China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province looks at the devastating aftermath of the 2008 earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people, including many children who were crushed by school buildings. The film follows parents coming to terms with their loss and challenging government officials to explain the inadequate construction.
Prof. Peter Kwong (Hunter College, CUNY), and Prof. Ming Xia (College of Staten Island, CUNY), will lead a post-screening discussion on their involvement with the documentary, and first-hand account of the disaster area.
MingXia is a Professor of Political Science at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, and a doctoral faculty member at the CUNY Graduate Center. Dr. Xia previously taught at Fudan University (1988-1991) and served as a residential research fellow at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at George Washington University (2003), and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2004). At the National University of Singapore, he worked as a visiting research fellow (2004) and a senior visiting research fellow (2011) at the East Asian Institute, and a visiting senior research fellow (2012) at the Asian Research Institute. Dr. Xia’s research interests include political governance and transition in China, organized crime, international political economy, globalization, Asian women in politics, and a comparison of China and India.
Peter Kwong is on the faculty of the Hunter College Urban Affairs and Planning Department. He writes extensively on Chinese Americans, labor, and immigration issues. His commentaries on Chinese politics are syndicated worldwide and appear regularly in The Nation and The International Herald Tribune. Kwong is a recipient of Hunter’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Scholarship.
