Becky Yang Hsu
Georgetown University
The U.S.-China Research Group on Culture and Society was a team of leading U.S. and Chinese scholars that met for dialogues around how American and Chinese individuals and families seek happiness in contemporary society.
From 2019 to 2024, Becky Hsu of Georgetown University and Teresa Kuan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong convened the U.S.-China Research Group on Culture and Society. The group held virtual and in-person meetings in Hong Kong and Washington D.C., discussing how citizens in both countries seek happiness in contemporary society. The scholars produced an initial background report, authored blog posts, hosted an online webinar, and published their research in an edited volume The Extraordinary in the Mundane: Family and Forms of Community in China (Columbia University Press, 2025).
Georgetown University
Chinese University of Hong Kong
University of California, San Diego
University of Coimbra
University of California, Los Angeles
Join us for a discussion with Becky Yang Hsu (editor) and Richard Madsen (contributing author) on their new publication The Extraordinary in the Mundane: Family and Forms of Community in China (Columbia University Press, 2025). The book brings together a diverse group of scholars to explore the many…
May 6, 2020
This background report provides a general overview of the evolution of the critical issue of culture and society in U.S.-China relations and its wider implications for world affairs.
August 29, 2021
In this blog post members of the U.S.-China Research Group on Culture and Society reflect on the two societies’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, how those responses have been shaped by systematic and cultural factors, and how it pertains to research group members’ scholarly work.
Gonçalo Santos | April 25, 2022
Richard Madsen | August 30, 2021
June 9, 2020
In this blog post members of the U.S.-China Research Group on Culture and Society reflect on the two societies’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, how those responses have been shaped by systematic and cultural factors, and how it pertains to research group members’ scholarly work.
Yunxiang Yan | July 18, 2020
Teresa Kuan | June 10, 2020