Scottish Centre for China Research

When: Wednesday 30 September 2026 at 4:00pm–5.30pm 
Where: The Board Room, 29 Bute Gardens, University of Glasgow and online with registration here.
 

Abstract: 

What did it mean to cultivate a modern Chinese identity through education in Europe in the early twentieth century? This book talk introduces Educating China in Europe: Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Modernity, 1907–1946, which examines the educational experiments and intellectual networks that connected China and Europe during a period of profound political and social transformation.
Focusing on the transnational Sino-French initiatives of the World Society—an anarchist learning association—the book explores how education became a tool for imagining and constructing a different kind of modern society. It traces the shift from early anarchist and cosmopolitan visions of education toward increasingly nationalist frameworks, paying particular attention to the lived experiences of Chinese students and workers in Europe and the pivotal role of the Sino-French Institute of Lyon.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Hongling Liang is Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Glasgow. Her research explores modern Chinese history through the lens of Sino-European intellectual exchanges and transnational knowledge dynamics. Her latest book, Educating China in Europe: Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Modernity, 1907–1946, examines these themes through the history of transnational educational initiatives during the first half of the twentieth century.


The Scottish Centre for China Research is grateful for the support of the MacFie Bequest for its seminar series.

For further information, contact Professor Jane Duckett <jane.duckett@glasgow.ac.uk>

First published: 24 September 2026

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