example, UK members include The University of Bristol, The University of Leeds and The University of Sheffield, all leaders in East Asia research). The centre organises live 'virtual seminars' which can be accessed online by interested participants (international start times are listed), and details of past seminars can be viewed by e mailing the centre to request an authorisation password. subjects of past seminars cover: civil society in China; rural life; marriage and migration; the young in contemporary China; and educational inequalities in China.

Users will also find a list of past conferences and workshops organised by the centre. The organisational impetus behind the centre and WUN is The University of Leeds, UK, which is its main point of contact. Although some sections of the website appear to be maintained more often than others (the resources page, for example, needs to be filled, whilst the virtual seminar page is updated frequently), the resource remains valuable as an example of an innovative international, cross disciplinary approach to the study of China, which is moving further and further beyond the traditional 'Sinology' of the past. From Intute.ac.uk
http://www.wun.ac.uk/chinacenter/index.html

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China in Comparative Perspective Network (CCPN)

Posted by Celia Walter | 24 Jul, 2008
China in Comparative Perspective Network (CCPN)
The China in Comparative Perspective Network (CCPN) is coordinated by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). It offers taught courses and supports a global network of researchers focusing on inter-disciplinary and comparative approaches to the study of China in its Asian and global contexts.This includes coverage of Chinese economic history, politics, culture, sociology, media and international relations. Its website provides information on its aims, membership and activities. It includes details about courses, conferences and publications. These include the launch of working papers and an ejournal in 2009. Intute.ac.uk
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/CCPN/

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