Professor Geremie R Barmé

Geremie R Barmé is an historian, cultural critic, filmmaker, translator and web-journal editor who works on Chinese cultural and intellectual history from the early modern period (1600s) to the present. He is a research professor and Australian Research Council Federation Fellow in the ANU College of Asia & the Pacific, The Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, where he also edits the online e-journal China Heritage Quarterly. He is presently working with the oral historian Sang Ye on a book entitled Inside the Rings of Beijing: China's Global Aura, a monograph related to The Dream of the Red Chamber and Qing history in modern China, and a study of the Garden of Perfect Brightness (Yuánmíng Yuán). His latest book is The Forbidden City (London: Profile Books and Harvard University Press, 2008). He is the Director of the Australian Centre on China in the World (CIW), ANU.

Trained in Chinese, classical and modern, Sanskrit and history, Barmé has lived and worked in China (where he studied from 1974 to 1977), Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. His other works include: the two-hour documentary film Morning Sun (2003), of which he was co-director with Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon and co-writer with Carma Hinton; An Artistic Exile: a life of Feng Zikai (1898-1975) (University of California Press, 2002), winner of the 2004 Joseph Levenson Prize for Modern China; In the Red, on contemporary Chinese culture (Columbia University Press, 1999); Shades of Mao: the posthumous career of the Great Leader (M.E. Sharpe, 1996); the three-hour documentary film on the 1989 mass protest movement in China, The Gate of Heavenly Peace (1995), for which he was the main writer and associate director. He also co-edited and co-translated the anthologies of 1980s Chinese literature, commentary and art: Seeds of Fire: Chinese Rebel Voices (1986, 1988, with John Minford) and New Ghosts, Old Dreams: Chinese Voices of Conscience (1992, with Linda Jaivin). For many years he wrote Chinese-language columns for the Hong Kong press (Ta Kung Pao 大公報 and The Nineties 九十年代月刊) and he has published two volumes of Chinese essays (《西洋鏡下》和《自行車文集》).

Main Publications

1. 'For Truly Great Men, Look to This Age Alone—was Mao Zedong a New Emperor?', in Timothy Cheek, ed., A Critical Introduction to Mao Zedong, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.243-72. Published in July 2010, this chapter is an historian's response to one of the central questions of modern Chinese history and contemporary politics.
2. 'China's Flat Earth, 8 August 2008', The China Quarterly, 197, March 2009, pp.64–86.
3. The Forbidden City, London: Profile Books/Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press, 2008, 250pp (with 17,000 words of extensive notes and source materials on the Internet at China Heritage Project).
4. China Candid: the People on the People's Republic, by Sang Ye, edited by Barmé with Miriam Lang, University of California Press, 2006, 338pp (an Italian translation of this book based on my edited and annotated version was also published in 2006).
5. Morning Sun, two-hour documentary film (co-directed and co-produced with Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon; co-written with Carma Hinton), Boston, 2003, and main writer and co-designer of the related website. The DVD version, produced in 2005, includes Chinese, French and German versions as well as extra interview material. This film won the 2004 American Historical Association, John E. O'Connor Film Award, as well as being nominated for awards by the National Film Board of Canada, the International Documentary Association, the Pare Lorentz Awards, and being named a finalist in the awards of the Banff Television Festival. This film is an account of the culture and thinking behind the Cultural Revolution with historical documentary footage and interviews with key participants. The archival website is widely used for pedagogical purposes.
6. An Artistic Exile: A life of Feng Zikai (1898-1975), Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002, 471pp. It received the world's foremost award for Chinese history, the Joseph Levenson Prize, in 2004 from the Asian Studies Association of America.
7. In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture, New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, 512pp. A study of post-1978 Chinese thought and culture, the complex interactions within Greater China and the global market of ideas in relation to China's authoritarian politics.
8. Shades of Mao: The Posthumous Cult of the Great Leader>, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1996 (Spanish translation, Las Sombras de Mao, Barcelona: Bellaterra, 2000), 321pp.
9. The Gate of Heavenly Peace, three-hour documentary film (associate director, senior academic adviser and main writer), Boston, 1995, and main writer and co-designer of the related archival website. Barmé was associate director, co-writer, and principal academic consultant for this film project, which premièred at the New York Film Festival.
10. Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience, with John Minford, Hong Kong: Far Eastern Economic Review, 1986; 2nd edition, New York: Hill & Wang, 1988; and, reissued with a new introduction by Noonday Press, 1989 (Japanese version, Hi no tane, Tokyo: Gaifu, 1986), 491pp.

