UC San Diego Humanities Professors Collaborate to Create New Book about Chinese Film
The University of California San Diego’s Division of Arts and Humanities is committed to interdisciplinary collaboration. Consistent with that approach is the Department of History’s Distinguished Professor Paul Pickowicz and Department of Literature Chair Yingjin Zhang, who have coedited the new book, “Filming the Everyday: Independent Documentaries in Twenty-First Century China” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017). The book includes essays about a Chinese film group led by Wu Wenguang, a former artist-in-residence at UC San Diego, who first revealed the struggles of rural people at a time when China’s state-controlled media depicted a thriving, modern country. The book’s debut happens to coincide with Pickowicz’s announcement of his retirement after more than 40 years. He will deliver a parting lecture entitled, “Very Close Encounters: Modern China at the Grassroots,” Jan. 18, 3 to 5 p.m., at the Faculty Club on campus.