2026 – 2027 Academic Year Schedule
Early China Seminar Lecture Series
Sponsored by
Tang Center for Early China;
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University;
Columbia University Seminars
Time
All Meetings are hosted on Friday, 4:30-6:30PM EST, unless otherwise noted, and open to members, affiliates, and graduate students.
For 2026-2027, the Early China Seminar will be in a hybrid mode. Remote attendees will be able to access seminar presentations online via Zoom. The Q&A sessions, however, will only be available to those who attend in person. Please click on ”Request Pre-circulated Paper” to register for the events. All visitors without a CUID are required to receive pre-authorization to gain access to Morningside campus as per guidelines of Columbia Morningside campus access.
We look forward to seeing you in our meetings!
Schedule
09/11/2026
Speaker: Liang Cai, University of Notre Dame
Title: “Convict Politics: From Utopia to Serfdom in Early China (221 BCE—23 CE)”
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: Faculty House and Zoom
10/09/2026
Speaker: Roderick Campbell, New York University
Title: “Manufacturing Early China (MERCH): A Multi-disciplinary Investigation into the Rise, Development and Impacts of Mass Production in Early China”
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: 403 Kent Hall and Zoom
12/11/2026
Speaker: Yong-ha Kim, Columbia University
Title: “Unified Variations: Reproducing Qin Imperial Edicts on Weights and Measures”
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: 403 Kent Hall and Zoom
01/29/2027
Speaker: Mercedes Valmisa, Gettysburg College
Title: “All Things Act: The Collective Character of Action”
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: Faculty House and Zoom
02/19/2027
Speaker: Heng Du, Wellesley College
Title: “Why Did Sima Qian Rank Confucius among the ‘Hereditary Houses’? — A New Interpretation”
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: Faculty House and Zoom
03/26/2027
Speaker: Avital Rom, University of Cambridge
Title: TBA
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: Faculty House and Zoom
04/09/2027
Speaker: Jue Guo, Bowdoin College
Title: TBA
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: Faculty House and Zoom
04/16/2027
Speaker: Jinsong Shi, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Title: TBA
Time: 4:30-6:30 PM EST
Venue: Faculty House and Zoom