Recent Publications (2005-2010)

Books

The Foribidden City, London: Profile Books and Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press, 2008, 250pp.

The Great Wall of China, edited with Claire Roberts, Sydney: The Powerhouse Museum, with the China Heritage Project, ANU, 2006, 300pp.

China Candid: the People on the People's Republic, by Sang Ye, edited by Barmé with Miriam Lang, University of California Press, 2006, 338pp.

Book Chapters

'For Truly Great Men, Look to This Age Alone—was Mao Zedong a New Emperor?', in Timothy Cheek, ed., A Critical Introduction to Mao Zedong, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp.243-72.

'Beijing Reoriented, an Olympic Undertaking', in Mary Farquhar, ed., 21st Century China: Views from Australia, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010, pp.1-33.

'Beijing, An Invisible City & An Intangible Heritage', in Michael Ewans, ed., Inspiration of Place: the Artistic Life of Cities, symposium volume produced by The Australian Academy of Humanities, 2010.

Q&A with Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, published online on 29 September 2009, on China's National Day parade and its antecedents, at The New Yorker Online reprinted as a chapter in Capturing the Year 2010, Canberra: College of Asia & the Pacific, The ANU, 2010, pp.125-30.

'Lives in Boxes: The Ins and Outs of Lois Conner's Crystal Palaces', Life in a Box, Photographs by Lois Conner, With an essay by Geremie R. Barmé, Hong Kong: Hanart TZ Gallery, 2010, pp.3-9.

'I'm So Ronree' in Gregor Benton and Lin Chun, eds, Was Mao Really a Monster? The Academic Response to Chang and Halliday's 'Mao: The Unknown Story', London: Routledge, 2009, pp.73-83. A 5,000-word review-essay resulting from research work (see below) and revised for publication as a chapter.

Three chapters revised on the basis of published work ('Torching the Relay', 'Painting Over Mao' and 'Facing up to Friendship'), in Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, et al, eds, 2008: A Year of Great Significance, Boulder, Co.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009, pp.69-78, 172, 212-15.

'The Revolution of Resistance' in Elizabeth Perry and Mark Selden, eds, Social Change in Contemporary China: Conflict and Resistance, London: Routledge, first published in 1999, revised for two later editions and fully revised and updated for the 3rd edition published in 2009.

'Prince Gong's Folly', in Roberts and Barmé, eds, The Great Wall of China, pp.240-248.

'Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Another New Long March', in the catalogue of the Fifth Asia-Pacific Triennial, Queensland Art Gallery, 2006. Published also in the Review Supplement of The Australian Financial Review on 24 November 2006.

Three chapters ('Facing Up to Friendship', 'Thirsty Dragon at the Olympics' by Dai Qing [translated by Barmé] and 'Painting Over Mao') in 2008: Capturing the Year, edited by Robin Jeffrey and Barbara Nelson, ANU: College of Asia & the Pacific, 2009, pp.1-4, 69-74 & 82-84.

'Guan Wei's Curiosity Cabinet', in Claire Roberts, ed., Other Histories: Guan Wei's Fable for a Contemporary World. Documentation of an Exhibition, Sydney: Wild Peony, 2008, pp.120-27.

Refereed Journal Articles

'China's Flat Earth, 8 August 2008', The China Quarterly, 197, March 2009, pp.64–86.

'Beijing, a garden of violence', Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Vol.9, No.4, 2008, pp.612-639.

'Shared Values: A Sino-Australian Conundrum', JOSA (Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia), vol.28 (2006): 60-67. (Published 2008.)

Other Publications

In March 2005, I launched with Dr Bruce G Doar the e-journal China Heritage Newsletter. Published under the aegis of the China Heritage Project, ANU College of Asia & the Pacific, the journal was renamed China Heritage Quarterly in June 2006.

