In my mind, the Great Wall of China is an unprecedented feat of engineering that symbolizes an epic transformation - a structure that once was meant to keep people out, now welcomes millions into the country. In many ways, our knowledge of Rheology and our outlook on China went through a transformation of a similar scale over the course of the 2019 SCPKU rheology seminar.

Image

The rheology seminar offered by Prof. Gerry Fuller, started in mid-July with 15 students from diverse backgrounds – eight from Stanford and seven from the Chinese universities of Peking, Tsingua and Beihang. Together, over the course of eight lectures, we learned the fundamentals of rheology and its indispensable applications. The ones that excited us include predicting the stability of therapeutic solutions, designing materials for 3D printing and stabilizing/destabilizing foams and emulsions. The lectures were accompanied by two field trips that complemented the lecture content. The first one took us to a research lab in Beihang university where we got to observe advanced rheometric tools used to measure properties of soft living matter. The second one took us to the upstream and downstream divisions of the CNPC – one of the largest oil and gas producers in the world. There we learned about industry-grade high-throughput machinery used for enhanced oil recovery and processing. To top it off, the last two days of class were devoted to individual research presentations from students. This final session gave us a clearer understanding of the diverse research topics pursued by each student and the creative utilization of the material in different specializations. Aside from a good grasp of rheology, the seminar fostered strong professional connections and research collaborations. In particular, I am excited about a research collaboration that has been established between the research groups of Prof. Masao Doi at Beihang university and that of Prof. Gerry Fuller at Stanford.

Image

Along with the professional connections, what made the whole experience truly memorable were the close personal friendships that were formed. Right from day one, every Stanford student was paired with a student from one of the Chinese Universities. What followed were unforgettable experiences – be it a trip within the campus or around the forbidden city – there was never a wasted moment. The icing on the cake was undoubtedly the last day of class. After an exuberant dinner at SunLiTun, we all took off for an essential KTV party. We celebrated through the night, singing a mix of Chinese, Spanish and English. (My personal favorite was of course the trip to the Great Wall, and did I mention that all the Stanford students now have Chinese names?)

To sum it up, I would like to highlight the message delivered by the executive director of SCPKU on the first day of class, which I believe also embodies the vision of the SCPKU and its supporters. We need future leaders who can enhance international relationships, embrace diversity and encourage science. What better way to secure this future than to bring eager young minds from leading universities together and encourage them to live, love and learn with each other before they take on global responsibilities. 

With amazing programs like these, I am hopeful that any walls that are built in the future, like the Great Wall of China, will be to celebrate science and bring people together.

Image

Image

The Stanford Center at Peking University announced its newest pre-doctoral fellows and graduate seminar from July 2019 application round.

Image

SCPKU Announces Newest Fellows and Graduate Seminar
 

Pre-Doctoral Fellows:

• Sangyop Lee – Religious Studies, September, 2019
• Tongtong Zhang – Political Science, Oct. 1 – Dec. 30, 2019
• Nathan Hauthaler - Philosophy, Jan. 15 – June 15, 2020

Graduate Seminars:

Title: " Physical Activity and Health in China: Chronic Disease Consequences and Activity-Promoting Strategies in Adolescents and Young Adults "

• Dates: June 29 - July 17, 2020
• Instructor:  Randall Stafford, Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine
• Eligibility: Enrolled Stanford University students in good academic standing
• Stanford student application deadline: April 30, 2020

After "a longtime partnership with Stanford University's Rural Education Action Program," OneSight is expanding into Rwanda and Brazil to continue our practice of providing free eyeglasses to those in critical need, explains author Julian Wyllie. 

"OneSight builds eye-examination centers and helps train ophthalmologists in dozens of countries and is expanding into new areas including Rwanda and Brazil."

Read the full story here.

Learn more about REAP's vision care research here. 

Liberal democracy is being challenged by populist nationalist leaders and they’re fanning the flames of identity politics. Instead of uniting over a shared sense of humanity, people are identifying in narrower ways based on things like religion, race, ethnicity, and gender. Francis Fukuyama , FSI Senior Fellow and CDDRL Mosbacher Director, believes that in order to support democracy, we must inculcate a greater sense of dignity into society. Fukuyama speaks with Elliot Gerson, executive vice president at the Aspen Institute. Listen here.

SPICE is proud to announce a new partnership with Oita Prefecture in Japan to develop an online course for high school students in Oita Prefecture. The new program, called Stanford e-Oita, will launch in the fall of 2019 and will introduce Japanese high school students to U.S. culture and society. The students will also have an opportunity to improve their English language skills, as the course will be conducted entirely in English.

To commemorate the new online course and partnership between Stanford University and Oita Prefecture, SPICE hosted a ceremony on Stanford campus last week with Oita Governor Katsusada Hirose and a large contingent of Japanese businessmen and government workers from Oita Prefecture, including representatives from the Development Bank of Japan and Japan Semiconductor. Also in attendance was Dr. Michael Armacost, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan and an old friend of Governor Hirose.

“I am so honored to be here at the ceremony with my old schoolmate Ambassador Armacost,” commented Governor Hirose during his formal remarks. “I also extend my sincere gratitude to SPICE Director Dr. Mukai for your generous and continued support on this. It is a dream for our students to be able to take classes from Stanford University even in Oita, a regional city in Japan. I hope the agreement this time will be a great opportunity for students of both countries to learn from each other.”

