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Research Group: Culture and Society

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).

Co-conveners

People

Events

Publications

Blog Posts

Shared Approaches and Prospects for Peace: Part 2

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.

Responses

Shared Approaches and Prospects for Peace: Part 1

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.

Responses