'Focus: The Heritage of Shanghai', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 22 (June 2010).

'Shanghai: Harmonising History', Editorial China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 22 (June 2010).

Editorial Introduction to 'Yawning Heights: Chan Koon-chung's Harmonious China', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 22 (June 2010).

Editorial Introduction to 'The History Lessons of Yuan Tengfei', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 22 (June 2010).

'Focus: The Architectural Heritage of Tianjin', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 21 (March 2010).

'Focus: The Heritage of Books, Collecting and Libraries', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 20 (December 2009).

'Research Notes: National Commemorative Ceremonies', by Geremie R Barmé and Sang Ye, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 20 (December 2009).

'The Great Yu Da Yu 大禹: A Temple 禹庙 and a Tomb 禹陵', Sang Ye and Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 20 (December 2009).

'Commemorating Confucius in 1966-67: The Fate of the Confucius Temple, the Kong Mansion and Kong Cemetery 孔庙、孔府、孔林', Sang Ye and Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 20 (December 2009).

'Focus: The Heritage of T'ien Hsia, All-Under-Heaven' and 'Editorial: Everything in the World', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 19 (September 2009).

'Focus: The Heritage of Commemoration, Part II' and 'Editorial: Living the Heritage', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 18 (June 2009).

'1969: April Fools' Day', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 18 (June 2009).

'1999: The First Half-century', Geremie R. Barmé and Lois Conner, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 18 (June 2009).

'2009: The Long Bow Appeal', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 18 (June 2009).

'Focus: The Heritage of Commemoration' and 'Editorial: Anniversaries in the light, and in the dark', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 17 (March 2009).

Editorial Introduction to Xu Jilin, 'Historical Memories of May Fourth: Patriotism, but of what kind?', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 17 (March 2009).

'Thirteen National Days, a retrospective', by Sang Ye and Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 17 (March 2009).

'Confession, Redemption and Death', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 17 (March 2009), full reprint of a 1990 chapter.

'Lieux de Memoire', by Sang Ye and Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 17 (March 2009).

'Focus: The Heritage of Beijing Water', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 16 (December 2008).

'Hidden Mansions: Beijing from the Air (Part I)', by Sang Ye and Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 16 (December 2008).

'Focus: Beijing, the Invisible City', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 14 (June 2008).

Editorial Introduction to Dai Qing, '1948: How Peaceful was the Liberation of Beiping?', The Sixty-eighth Morrison Lecture, 5 September 2007, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 14 (June 2008).

'Zhu Qiqian's Silver Shovel', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 14 (June 2008).

'Beijing Underground', Sang Ye and Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 14 (June 2008).

'A Beijing That Isn't (Part I)', Sang Ye and Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 14 (June 2008).

'Focus: Zhai, the Scholar's Studio', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 13 (March 2008).

'Focus: Wangfu, the Princely Mansions of Beijing' and 'Editorial: Princely Mansions', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 12 (December 2007).

'Downward Spiral: from Palace to Mansion to Temple to Museum', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 12 (December 2007).

'Editorial: Yuanming Yuan, the Garden of Perfect Brightness' and 'Editorial: Between Between Ruination and Restoration', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 8 (December 2006).

'The Garden of Perfect Brightness, a life in ruins', online reprint of 1996 Morrison Lecture, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 8 (December 2006).

'Gong Xiaogong and the Sacking of the Garden of Perfect Brightness', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 8 (December 2006).

'On Stage & Screen', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 8 (December 2006).

'Lois Conner: A Photographer in the Garden', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 8 (December 2006).

'The Lei Family Builders', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 8 (December 2006).

Encyclopaedia Entries

Nineteen entries, some 14,000 words in total, in The Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture, edited by Edward L. Davis, London & New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. These entries range over topics such as the architecture of Beijing, heritage sites, Chinese skyscrapers, shopping malls, political language and cultural trends.

Translations

'Shanghai Culture Lost 上海：城市风情依旧，文化何处寻觅?', by Xu Jilin, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 22 (June 2010).

