Global Issues Lecture Series to Discuss "China's Water Warriors"

by Rebekah Hardage, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

Andrew Mertha, associate professor of political science at Cornell University, will discuss "China's Water Warriors" from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 1, in Draper 116 on Baylor's campus.

Mertha's research interest is Chinese politics, with a focus on the policy making and implementation process, and he has written two books. The first, The Politics of Piracy, is a study on why some types of intellectual property are better enforced than others in China.

China's Water Warriors is his second book, and it looks at how the policy making process in China has become increasingly pluralized over the past decade as non-governmental organizations, the media and others around the perimeter of the water issue can now play a role.

He has also written several chapters in edited volumes and articles appearing in The China Quarterly, Comparative Politics and International Organization.

Mertha has lived in China for seven years as an English teacher, a production manager for a toy company and a scholar. He has conducted extensive field travel in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongdong, Guangdong, Guizhou, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan and Zhejiang.

"We have seen a growing interest among students and faculty members as well as the local community in learning about contemporary China," said Xin Wang, associate director of the Asian studies program. "To accommodate such interests, the Asian studies program has been and will be inviting scholars from both the United States and China to give lectures on contemporary issues about China," he said.

Mertha received his doctorate from the University of Michigan in 2001 and was an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis in the department of political science from 2001 to 2008. He will be joining the faculty at Cornell as an associate professor of political science in July 2008.

Thursday's presentation is part of the Global Issues Lecture Series, sponsored by the Center for International Education. The lecture is free and open to the public.

For more information on the Global Issues Lecture Series, contact Lilly Fuertes at (254) 710-4531 or visit www.baylor.edu/cie.