Planning for the Stanford e-Oita online course is still at an early stage, but the main course topics are now being decided. Dr. Mukai moderated a discussion on possible topics for the new course, and several of those in attendance enthusiastically contributed suggestions for consideration. The SPICE staff shared their experiences teaching other online courses such as Stanford e-Japan, Stanford e-Tottori, Stanford e-Hiroshima, and the Reischauer Scholars Program (a course on Japan for U.S. high school students). Oita Prefectural Board of Education’s Keisuke Toyoda, who oversees the Stanford e-Oita online course, also offered his high-priority topics for the program, which includes entrepreneurship, Japan–U.S. relations, region-to-region partnerships, and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Several others offered their suggestions, as well.

Ambassador Armacost also made formal remarks, commenting especially on the strong and natural modern partnership between the United States and Japan, but also how U.S.–Japan relations at the governmental level have evolved over time to become a more balanced relationship.

“Back in my days—in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s—the United States used to approach U.S.–Japan relations with a kind of instructional mindset. ‘How can we teach Japan to be more like us?’ I always disagreed with that approach,” shared Ambassador Armacost. “Nowadays, it seems to be much better—a more reciprocal mindset. ‘What can we learn from each other to build a better future?’”

Fittingly, it is in that same spirit of mutual respect, reciprocity, and hope for the future that SPICE and Oita Prefecture launch our new Stanford–Oita partnership and online course.

“I have a lot of expectations for the future,” commented Governor Hirose. “Thank you so much.”

To stay informed of SPICE-related news, join our email list and follow SPICE on Facebook or Twitter.

South Korea's decision to end its military agreement with Japan will damage the prospect of continued close security ties among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo because the pact has been a symbol of smooth trilateral military cooperation between them and regarded as a key deterrent against North Korea.

"It is a big mistake," Shin Gi-wook, a Korea studies expert at Stanford University, said in a recent interview adding Seoul's withdrawal from the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) puts the "trilateral security framework at risk."

"The Japan-South Korea relationship may not have hit rock bottom, but it could further deteriorate in the coming months," Shin said. "This is all the more important with the continuing threat of North Korean WMD and the escalating conflict between the U.S. and China in the region. I am concerned that South Korea could be further isolated in the Northeast Asian region—the Moon administration should see the big picture," the professor said…

Read the full article in The Korea Times.

Democratic institutions worldwide have reached a unique and precarious turning point, said Larry Diamond on a recent episode of the World Class podcast by the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).

After the Cold War, the world became dominated by liberal values and a prevailing consensus for freedom, democracy and human rights, Diamond told World Class host and FSI Director Michael McFaul. During this time, the percentage of democratic states rose from making up about a quarter to more than half of all of the independent states in the world — which had never happened before in history. However, explained Diamond, who is senior fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law, this trend may come to an end soon.

“It’s under severe challenge from Russia, China, Iran and from many other countries that were until recently democracies or are in danger of no longer being democracies soon,” Diamond said. “We are in a new and urgent situation.”

In 2018, Freedom House — a non-governmental organization that conducts research on democracy and political freedom — reported a decline in global freedom for the 13th consecutive year, reversing the post-Cold War trend between 1991 and 2006.
        
“We could be on the cusp of a democratic depression,” said Diamond. In his view, here are the four main causes of this worldwide shift. 

[Sign up for the FSI monthly newsletter to receive stories like this directly to your inbox.]

Incremental Authoritarianism
The first cause, according to Diamond, is what he calls “incremental authoritarianism,” which usually occurs when elected populist rulers — such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin or Turkey’s Tayyip Erdoğan, for example — begin to spread conservative, anti-immigrant or anti-pluralist values in an attempt to “save” the nation from corruption or threatening international illiberal values.

“Of course, the corrupting influences are human rights, accountability, pluralism, the rule of law and anything that would constrain their power and eliminate all potential rivals,” Diamond explained.

Russian Rage
The second cause has to do with Russia’s status as what Diamond describes as a “fallen superpower.”. Russia has begun to intervene in the politics of European democracies, meddle with the politics of the U.S. electoral democracy, spread confusion and promote division — all actions that stem from “Russian rage.”

“I think Putin has become unleashed,” he said. “He’s much more aggressive and ambitious now that he has found a cost-effective way of inflicting damage on democracy through disinformation and the penetration of the electoral space of democracies that we thought was sacred and secure.”

Chinese Ambition
Since coming to power in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party has tried to cultivate ties with “sympathetic actors” abroad — whether it be by sending Chinese citizens to U.S. graduate programs or to think tanks — but this effort has been ramped up and extended under Xi Jinping to a degree that hasn’t been seen before, according to Diamond.

“Chinese influence is extending into universities, corporations, Chinese-language media overseas, and certainly into aggressive — and I’d say illegal — technology practices that are boldly trying to create a new world of Chinese influence and even domination by the People’s Republic of China,” he explained.

American Complacency
Finally, Americans have become complacent about the security of their democracy, and many think that it doesn’t require their attention or participation in order to be upheld, said Diamond. In addition, some Americans have also become comfortable about the slow deterioration of their democracy through the polarization of U.S. politics. 

“People are becoming so intense in their feelings about parties and politicians that they won’t even talk to people from the other side at the Thanksgiving dinner table,” Diamond said. “Some of the statements of our own president are not consistent with democratic values…in which everyone is recognized as having the right to speak and in which violence can never be encouraged.”

Read more about Diamond’s thoughts on the state of global democracy in his new book, “Ill Winds: Saving Democracy from Russian Rage, Chinese Ambition, and American Complacency.”