'Australia and China in the World', The 70th George E Morrison Lecture, Hon Kevin Rudd, 23 April 2010, Chinese translation by Barmé and Sang Ye with others, '"Àòdàlìyà Zhōngguó yú Shìjiè", zài dì 70 cì Mòlǐxún jiǎngzuòshàngde jiǎnghuà' (《澳大利亚中国与世界': 在第70次莫理循讲座上的讲话》). For the English-language original see PM Rudd archive.

'The Han Supremacist: Sang Ye interviews Zhai Quan'an', with an introduction by the translator, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 20 (December 2009).

'1949-2009: Sixty Years Out of Range—an oral history interview by Sang Ye', with an introduction and extensive footnotes by the translator, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 19 (September 2009).

'Trading on Heritage 一切都是可以交换的', Xu Zhiyuan, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 18 (June 2009).

'1979: Huang Shan, Selling Scenery to the Bourgeoisie, an Oral History Account of Chinese Tourism, 1949-1979', by Sang Ye, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 18 (June 2009), translated, edited and introduced.

'Beijing: an Aqueous Heritage', by Dai Qing, edited and translated by Geremie R Barmé, China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 16 (December 2008).

'The Torch-bearer—An Interview by Sang Ye', translated by Geremie R Barmé published online during the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics by Danwei and, China Digital Times.

'Thirsty Dragon at the Olympics', Dai Qing, The New York Review of Books, lead story 6 December 2007, Vol.54, No.19, pp.1-2.

'1948: How Peaceful was the Liberation of Beiping?', by Dai Qing, The Sixty-eighth Morrison Lecture, 5 September 2007, The Australian National University, translated by Geremie R Barmé and John Minford.

'A Frustrated Cat', a translation of an oral history interview by Sang Ye with a police forensic scientist published in coordination with a review of the new Police Museum in Beijing in China Heritage Newsletter (subsequently Quarterly), Issue 3 (September 2005).

'Beijing's Bloody August', a translation of two oral history interviews by Sang Ye on the Cultural Revolution with an introduction by Barmé, published online in Beijing on 19 August 2006 by Danwei.

'Another National Day', a translation of two oral history interviews by Sang Ye on the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, published online in Beijing on 28 September 2006, by Danwei.

Seven oral history interviews by Sang Ye related to the Great Wall of China, for the book of the same name, The Great Wall of China, Sydney: The Powerhouse Museum, 2006, pp.33-35; 57-61; 128-129; 189-191; 228-229; and, 249-251.

Articles and Review-essays

'Strangers at Home', The Saturday Essay, Wall Street Journal, 17 July 2010. Reprinted in East Asia Forum, excerpted in Danwei and numerous links.

'The Peaceful Evolution of Information in China', published by 'China Beat' on 29 January 2010. Reprinted in „Gazeta Swiateczna", the Saturday edition of „Gazeta Wyborcza" in Poland in February 2010. Chinese translation: 'Hépíng yǎnbiànde zuótiān jīntiān' 《和平演变的昨天今天》 17 May 2010.

'China's Promise', published online by 'China Beat' on 20 January 2010, and immediately reprinted on the 'History News Network' and 'China Digital Times'. A shorter version of the essay was published under the same title by East Asia Forum on 21 January.

'The Long Bow Appeal', 15 April 2009, by Barmé, Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon.

'The Shock of the Obvious: a Note on Jed Perl', Art AsiaPacific, 15th Anniversary Issue, No.61 (Nov./Dec. 2008): 73.

'1948 & 2008: The George E Morrison Lectures and Beijing's Years of Great Significance', China Beat, 27 October 2008.

'Olympics come to life as a painting by Beijing and athletes', an opinion piece for Sydney Morning Herald published on 11 August 2008 following the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Revised as 'Painting Over Mao: Notes on the Inauguration of the Beijing Olympic Games', published online by China Beat (University of Southern California Irvine) on 12 August. This was also linked to Danwei on 14 August 2008.

'Talk About the Wind and Moon', an essay on Olympic etiquette published by Danwei on 31 July 2008.

'Olympic Art and Artifice, Inside the "imagineering" of the Beijing Olympics', The American Interest, Vol.III, No.6 (July/August 2008): 72-78.

'Worrying China & New Sinology', 3 July 2008, keynote address, Asian Studies Association of Australia, Melbourne.

