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Tian, Chenshan

CCS Associate
Special Programs Coordinator, Center for Chinese Studies

Moore 416B
956-2663

BA Equivalent 1989, University of Hawaii at Manoa
MA POLS 1991, University of Hawaii at Manoa
MA PHIL 1994, University of Hawaii at Manoa
PhD POLS 1999, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Dr. Tian specializes in comparative Western and Chinese political philosophy. He knows the deep culture of China and the US, and is a passionate promoter of real understanding of how cultural foundations drive surface structures and paradigms. His natural tendency is to adopt a comparative perspective on topics under consideration, since comparing the US model with the Chinese is so illuminating of both. He has taught American Politics and Theories of International Relations in Zhongshang University in Guangzhou, PRC and co-taught Asian Studies 320: China at UH. His dissertation is a very scholarly study of the influence of a powerful strand of Chinese philosophy on Chinese Marxist thought, from Cai Yuanpei to Mao Zedong. It has an interdisciplinary character and shows his expertise in Chinese philosophy and Chinese history as well as in the political theory of leading Chinese Marxists. He is currently working on a book form for St. Martin's Press. He was selected to receive the Christian Bay Award for best paper presented at a Caucus panel at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.at the 2000 American Political Science Association Conference. His areas of interest include: Comparative Politics: China, Chinese Political Thought: Tradition and Modern, Chinese Foreign Policy and U.S.-China Relations, Political Economy of Health-Care Systems in China, American Politics, Theories of International Relations, Contemporary Chinese Politics: Cultural Revolution, Comparative Philosophy: Chinese Philosophy and Western Marxism, Chinese Traditional Thought in Chinese Language, and English/Chinese Translation. Dr. Tian coordinated and led groups of UH students on Winter Study Tours to China. He is now managing special exchange programs and conferences sponsored by the Center.