From 26 April to 29 April 2017 The Tsinghua-SAIS cohort had the opportunity to partake in a case study-based course titled America and the Rise of Asia, taught by Peter J. Katzenstein; Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. Professor Katzenstein’s generous decision to travel from Ithaca to Beijing and spend a week with the cohort provided TSDM students with an enriching, discussion-based learning environment which ultimately proved to be of great benefit to the program. Several other Ph.D and M.A. students from the Department of International Relations also audited the course.
Professor Katzenstein began by delivering a lecture and guiding a discussion on America’s place in a regional world, followed by three days of discussions on three major Asian economies—China, India and Japan—based on the Harvard Business school case method. Students discussed the differences and similarities between the countries’ economic trajectories and the unique and often interrelated governance challenges facing each country.
By fostering a learning atmosphere which placed a high degree of emphasis on organic, student-driven debate on various modes of economic development and political economy, Professor Katzenstein aided Tsinghua-SAIS scholars in advancing greater mutual understanding of foreign policy and cultural perceptions by re-examining traditional frameworks of debate on current events.
Professor Katzenstein’s books include Anglo-America and Its Discontents: Civilizational Identities beyond West and East (Routledge, 2012). Sinicization and the Rise of China: Civilizational Processes beyond East and West (Routledge, 2012). Civilizations in World Politics: Plural and Pluralist Perspectives (Routledge, 2010). Beyond Paradigms: Analytic Eclecticism in World Politics (Palgrave, 2010), with Rudra Sil. European Identity (Cambridge University Press, 2009), co-edited with Jeffrey T. Checkel. Rethinking Japanese Security (Routledge, 2008). Anti-Americanisms in World Politics, co-edited with Robert O. Keohane (Cornell University Press, 2007). Religion in an Expanding Europe (Cambridge University Press, 2006), co-edited with Timothy A. Byrnes. Beyond Japan: East Asian Regionalism (Cornell University Press, 2006), co-edited with Takashi Shiraishi. A World of Regions: Asia and Europe in the American Imperium (Cornell University Press, 2005). Rethinking Security in East Asia: Identity, Power, and Efficiency (Stanford University Press, 2004), co-edited with Allen Carlson and J.J. Suh.