'Milking Wolves' Totem—reading Linda Jaivin on Jiang Rong's lupine love story', Danwei, 8 May 2008 (referred to by Jeffrey Wasserstrom in China Beat, and then in the New York Times blog).

'Mirrors of History: On a Sino-Japanese Moment and Some Antecedents', a workshop paper (see Talks below), reprinted online on 2 May 2008 in the Beijing web-journal Danwei. Originally published in Japan Focus online newsletter, 11 May 2005, and, on 12 May 2005, featured on 'Historians' Take on the News' on the History News Network.

'Rudd rewrites the rules of engagement', Opinion, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 April 2008. This was linked-to by John Pomfret's Washington Post blog.

'Paper Tigers', reprinted online in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics under the title 'Paper Tigers, whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears', 7 February 2008 with an editorial note by Jeremy Goldkorn. Originally published in Beijing Scene, Volume 5, Issue 25, 10-16 September 1999.

'Sharing Values', Griffith Review: In the Neighbourhood, 18 (Summer 2007-2008): 47-50.

'The Burdens of Spoof', The Diplomat, Vol.6, No.2 (June/July 2007): 64-65.

'Telling Selves & Talking Others', ArtAsiaPacific, No.52 (March-April 2007): 72-75.

'I'm So Ronree', an invited 5,000-word review-essay of Chang Jung and Jonathan Halliday, Mao: the Untold Story in The China Journal, No. 55 (January 2006): 128-139. Reprinted online by UC Berkeley's China Digital Times. Subsequently revised as a book chapter, published in 2009 (see above under Chapters in Academic Volumes).

'After the Future in China', published as 'After the Future', Review Supplement of The Australian Financial Review, 29 September 2006, lead story. A full digital version was posted by China Digital Times (Zhōngguó shùzì shídài) on 21 November 2006.

'Let the Spiel Begin', published in the Review Supplement of The Australian Financial Review, 14 July 2006. An earlier version of this was published by UC Berkeley's China Digital Times (Zhōngguó shùzì shídài), May 2006, and the full version also appeared online in Beijing on Danwei, 24 July 2006.

'"Tiananmen Follies": An Exchange', by Dai Qing and Geremie Barmé, The New York Review of Books, Vol. 53, No. 7 (27 April 2006).

'A Year of Some Significance', published without notes as 'Historical Distortions', front page of the Review Supplement of The Australian Financial Review, 31 March 2006. Reprinted by UC Berkeley's China Digital Times (Zhōngguó shùzì shídài), with notes.

'Is Taiwan the End of Chinese History?', the Review, supplement of The Australian Financial Review, review-essay, 16 December 2005.

'The Case of Dai Qing' by Geremie Barmé and Jonathan Unger, The New York Review of Books, Vol. 52, No. 18 (17 November, 2005).

'Dissenting from Ba Jin', 30 October 2005, posted at various sites, including Danwei and published under the title 'A Dissenting View on Ba Jin' in Far Eastern Economic Review, November 2005, Vol.168, No.10, pp.53-55.

'Wrong Country, Wrong Century', published in the Opinion supplement to The Australian, 8 June 2005 under the title 'Under the bamboo curtain and into Vanstone limbo'. Reprinted under the title 'Chen Yonglin: Wrong Country, Wrong Century' in Online Opinion, 9 June 2005.

'On New Sinology', Chinese Studies Association of Australia Newsletter, No.31, May 2005: 5-9.

'Size Matters—the Deceptive Stature of China Today', the Inquirer supplement to The Weekend Australian, 16-17 April 2005, under the title 'Where Hard Men Rule'.

Book Reviews

'Worrying with Gloria', 19 December 2007, book launch speech posted on Harvard University Press website.

'Hu's First Emperor', a review of Frances Wood, The First Emperor of China, Profile Books, London, 2007. Published as 'The First Emperor of China', The Times, London, 8 September 2007.

'Uncivil War', a review of Roderick MacFarquhar & Michael Schoenhals, Mao's Last Revolution, Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006, Financial Times, 25 August 2006.

