March 16, 2005

Visiting Aspinall Professor to Offer Short Course on China
Tuesdays and Thursdays, March 22 - April 21
11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Mesa State College

Dr. John Wills, Jr., the visiting 2005 Aspinall Professor, will present "Eye Witnesses and Interpreters: Western Views of China, 1557-2005," a one-credit hour course, from March 22 through April 21 at Mesa State College.

Held from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Wills' course will look at the perceptions and pictures that Americans and other foreign visitors have of China and the consequences that these images have had. As part of this study, course participants will have the opportunity to read and discuss eyewitness accounts of life in China from 1557 to 2005.

Selected by the Wayne Aspinall Foundation from a national pool of applicants, Wills is a recently retired professor of history and an East Asian language and culture expert from the University of Southern California. He holds a master's degree in East Asian Studies and a doctorate degree in History and Far Eastern Languages, both from Harvard University. Wills has authored numerous books and articles on China and the Far East, including two chapters for the "Cambridge History of China."

Will's course is open to the public, as well as currently enrolled Mesa State College students. For further information, contact Cathy Rickley at 970.248.1696 or Dr. Steve Schulte, professor of history, at 970.248.1418.

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