PROFESSOR JOAN JUDGE (YORK UNIVERSITY) JOAN JUDGE IS A 2021 GUGGENHEIM FELLOW, A FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA, AND A PROFESSOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AT YORK UNIVERSITY IN TORONTO. A CULTURAL HISTORIAN OF PRINT AND KNOWLEDGE IN MODERN CHINA, HER MOST RECENT PUBLICATION ISTHE POLITICS OF COMMON READING: VERNACULAR KNOWLEDGE AND EVERYDAY TECHNICS IN CHINA, 1894-1954WHICH IS FORTHCOMING FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS IN THE FALL OF 2025. SHE IS ALSO THE AUTHOR OFREPUBLICAN LENS: GENDER, VISUALITY, AND EXPERIENCE IN THE EARLY CHINESE PERIODICAL PRESS(UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 2015),THE PRECIOUS RAFT OF HISTORY: THE PAST, THE WEST, AND THE WOMAN QUESTION IN CHINA(STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2008), ANDPRINT AND POLITICS: ‘SHIBAO’ AND THE CULTURE OF REFORM IN LATE QING CHINA(STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1996). SHE IS CO-EDITOR OFTHE SINOSPHERE AND BEYOND: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF JOSHUA FOGEL(DEGRUYTER OLDENBOURG, 2024), “PUBLISHING FOR DAILY LIFE IN EARLY MODERN EAST ASIA,” (SPECIAL ISSUE OFLINGUA FRANCA: THE HISTORY OF THE BOOK IN TRANSLATION6 [2020]),WOMEN WARRIORS AND NATIONAL HEROES: GLOBAL HISTORIES(BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC, 2020),WOMEN AND THE PERIODICAL PRESS IN CHINA’S GLOBAL TWENTIETH CENTURY: A SPACE OF THEIR OWN?(CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2018), ANDBEYOND EXEMPLAR TALES: WOMEN’S BIOGRAPHY IN CHINESE HISTORY(UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 2011).

June 30, 2025 at 8:30 AM UTC

Many of the knowledges we can classify as vernacular were enacted by women in spheres that were largely governed by women: whether household maintenance, family emergencies, or basic healthcare. Accessing this level of knowledge and penetrating women’s experience, however, poses significant methodological challenges. Where can we look to find vernacular knowers who left few physical traces of what they thought or what they did? How can we begin to reconstitute what they knew, how they knew it, and how they applied it? I will explore ways of overcoming these methodological difficulties in this presentation. I will first define vernacular knowledge and introduce the genres of cheap print with which I am working. I will then introduce the notion of vernacular literacy which serves to expand our understanding of which women read, how they read, and where they read. Finally, I will use an assemblage of methods to create composites of individuals and attempt to reconstruct how particular historical women might have engaged in household science—to label clothing, preserve eggs, and treat a cholera infection. Ultimately the presentation interrogates the largely unacknowledged intersections between vernacular knowledge and science, and broadens our understanding of as yet little explored gendered modes of knowing.

SOURABH GUPTA, HEAD OF TRADE 'N TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM, INSTITUTE FOR CHINA-AMERICA STUDIES KEI KOIZUMI, EX-SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AT OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY CAROLINE S. WAGNER, PROFESSOR, JOHN GLENN COLLEGE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WILLIAM HANNAS, PROFESSOR AND LEAD ANALYST, CENTER FOR SECURITY AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY DENIS FRED SIMON, PRESIDENT, ALLIANCE OF GLOBAL TALENT ORGANIZATIONS

July 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM UTC

The U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA), renewed by the Biden administration in late 2024, continues to provide a foundational framework for bilateral scientific cooperation and competition. The latest renewal introduces significant revisions aimed at addressing strategic concerns, particularly by restricting collaboration primarily to basic research. Sensitive technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, and biotechnology are explicitly excluded. reflecting growing U.S. apprehensions about technological transfer, espionage, and national security risks. Emerging challenges since the STA’s renewal highlight intensified geopolitical tensions. The Biden administration has further tightened export controls and investment regulations, particularly affecting advanced technologies, thus constraining opportunities for collaborative research. This cautious climate has dampened academic exchanges and industry partnerships, leading to an increasingly guarded environment characterized by mutual suspicion and scrutiny of scientific interactions. The outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, resulting in the return of Donald Trump to office in 2025, introduces additional uncertainty into the future of U.S.-China scientific engagement. Trump’s campaign emphasized a more stringent approach to China, advocating decoupling in strategic technology areas, increased oversight of Chinese scholars in the U.S., and diminished support form multilateral scientific efforts. Under his administration, there is an expectation of renewed restrictive measures that could further limit bilateral cooperation in science and technology.