Contact: Maridith Geuder
A Mississippi State professor is among two dozen professionals who recently engaged Chinese contemporaries in wide-ranging discussions of economical and political theory.
Michael R. Clifford of the university's philosophy and religion department was among American scholars traveling to the People's Republic of China. The group included specialists in biomedical ethics, academic freedom and judicial concepts, among other areas.
The People to People Ambassador Program, a Kansas City, Mo.-based organization established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote international understanding, sponsors the program. It annually supports a variety of educational and cultural exchanges.
Clifford, who teaches MSU courses in political philosophy, led a session on the politics of identity during a stop at Shanghai's East China Normal University. In all, he and the other visiting scholars exchanged ideas on research and teaching with counterparts at 10 Chinese universities. Among their stops were Suzhou, Nanjing and the national capital of Beijing.
"We were surprised to observe how economically developed China is," he said. "Ironically, we found the bedrock theory in most Chinese philosophy departments to be Marxism, which is at odds with the country's developing market economy."
Purdue, Wayne State, Syracuse, and Indiana universities, as well as the universities of Illinois, Virginia, and California at San Diego, were among other American schools represented. Daily journals kept by the delegation eventually will be developed into a scholarly text. (The journals may be read at http://www.ambassadors.com/ptpap/journals.asp.)
Clifford is completing a book about American political identity, especially the conflict between liberals and conservatives. Titled "Savage Identities: Political Genealogy after Foucault," it will be published in April by Routledge Press of New York.
He holds a bachelor's degree from Marshall University and master's and doctoral degrees from Vanderbilt University.