'Length Does Matter', published as 'Another two bricks in the wall', review of The Long March, by Sun Shuyun, London: HarperCollins and The Great Wall: China Against the World, 1000BC-2000AD, by Julia Lovell, London: Atlantic Books in The Times, 18 March 2006.

Essays in Memoriam

'Vale: David Hawkes, Liu Ts'un-yan, Alaistair Morrison', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 19 (September 2009), available online.

'Vale: Yang Xianyi 楊憲益', China Heritage Quarterly, Issue 20 (December 2009).

Published Interviews

Online interview in The New Yorker, 29 September 2009, with Evan Osnos.

'The Boston Long Bow Group, Chai Ling and "The Gate of Heavenly Peace": Geremie R Barmé responds to "China Beat"', linked to Danwei in Beijing on 27 April 2009.

Online filmed interview, 'The Crystal Palace' related to my work on the Forbidden City in Beijing, through Danwei, posted on 23 July 2008.

'Torching the Relay', 4 May 2008, an interview-analysis of the 2008 International Olympic Torch Relay posted by the UC Irvine-based academic site China Beat.

'Sinology is not a dirty word', interview in That's Beijing, April 2008.

Keynote Addresses

'Airs of the Imperial—gardens and power in China', keynote address at the 'Artful Retreat: Garden Culture of the Qing Dynasty', Harvard University and Peabody Essex Museum, 13 November 2010.

'Rival Elites', closing keynote address, 'Elites and their Rivals in China: yesterday, today and tomorrow', Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, 20 July 2010.

'Worrying China & New Sinology', 3 July 2008, keynote address, Asian Studies Association of Australia, Melbourne.

'Beijing Reoriented, an Olympic Undertaking', an opening address at the Chinese Studies of Association biennial conference, Brisbane, 27 July 2007 (subsequently published in an edited volume, see above).

'More New Sinology' (under the title: 'Shared Values: a Sino-Australian cross-cultural conundrum'), keynote speech at the 50th anniversary meeting of the Australian Oriental Studies Association, at Sydney University, 3 December 2006.

'Blogging in Prada', keynote address to the Internet and China Symposium, Melbourne University, 3 November 2006.

Invited Conference Presentations

'Chinese Studies Today—New Sinology and the Australian Centre on China in the World', at the conference Producing Knowledge About China, University of California, Berkeley, 7-8 May 2010.

'Red Allure and the Crimson Blindfold', at the conference Red Legacies in China, Fairbank Center, Harvard University, 2-3 April 2010.

'Anniversaries in the light, and the dark', at the conference 'China and the West Today: Lessons from Matteo Ricci', organized by the Giorgio Cini Foundation, Venice, 27-29 May 2009.

Roundtable on 'Worrying About China', Asian Studies Association of America, Chicago, 27 March 2009.

'Beijing, the Invisible City', for 'Inspiration of place: the artistic life of cities', The 39th Annual Symposium of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, The Sydney Opera House, 14 November 2008. (Published as a chapter in the Symposium volume, see above.)

'蘊: What Is and Isn't Possible?', a speech given at the 'What's Possible?' workshop held at Zendai MoMA, Shanghai, 20 April 2008, organized by Huangfu Binghui, deputy director, Zendai MoMA. Revised for publication (forthcoming).

'Eating Chinese—the History Banquet', conference paper for 'The Future of US-China Relations', the inaugural conference of the US-China Studies Centre of the University of Southern California, 20-21 April 2007.

'After the Future in China', Adelaide workshop for teachers of Asian Studies, Flinders University, 7 April 2006; repeated with revisions during 'The Year of East Asia' program, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 24 April 2006. (Published in Financial Review, 2006, see above.)

'Liberace and Elvis Race Off the Metrosexual', discussant's peroration at the 'Moving Masculinities' conference, 2 December 2005, ANU.

'Beijing, a garden of violence', Urban Imaginaries Roundtable, 2 July 2005, Humanities Research Centre, ANU, an Australian Research Council-funded symposium organized by Meaghan Morris (Lingnan College, Hong Kong) and Caroline Turner (CCC, ANU). (Published as a refereed article, see above.)

'Open Skylights and Closed Books', Books and History Colloquium, 1 July 2005, Sydney University.