利玛窦电子游戏正规平台所 staff members and Fellows on the steps of their office headquarters on the Brighton Campus. Front row L-R seated: Xiaomin WEN, University of Hong Kong (中国) and Yi Wang, University of Cambridge (U.K.); Second row L-R standing: Xiangyi LIU, Pennsylvania State University, Miwon曹, Boston University; Third row L-R standing: Qi WANG, Sun Yat-sen University (中国), 两会的太阳, University of Notre Dame; Back row L-R standing: M. 安东尼J. Ucerler,年代.J., 利玛窦电子游戏正规平台所, 电子游戏软件, Yaliang傅, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (Italy), Zhangzhen梁, School of 的ology and Ministry, 电子游戏软件; Manuel Parada López de Corselas, Complutense University, Madrid (西班牙) Mark Mir, 利玛窦电子游戏正规平台所, 电子游戏软件, Robert Carbonneau, CP, University of Scranton. (Photo by Xiaoxin WU, 利玛窦电子游戏正规平台所)
的 利玛窦电子游戏正规平台所 for Chinese-Western Cultural History welcomed its latest cohort of doctoral and post-doctoral fellows this summer—the first to come to the internationally renowned research center for the study of Chinese-Western cultural exchange since its move earlier this year to 电子游戏软件 from its original home at the University of San Francisco.
Eleven Ricci Fellows, representing Italy, 西班牙, 中国, 和韩国, among other countries, spent the summer working at the institute’s headquarters at 2125 Commonwealth Avenue on the Brighton Campus. 的 scholars—who stayed together in University housing—made use of the institute’s vast holdings, including rare books, 手稿, and unique artwork from East Asia, to conduct research on subjects including music in Christianity, Chinese-Christian art history, and early Chinese translations of Biblical texts.
Doctoral fellow Xiangyu Liu also presented a public recital at the institute, performing traditional and modern music compositions from 中国, 日本, and the United States on the pipa or Chinese lute.
While the institute, which opened in 1984, has hosted doctoral and post-doctoral students throughout its history, the eight-year-old Fellows program is a key component of the Ricci mission, according to Director and Provost’s Fellow M. 安东尼J. Ucerler,年代.J.
“的 institute is committed to bringing young and senior researchers together in friendship and respect,他说. “We are helping them to create a network of fellow scholars and friends; there is nothing greater than that in Jesuit scholarship.”
Ricci Fellows have become valued members of the 耶稣会,天主教 education community, said Fr. Ucerler, noting that the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies international conference held at BC in early August included a panel presentation from former program participants.
“Ricci Fellowships allow these young people to deepen their research and knowledge, and often find new perspectives: Some have told us that the experience changed the whole direction of their scholarship.”
But the personal dimension of the Fellows program is not to be overlooked, he added: “It’s heartwarming to see the fellows become a community. 的y sit together in silence in the reading room for several hours a day working on their research, then socialize and enjoy one another’s company.”
Post-doctoral fellow Manuel Parada, an assistant professor of art history at the Complutense University of Madrid with an interest in Chinese-Christian art objects, agreed that the program represents an opportunity for growth and enrichment on many levels.
“Ricci offers rare materials I can’t find elsewhere,他说, pointing to a small cross representative of Chinese Christian cloisonné, an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects with colored material. “It’s also difficult to find a lot of Chinese researchers in this area of art history, so the fact that they are in the Ricci Fellows program is very helpful to me.
“We collaborate 24 hours a day, researching together, organizing seminars together, 一起做饭, 一起放松. It’s not just a fellowship, it’s a family relationship: Some of the former fellows come to visit, and they help us to make connections and discuss our research with us.”
Fr. Ucerler said the Ricci Fellows program’s philosophy echoes “one of 中国’s long, great traditions: Friendship through learning”—a maxim that is all too relevant in an era of geopolitical tensions, in East Asia and elsewhere.
“What we see today is all the politics raging above our heads,他说, “while on the ground, we have these young people being nurtured at a Jesuit university. 的y are the future of East-West dialogue.”
For more on the 利玛窦电子游戏正规平台所 for Chinese-Western Cultural History, visti blairekidsarts.net/ricci.
Sean Smith | University Communications | August 2022