Penn China Research and Engagement Fund Explore CREF Projects

High Speed Rail, Entrepreneurship, Civil Society, and Income Inequality in China

Professor Chao Guo, School of Policy and Practice
This project focuses on the study of three important phenomena associated with China’s urbanization: transport infrastructure development, income inequality, and civil society growth. This will contribute to understanding the relationship between urbanization, civil society, and income inequality. It has strong policy implications for economic development, inclusive growth, and social justice. Since many developing countries follow China’s growth trajectory on building traffic infrastructure to stimulate economic growth, our findings will help policymakers better understand the effect of infrastructure development on inequality and the important mediating role of civil society.
 

Measuring Cultural Determinants of Well-Being in China Using Social Media 

Professor Lyle Ungar, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
This project aims to (1) deduce language markers for self/other orientation, spirituality/materialism, and happiness and contentment from language by recruiting individuals and asking them to share their social media (Weibo and Wechat) data and answer questionnaires; (2) apply the resulting models to provinces and counties in China and validate them with Gallup World Poll Well-Being Survey Data; (3) compare these findings against comparable data from the US.
 

The Future of U.S.-China Relations 

Professor Jacques DeLisle, School of Arts and Sciences
This project will convene a diverse group of leading “next generation” China scholars and analysts at Penn: first, to participate in a preliminary plenary conference in October 2019, organized around key issue areas and framing the agenda for the second phase, to draft and promote specific, actionable policy recommendations for key stakeholders in U.S. policy toward China. The project focuses on the following six key issues: National Security, Trade and Competitiveness, Technology, Human Rights, Climate and Environment, and Society and Values. The project will also hold sessions for journalists, policymakers and policy influencers in the 2020 election season.
 

Spatial Visions Connecting China and the West: A Centennial Review and New Perspectives on Future Urban Environments

Professor Zhongjie Lin, School of Design
This project investigates the social and spatial structures of built environments as they reflect and promote interactions between China and the Western societies. In partnership with colleagues from Tsinghua University, Tongji University, and Southeast University, Principal Investigators of the project will work on several topics of history, design, and social studies to generate scholarship in Chinese architecture and city, placing special emphasis on a cultural discourse of the changing East-West relationship in urbanization, energy policy, environmental sustainability, and social inclusivity.
 

Penn Global Bioethics Futures Initiative 

Professor Steven Joffe, Perelman School of Medicine
This project will convene researchers and policymakers from China, the United States, and other countries with significant investments in biotechnology research and development. These stakeholders will participate in a series of discussions in preparation for a forum immediately before the World Congress on Bioethics. The objective of the high-level forum, to be held in conjunction with the World Congress, is to explore the challenge to prevailing global norms presented by incidents like the birth of the CRISPR babies. Related issues include the role of emerging economies that feature growing biomedical research complexes in re-shaping global norms more broadly, as well as possible tensions between pursuing aggressive investment in biomedical research and compliance with existing research ethics and standards.

China in the Caribbean/The Caribbean in China

Professor Deborah Thomas, School of Arts and Sciences
This project will ethnographically explore the contemporary presence of China in the Caribbean. The goal of this project is to create a network of qualitative social scientists conducting ethnographic research on the new Chinese presence in the Caribbean.

Comprehensive Global Health Education in China

Center for Global Health, Perelman School of Medicine
The Center for Global Health has developed a comprehensive project that unites efforts spanning the two largest sectors of need: a Certificate/Masters program in Translational Research (PI: Glen Gaulton, PhD), and a Penn Healthcare Leadership Program (PI: Joshua Atkins, MD, PhD). Both programs build upon Penn Medicine’s institutional strengths while also addressing key gaps in the Chinese educational and executive health training systems.

Understanding Judicial Outcomes in China

Professor Yue Hou, School of Arts and Sciences
This project will contribute to a growing body of social science literature on the relationship between descriptive representation and judicial outcomes. The study will also contribute to the understanding of the Chinese judicial system as well as the development of China’s legal reform.

Targeting Stroke Therapeutic Window

Professor Renyu Liu, Perelman School of Medicine
This project aims to promote stroke awareness in China through various platforms, including the Chinese Stroke Association, and measure the effectiveness of such promotion as well as the overall outcome of stroke patients. This project also includes a small pilot project in extending therapeutic window for ischemic stroke.

Prenatal and Postnatal Secondhand Smoking

Professor Jianghong Liu, School of Nursing
The main aims of this study are to investigate whether prenatal second-hand smoking (SHS) exposure is associated with the development of externalizing behavior in adolescence, and test whether cognitive and emotional abnormalities mediate the SHS - externalizing behavior relationship. This proposal builds on the PI’s large prospective cohort study previously funded by an NIH R01 award, which focused on lead exposure.

