BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:14393-9bd7a213a6018ac2624e7e94b156c8fd@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260905T141316Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250226T123000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250226T133000 SUMMARY:African Studies Brown Bag Lecture DESCRIPTION:\n“History Written in Advance: Christian Prophecy\, Chinese- Zambian Relations\, and Diffracted Modernity”\n\nOver the last decade\, Mandarin-language Jehovah’s Witness congregations have proliferated acro ss Zambia. These congregations are almost exclusively composed of local Zambians who have learned Mandarin as a second language but count few to no ethnic Chinese congregants. Though they find little success in conv erting Chinese migrants\, these Witnesses transgress common Zambian soci al norms by befriending Chinese migrants\, eating Chinese food\, and exp ressing appreciation for Chinese culture. Explaining their actions\, Wit nesses invoke and elide history in ways that erase national and racializ ed differences between themselves and Chinese migrants. They instead ac t upon a temporal horizon in which Biblical truths must be quickly sprea d before the rapidly approaching dissolution of the current system of th ings. In doing so\, they enact a diffracted modernity that appropriates modernity’s totalizing tropes while challenging the secular liberalism o f the nation-state\, as they anticipate the world entering its final yea rs before Jehovah God vanquishes all human-governed polities.\n\nJustin Lee Haruyama is an ACLS Yvette and William Kirby Centennial Fellow in Ch inese Studies and incoming assistant professor in the Department of Comm unity\, Culture and Global Studies at the University of British Columbia \, Okanagan. His work in China-Africa studies demonstrates how central s cholarly concepts such as race\, colonialism\, patriarchy\, and capitali sm are being fashioned anew by processes that do not have the West as th eir focal point.\n\nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/af r-brown-bag-lecture-haruyama/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

“Histor y Written in Advance: Christian Prophecy, Chinese-Zambian Relations, and Diffracted Modernity”

Over the last decade, Mandarin-lan guage Jehovah’s Witness congregations have proliferated across Zambia. T hese congregations are almost exclusively composed of local Zambians who have learned Mandarin as a second language but count few to no ethnic C hinese congregants. Though they find little success in converting Chine se migrants, these Witnesses transgress common Zambian social norms by b efriending Chinese migrants, eating Chinese food, and expressing appreci ation for Chinese culture. Explaining their actions, Witnesses invoke an d elide history in ways that erase national and racialized differences b etween themselves and Chinese migrants. They instead act upon a tempora l horizon in which Biblical truths must be quickly spread before the rap idly approaching dissolution of the current system of things. In doing s o, they enact a diffracted modernity that appropriates modernity’s total izing tropes while challenging the secular liberalism of the nation-stat e, as they anticipate the world entering its final years before Jehovah God vanquishes all human-governed polities.

Justin Lee Har uyama is an ACLS Yvette and William Kirby Centennial Fellow in Chinese Studies and incoming assistant professor in the Department of Co mmunity, Culture and Global Studies at the University of British Columbi a, Okanagan. His work in China-Africa studies demonstrates how central s cholarly concepts such as race, colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism are being fashioned anew by processes that do not have the West as their focal point.

For more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/ afr-brown-bag-lecture-haruyama/

LOCATION:335 Willard Building END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR