Today was probably the day with the most lectures. I learned so much from the three lectures. Each lecture was different from another. The first lecture we had was with Professor Zhang from the University of Hong Kong. She’s very knowledgeable in her field and came up with an analysis for sustainable development in China. She examined sustainability from the economics perspective by looking at the GDP growth and the inequality gap between urban and rural. She also informed us the difference between industrial development between China and the U.S by giving an example with cement. China used 2 gigatons more cement in three years than the U.S did in a century. In moving forward, Professor Zhang proposed that sustainability scientists should follow three steps. First, embrace “trans-disciplinary” research through deliberative democracy. Second, sustainability challenges should be approached with solutions across multiple spatial scales. Last but not least, both top-down and bottom-up manners have to be approached to make positive changes.
The second lecture of the day was about the history of China taught by Professor Lu with the focus on Xi’an. Modern day Xi’an was once the capital in many dynasties in China, but with different names. Professor Lu informed us about the writing history , philosophies, political ideology and cultural aspects of China. He mentioned the sophistication of Chinese innovation with an example of a fancy Qin chariot that was made approximately 2500 years ago. The Mandate of Heaven, Confucius ideas were also briefly described. One thing that stood out to me is the three orders: social, moral and political. These three concepts have heavily rooted in the Chinese culture.
Last lecture of the day was taught by our Professor Straus. She focused on Salmon Conservation. Through her lecture, we were able to collaborate with our Tsinghua peers. Not only we learned about the characteristics of salmon, we also learned about the Endangered Species Act, the removal dams as ways to protect salmon and marine life. One thing that shocked me was that sea lions are shot for eating salmon
3 / 3
by government agents.
Overall, the lectures were all informative and unique in their own ways. Each lecture could be expanded more because there are so much we haven’t learned about.
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