Political Factions, Local Accountability and Economic Performance: Evidence from Chinese Provinces

Professor Hanming Fang, School of Arts and Sciences
This project will investigate the role of political factions and local accountability in explaining the variations in economic performance across counties in different provinces in China.

The New East Asia

Professor Mauro Guillen with Professor Frederick Dickinson and Mr. Kenric Tsethlikai, The Lauder
Institute
In 2017, the program will expand its current coverage of Japan, China, and South Korea to include Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore. Penn CREF will support a symposium on integration of East and Southeast Asian economies, a summit on past and future challenges in East and Southeast Asia, and research and academic collaborations with partner institutions to build the curriculum.

China and Ashkenazic European Jewry: Transnational Encounters

Professor Kathryn Hellerstein, School of Arts and Sciences
The project aims to study 120 years of cultural exchange between China and Ashkenazic Jewry in Europe, Israel, examining the depth, subtlety, and complexity of what happens when writers grapple with communicating commonality and difference and trying to arrive at mutual understanding.

SEAS Global Immersion in China

Professor Howard Hu, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Penn Engineering aims to develop an embedded course in 2017 for 15 undergraduate students to travel to Beijing and Shanghai for almost two weeks. The global immersion course aims at exposing Penn students to rapid technological development and business environments in China, and connect them with Chinese business leaders, educators and Penn alumni.

Improving the Productivity, Efficiency, and Sustainability of Chinese Pork Producers

Professor Thomas Parsons with Professors David Galligan and Gary Althouse, School of Veterinary Medicine
The US and China face questions about a sustainable model of pork production as societal concerns evolve regarding environment impact, antibiotic use, and animal welfare. The project aims to address these questions by hosting educational summits with leading swine academics, establishing a sustainability research exchange for Chinese students, and conducting an in-depth study on sustainability in the Pennsylvania Pork Industry.

Planning for Large-Scale Aviation Growth on the Ground and in the Air in China

Professor Megan Ryerson, School of Design
This project will focus on researching challenges that airport planners and government officials face when developing new airports and redesigning complex airspaces to accommodate new air traffic, and address uncertainties that Chinese airlines face when launching new international aviation services.

Symposium and Summer School on “Pattern Recognition and Human Centered Robotics”

Professor Jianbo Shi with Professor Shu Yang, School of Engineering and Applied Science
Penn Engineering plans to host an annual symposium and summer school at the PWCC to develop international engineering partnerships through robotics.
 

A Comparison of Chinese, EU, and U.S. Competition Law and Policy

Professor Christopher Yoo with Professor Joseph Harrington, Penn Law
The project will compare Chinese anti-monopoly law and policy with both EU competition and U.S. antitrust law and policy.

Employee Mobility and Employee Entrepreneurship in China

Professor Minyuan Zhao, Wharton
This project will disentangle multiple factors that lead to employee mobility and employee entrepreneurship, using a newly available dataset on IT professionals in China. It will also analyze the implications for business strategy and economic policies.

Prenatal Ambient Air Pollution and Fetal and Child Development in South China

Professor Jere Behrman, School of Arts and Sciences
This project will investigate the impact of high levels of air pollution on pregnancy and birth outcomes in China through conferences at the PWCC and Penn, which will produce scholarly volume(s), engage students and faculty at Penn, and reach wider policy and public audiences.

A Tale of Two Capitals: A Comparative Study of Development in Beijing and Ulaanbaatar

Professor Mien-hwa Chiang, School of Arts and Sciences
A one-year project offering an 18-day short-term study abroad program in Beijing, China and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, this project will provide ten fellowships for Penn students to continue learning Chinese speaking skills and literacy, and to study the development of two rapidly changing capitals.

The United States, China, and International Law

Professors Jacques deLisle and William Burke-White, Penn Law
Today, the rise of new powers poses challenges to and opportunities for the status quo legal order and its capacity to address international economic, political, and other problems. This project brings together leading scholars from the U.S. and China to examine these issues, challenges and opportunities through conferences at the PWCC and Penn.

China in Global Economic History

Professor Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde, School of Arts and Sciences
This project will focus on the development of an innovative book on global economic history that spans from 1405 until today. The book will examine the key importance of institutional differences in legal systems among China, India, and Europe, and consider the interconnections between institutions, economics, and the environment.

Improving the Productive and Health Efficiency of the Chinese Dairy Industry

Professor David Galligan with Professor Jim Ferguson, School of Veterinary Medicine
This project will focus on developing an integrated training program for upper level dairy managers over a three-year period with three specific focus areas: Year (1) Nutritional Production Efficiency, (2) Reproductive Efficiency, and (3) Animal Health and Milk Quality.

