Time: 10:00-11:30 AM, Friday, October 20th, 2023
Location: Russell Hall 306, Teachers College, Columbia University
Speakers:
Prof. Le Lin, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa;
Prof. Samuel E. Abrams, Director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University;
Dr. Ruohao Chen, postdoctoral researcher at the Center on Chinese Education
Moderator: Dr. Henan Cheng, Deputy Director of the Center on Chinese Education
Title of the Presentations:
- The Fruits of Opportunism: Noncompliance and the Evolution of China’s supplemental Education Industry (by Prof. Le Lin)
- Education and the Commercial Mindset (by Prof. Samuel E. Abrams)
- How Chinese Business Leaders in the Tutoring Industry Learn to Think Strategically in a Time of Crisis (by Dr. Ruohao Chen)
Speaker’s Bio:
- Dr. Le Lin
Dr. Le Lin is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His research centers on education, organizations, economic sociology, transnational sociology and Chinese society. His first book, The Fruits of Opportunism: Noncompliance and the Evolution of China’s Supplemental Education Industry, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2022. This book won the Honorable Mention of the Best Book Award on Asia/Transnational by the American Sociological Association in 2023. His articles have appeared in journals such as Socio-Economic Review, Higher Education and Global Perspectives, and have won awards from the American Sociological Association and the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics. Le Lin holds a B.A. in Economics from Zhejiang University, an M.A. in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago.
- Dr. Samuel E. Abrams
Dr. Samuel E. Abrams is the director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, and the author of Education and the Commercial Mindset (Harvard University Press, 2016), an analysis of the impact of market forces on public education in the U.S. and abroad. The book was published in Chinese in 2022 by the China Translation and Publishing House, with an introduction by Mingyuan Gu. Abrams was previously a high school history teacher for 18 years and now teaches courses in the economics and politics of education at TC and in moral and political philosophy as part of the Core Curriculum faculty at Columbia College. During the 2022-23 academic year, he served as a Fulbright visiting professor at the University of Turku in Finland. He earned a B.A. in history, an M.A. in economics and education, and a Ph.D. in politics and education from Columbia.
- Dr. Ruohao Chen
Dr. Ruohao Chen serves as a postdoctoral researcher at TC's Center on Chinese Education, with a specialization in transformative learning and strategic thinking among entrepreneurs in Asian contexts. He is a certified Business Coach at Columbia Business School and has previously worked as an independent content consultant for Harvard Business Publishing in Beijing. In 2023, he was selected as a student speaker to deliver a graduation speech for all graduates. Before studying at Teachers College, he dedicated six years to teaching as an English educator at Guangzhou Zhixin High School. Dr. Chen's research interests encompass teacher training and development, strategic learning and thinking among entrepreneurs, and adult cognitive development from Eastern perspectives. He earned a B.A. in English Education from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and an M.A. and an Ed.D. in Adult Learning and Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.
This event is sponsored by the Center on Chinese Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, with support from the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education. The two books featured in this event, The Fruits of Opportunism: Noncompliance and the Evolution of China’s Supplemental Education Industry and Education and the Commercial Mindset, will be available for purchase and signing by authors at the event.