Dr Lindsay Shen, Director of Research and Head of the Division of Events Management, recently had her first book published by Hong Kong University Press. This is also the first proper academic study and major publication accomplished by academic staff at SBC.
In her new book “Knowledge is Pleasure – Florence Ayscough in Shanghai”, Dr Shen shows us the remarkable life of Ayscough as poet, translator, Sinologist, Shanghailander, photographer and early feminist champion of women’s rights in China. She also presents the great legacy Ayscough has left to the world, in particular, in introducing Chinese art and culture to the English language audience in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The biography work has been very well received in academia for its insightful and gentle exploration of the life and work of Ayscough. As Jane Portal at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston comments, “Lindsay Shen has brought Florence Ayscough to life and painted a fascinating picture of the many aspects of the life and of the foreign community in old Shanghai. Using enchanting prose, Lindsay shows us a scholarly and unusual woman who, in her study of Chinese language and culture, was ahead of her times.”
In addition to teaching, exhibition curation and art design, with continuous commitment to research in the areas of art and culture, Dr Shen has written a number of museum publications, architectural reviews, book chapters, journal articles as well as given papers in international conferences. However, speaking of her new book, Dr Shen said: “What was interesting to me about this project was that I was asked to write in a way that would be valuable to an academic audience, but also interesting and engaging to the general public.”
Dr Shen has been invited to speak at the Hong Kong International Literature Festival in mid October, which will also be the first appearance of the book.
This precedes another paper on Florence Ayscough and the Royal Asiatic Society that Dr Shen is going to give at the 2012 International Symposium on Sinology and Sin0-West Cultural Relation and Exchange, which will be held in Hangzhou in November. Professor Ian Gow OBE, Principal of SBC, has also been invited to be the moderator and speaker for the session on Missionary Schools and Colleges.
SBC has embarked on new initiatives to encourage research development with recent appointment of Dr Lindsay Shen as Director of Research. Under the new initiatives, support will be provided to faculty members and students to conduct and disseminate research through conference presentations, journal publications and e-resources. As a Sin0-foreign JV in higher education, SBC is especially keen to support research on China-related topics in any field.
