International Symposium on Global Chinese Philanthropy
March 19-20 (Friday & Saturday) PST, 2021
Co-Organizers
Asia Pacific Center, UCLA International Institute
Long US-China Institute, University of California, Irvine
Co-Sponsors
Center for Chinese Entrepreneur Studies, Tsinghua University, China
Academy of Overseas Chinese Studies, Jinan University, China
Faculty of Social Sciences, the University of Hong Kong
Chinese Heritage Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Tun Tan Cheng Lock Centre for Social and Policy Studies, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia

Call for Papers

The UCLA Asia Pacific Center (APC) and the UCI Long US-China Institute are jointly organizing an international symposium on global Chinese philanthropy to be held on the UCLA campus March 19-20, 2021. The symposium will use a hybrid format that combines “live” in-person and virtual panels. The aim of the symposium is to promote research on global Chinese philanthropy, address the knowledge gap on the contributions by Chinese overseas and diasporic Chinese in the area of philanthropy, with a focus on the diverse patterns and varying impacts of giving in Chinese diasporic communities in Asia, Southeast Asia, and North America and from interdisciplinary (e.g., humanities and social sciences) and comparative (past v. present, different Chinese societies, Chinese v. Western, etc.) perspectives. Main research themes may include:

• Comparative philanthropy in the Chinese diaspora
• Diasporic Chinese entrepreneurship and philanthropy
• Family business, family wealth, and social responsibility
• Trade associations and chambers of commerce
• Cultures of giving
• Impacts of philanthropic giving in the areas of environment and sustainable development; education; health; child and youth development; anti-poverty, etc.
• Civil Society and NGOs
• Second-generation philanthropy
• Methodologies in philanthropy research
• Global Chinese philanthropy in the age of COVID-19*

We invite submissions of research papers on the above themes. Please submit your paper title and an abstract (300-600 words) by October 31, 2020, and include your name, title, and departmental and institutional affiliations. We will notify authors by December 1, 2020 with the expectation of receiving full papers by February 19, 2021.

*The Global Chinese Philanthropy Initiative (GCPI) will offer a limited number of research grants of up to $5,000 for papers that present research on global Chinese philanthropy in the age of COVID-19. If you are interested in pursue this research, you must submit a proposal (1-2 pages) following the regular submission process, in which you should include: (1) title and abstract, (2) plan for research before the conference date, and (3) budget itemizing any research expenses.

Contact: Elizabeth Leicester, APC Executive Director at eleicester@international.ucla.edu. You may email Professor Min Zhou at mzhou@soc.ucla.edu regarding substantive issues related to your research.

About the UCLA Asia Pacific Center (APC) 

The UCLA APC promotes greater knowledge and understanding of Asia and the Pacific region on campus and in the community through innovative research, teaching, public programs, and international collaborations. It focuses on inter-Asian and transpacific connections from historical, contemporary, and comparative perspectives and encourages interdisciplinary work on cross-border and supranational issues. APC is home to the UCLA Program on Central Asia, Taiwan Studies Program, and Hong Kong Studies Program. It is an academic partner of the GCPI. Website: https://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/

About the UC Irvine Long US-China Institute

The UC Irvine’s Long U.S.-China institute serves to enhance and facilitate knowledge about the opportunities and challenges of China’s rise. It focuses on four key areas: (i) economic growth, trade and investment, (ii) social development and justice, (iii) philanthropy and wealth management, (iv) risk and regulation. In addition, the institute seeks to facilitate work that bridges the divide between scholarly, general interest, and policy-oriented discussions of China via projects that support and train public intellectuals and connect academics with those outside of the academy with shared interests and concerns. Website: https://www.law.uci.edu/centers/long-institute/

About the Global Chinese Philanthropy Initiative (GCPI)

The GCPI is a collaborative project initiated by Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles (AAAJ), the UCI Long U.S.–China Institute, and the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. The GCPI mission is to build a global platform for research and inter-campus collaborations. The project is currently proceeding into Phase III. Phase I focused on a review of the existing literature on Chinese and Chinese American philanthropy with a series of working papers (including a comparative study of four Chinese societies: mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore). Phase II included the building of an interactive GCPI website, a collection of 68 profiles of distinguished Chinese and Chinese American philanthropists in a report and dissemination of the report via a series of launch events, and the publication of an academic journal special issue (China Nonprofit Review, vol. 11, 2019). Through the initial two phases of the GCPI project, the APC at UCLA and the Long US-China Institute at UC Irvine have established partnerships with each other and with institutions in China and Southeast Asia on which to strengthen and expand networks of scholars, philanthropists, and professionals globally. Phase III is planned as a five-year research program that aims to: (1) advance the phenomenon of global Chinese philanthropy as an area of intellectual inquiry; (2) strengthen and expand a scholarly network globally to promote research by established and emerging scholars, (3) create a sustainable platform for research and teaching through new courses, a research database, and institutional linkages, and (4) establish a public engagement hub based in Southern California to enhance the knowledge and understanding of Chinese philanthropy and visibility of philanthropists of Chinese descent around the world. Three international symposia featuring innovative and comparative research on global Chinese philanthropy will be organized in 2021, 2023 and 2025. For more detail, visit https://www.globalchinesephilanthropy.org/gcpi