March 19, 2009

Contact:
Lisa Spires, 404-413-1353
University Relations

Harvard professor to deliver Plummer Lecture on Confucianism

ATLANTA – Harvard professor and renowned Confucian scholar Tu Weiming will give the 2009 Hellen Ingram Plummer Lecture March 23 at Georgia State University.

Tu, Harvard-Yenching Professor of Chinese History and Philosophy and of Confucian Studies, will speak on the application of Confucian thought to modern-day issues.

“To know China, you really have to know Confucianism,” said Jonathan Herman, associate professor of religious studies at Georgia State. “As China is becoming an increasingly important place in the 21st century, Confucianism becomes an increasingly important thing to know.”

Confucianism, a system of ethics based on the teachings of Chinese philosopher Confucius, focuses on morality and interpersonal relationships and has heavily influenced the culture of China and other east Asian countries.

“Confucian ethics have been inseparable from Chinese culture for at least 2,000 years,” Herman said. “During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and early ‘70s, it was seriously repudiated by the government, which created a serious disruption of the tradition. But it is now in for something of a revival, thanks in large part to scholars like Tu.”

Tu, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, was invited by the United Nations to facilitate the Dialogue Among Civilizations in 2001 as a member of the Group of Eminent Persons. He is currently studying the modern transformation of Confucian humanism in East Asia.

“For anyone wanting to know a different way people think about ethics than what we do here in the U.S., an ethical system based more on interpersonal connections and responsibility than on freedom and individual rights, this could be a very provocative and liberating experience,” Herman said.

The Plummer lecture is the College of Arts and Sciences’ annual endowed lecture, featuring noted scholars, scientists, artists and performers who have made notable contributions to their fields of achievement and to society at large. The lecture was endowed in 1999 in honor of late Atlanta arts patron Hellen Ingram Plummer.

What: 2009 Hellen Ingram Plummer Lecture, “Confucian Humanism in the 21st Century"

When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 23

Where: Speakers Auditorium, Student Center, 44 Courtland St., Atlanta

Information: Call 404-413-5114