# Teaching political science at Tsinghua University


A [fascinating
article](http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=418) about
Daniel A. Bell who works as a professor of political thought at Tsinghua
University in Beijing, one of the most prestigious universities in the
country. Having also tough in Singapore, he offers some very interesting
perspectives.

He writes about the problems he encountered in the one-party state of
Singapore, where his teaching contract was not renewed, and compares
with China: *“In comparison, China is a paradise of academic freedom.
Among colleagues, anything goes (in Singapore, most local colleagues
were very guarded when dealing with foreigners). Academic publications
are surprisingly free: there aren’t any personal attacks on leaders or
open calls for multiparty rule, but particular policies, such as the
household registry system, which limits internal mobility, are subject
to severe criticism. [...] More surprisingly, perhaps, I was not given
any explicit (or implicit, as far as I could tell) guidance regarding
what I could teach at Tsinghua. My course proposals have been approved
as submitted.”*

He mentions topics that he has discussed in class, such as humanitarian
interventions, and how they are linked to Chinese national politics. His
students *“are no slouches: it’s probably harder to be admitted,
statistically speaking, into Tsinghua and Beijing University than into
leading American universities. My students are supposed to be leaders of
society: I’m told that the Communist Party student members at Tsinghua
prepare the educational curriculum for all the young Communists in
China. They are intellectually confident and often well versed in the
Chinese and Anglo-American (if not French and German) philosophical
traditions.”*

[Go read it](http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=418).
Although he teaches mainly in English, he has a deep appreciation for
Chinese culture, as well as his own subject. He was clearly hired
because of his standing in the field, not because he was a foreigner who
was willing to go to China (which was the case in my example). I
continue to be interested in foreigners teaching in Chinese
universities, especially when they do it in Chinese, which for example
Ruth Hayhoe has done at several occasions.

Stian\
 *Here is a paper written by Bell:\
 [Do Asian Values Deter Popular Support for
Democracy](http://www.asianbarometer.org/newenglish/publications/workingpapers/no.26.pdf)*