Crashing the Party: An American Reporter in China is Scott Savitt’s singular account as one of the first Americans in post-Mao China. Arriving in Beijing in 1983 as an exchange student from Duke University, Scott stepped into an environment rife with political unrest and had the rare opportunity to witness a nation on the brink of monumental change. Join us at China Institute on Tuesday, November 22, where Mr. Savitt will tell stories of his experiences living through and reporting on China’s historic transformation, including his founding of Beijing Scene, China’s first independent weekly newspaper; befriending and working with a legendary group of Chinese artists, writers, and musicians; interactions with Chinese and American politics; and his time in prison.

Scott Savitt is a former foreign correspondent for The Los Angeles Times and United Press International in Beijing. His articles have been published in The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and many other publications. He has been interviewed on NPR, BBC, ABC’s Nightline and the CBS News. He is the in-house Chinese-English translator for numerous human rights organizations. In 1994 he founded Beijing Scene, China’s first independent weekly newspaper. In 2003 he published China Now magazine. He’s the founding editor of the award-winning Contexts magazine. He was a visiting scholar at Duke University until his recent relocation to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Jerome A. Cohen is a leading American expert on Chinese law and government. He has been a professor at NYU School of Law since 1990 and is co-director of its US-Asia Law Institute at the NYU School of Law. A pioneer in the field, Professor Cohen began studying China’s legal system in the early 1960s, and from 1964 to 1979 introduced the teaching of Asian law into the curriculum of Harvard Law School, where he served as Jeremiah Smith Professor, associate dean, and director of East Asian legal studies. Cohen has been an adjunct senior fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations since 1995

Speakers: Scott Savitt, Jerome A. Cohen
Event Fees: FREE