New Horizons in East Asia

Professor Mauro Guillen with Professor Frederick Dickinson and Mr. Kenric Tsethlikai, Wharton & Lauder Institute
The Lauder Institute intends to highlight significant curricular changes in the International Studies degree program. Lauder will pilot new curriculum development in the East Asia region, bringing together partners from the region to explore historic, current and future challenges related to East and Southeast Asia. Our project also supports faculty collaborations in support of coursework for the new curriculum and seed-money to begin an intercultural immersion for non-East Asia Program students.

Penn China Cardiovascular Imaging Project

Professor Yuchi Han with Professor Dinesh Jagasia and Dr. Yundai Chen, Perelman School of Medicine
In China, the utilization of advanced cardiovascular imaging modalities for the diagnosis and treatment of complex cardiovascular disease is not well developed. This project uses a multi-faceted strategy (e.g., training and research), in collaboration with the cardiology departments in China (PLA General Hospital and Peking Union Medical Center Hospital) to address this problem.

Advancing Dental Research and Clinical Practice in China

Professor Syngcuk Kim with Professors Songtao Shi, Dana Graves, and Hyun Koo, School of Dental Medicine
Since 2010, Penn Dental Medicine (PDM) has been actively engaged in academic institutions and private dental care organization in China. The current PDM project will support high-level research Symposia on Bone, Biofilm and Stem Cells.

Linguistic Diversity in China

Professor Mark Liberman with Dr. Christopher Cieri and Jiahong Yuan, School of Arts and Sciences & Linguistic Data Consortium
The Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC) will extend its initiative on linguistic diversity in China, with specific emphasis on the documentation and analysis of variation in standard, regional, and minority languages. In particular, this project will conduct efforts under three interrelated headings: The Putonghua Test, Tone in Chinese Languages, and Language Change in China.

Ownership Challenges and the Next Round of Reform of Chinese State-Controlled Enterprises

Professors Marshall Meyer, Ann Harrison, Minyuan Zhao, and Linda Zhao, The Wharton School
The team will conduct a research program on ownership reforms in China. The program will focus on the next round of reform—if and when it comes—of Chinese state enterprises; the changing policy environment for foreign invested enterprises; and the changing Chinese innovation environment and its implications for domestic and foreign enterprises.

Building Capacity for Interprofessional Pain Education and Evidence-based Practice to Improve Perioperative Pain Care in China

Professor Rosemary Polomano with Professors Renyu Liu and Joshua Atkins, School of Nursing with the Perelman School of Medicine
The team will implement a 2-year project that engages Chinese colleagues in a partnership program to advance perioperative pain management and patient safety in China through interprofessional pain education and practice-based research.

Duration

Professor Ali Rahim, School of Design
Duration will explore Penn’s historic connection with Chinese architecture and our influence on the region over the years. The goal of the exhibit - through the exhibition and its fabrication - is to make evident the changes in societal influences and the development of Chinese architecture in China and its export to the West having an economic and cultural impact abroad.

The PennDesign China Research Program

Professor Marilyn Jordan Taylor with Professors Richard Weller, Stefan Al, Randy Mason, and Nancy Davenport, School of Design
In March 2015, Penn Design brought together 23 Deans, Professors and CEOs representing China’s top design schools and design firms for a day-long roundtable. The predominant research question to emerge from the “Coordinates” roundtable and now the overarching research question of this initial 2-year research funding application is “How can Chinese cities more effectively maximize the benefits and reduce the social and environmental costs of accelerated modernity?”

The Rise of the City in China

Professor Susan Wachter, The Wharton School
In conjunction with the Guanghua School of Management of Peking University, Penn IUR will conduct a research project that will focus on: the historical development of cities in China and metrics of urbanization including price indices; the financing of sustainable urban development in China and internationally; and urbanization in China and lessons learned for economic development.

Community in-Alliance for Recovery: Challenging Mental Health Stigma in Rural China

Professor Yin Ling Irene Wong, School of Social Policy and Practice
Building on the expertise of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers in the fields of health communication, psychiatry, social administration and social work, the goal is to design, evaluate, and disseminate a family-based health messaging intervention to reduce stigma of mental illness among the general public in rural China.

Penn Media Scholars in China

Professor Guobin Yang, Annenberg School for Communication
Penn Media Scholars in China (PMSC) aims to bring 16 competitively selected Penn undergraduate students to China in 2017 and 2018 for a credit-carrying 4-week Summer Institute conducted in Beijing and Hangzhou.