Date: November 7-8 (Monday-Tuesday), 2011
Venue: the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland
Deadline for submissions: May 10, 2011
Notifications of acceptance: June 10, 2011

The conference is dedicated to a field of research hitherto seldom approached by Polish scholars of Chinese studies: the Chinese mass media. This topic bears special significance in the context of numerous new civilizational and cultural phenomena of our contemporary world: the virtualization of cultural space, the acceleration of global processes, increasing multiculturalism, the opportunities and challenges posed by the steep medialization of culture. Our conference is intended as an invitation to an interdisciplinary dialogue, as an attempt to fit into the contemporary discourse on culture, in which the Chinese culture is a more and more active participant defining the forms of its own presence in various fields. The conference is also intended as an invitation to engage in an intercultural dialogue, in new forms of cooperation between Polish, European and Chinese academic circles within a domain that shapes our daily lives, as well as contemporary social quests, innovations and transformations. We hope that our initiative will mark the beginning of a series of systematic debates in Poland on issues related to mass communication in China, in the broader context of civilizational and cultural transformations in the contemporary world.

We propose the following topics for discussion:
• the Chinese media and globalization processes: international cooperation, the opportunities and challenges posed by China's participation in the WTO; the new informational space of media civilization and the challenges it issues: deterritorializing imagination, global mobility, transnational communities and identities;
• the Chinese media and society: media and social processes; the medialization of culture in the context of new information and communication technologies; the public sphere and civil society in China and the role of media in shaping them; media education and/or the educational role of media; communities, their presence and construction of their identity in the media;
• the political aspect of Chinese media: media property and management; media reform – goals and strategies; the Chinese media legislation; the Chinese media and nationalism; the media and soft power;
• media contents: images constructed in the media –
China's self-image, representations of its position and role in the global world; images of non-Chinese national, statal, cultural and ethnic entities; images of social groups and various communities;
• media discourse: linguistic and rhetorical strategies; discursive representations of power and subjectivity
– gender and variously defined minorities;
• media reception in China: media audience(s) and the uses they make of the media; virtual communities in the micro and macro scales and their influences in shaping cultural identity;
• China in foreign media: linguistic and rhetorical strategies in representations of the Chinese state, society, and culture; reception of China-related information in Poland and other countries.

The languages used during the conference will be English and Chinese. Paper presentations must not exceed 20 minutes. A selection of conference papers will be published in English as a separate volume in 2012.

Paper submissions (please fill in the registration form attached ) should be sent before May 10, 2011 to the conference coordinator, dr Adina Zemanek: adina.zemanek(at)uj.edu.pl
We reserve the right to select submissions. Scholars who have submitted their proposals by the deadline above will be notified of the acceptance (or rejection) of their papers before June 10, 2011.
The conference fee is 40 EUR (to be paid by bank transfer). It covers the costs of conference materials, lunches and dinners throughout the duration of the conference.
The conference organizers do not cover accomodation expenses in Krakow; however, they will arrange accomodation for the duration of the conference on request. The travel expenses for part of the participants will be covered upon consideration of their applications.

Any further questions are welcome; please contact the conference coordinator, dr Adina Zemanek, by using the contact information below.

Call for papers may be downloaded here.

The Confucius Institute in Krakow invites high school students from the Lesser Poland region, born in 1992-1994, to take part in the China knowledge competition.
The aim of the 'China from Confucius to Jackie Chan' competition is to develop interest in Chinese language and culture among the high school students. The first prizes for the best 3 competitors will be a participation in a weekly language camp in Beijing, flight tickets included. Also additional prizes – semester and yearly courses of the Chinese language will be awarded to competitors and supervising teachers. The competition consists of two stages: 50 questions test and the oral part, in which the finalists will talk about the China related issues from the list sent by the Organizer. The Final of the competition will take place on 14th May 2011.
During preparation for the competition the following materials would be helpful:
Patricia Buckley Ebrey - Historia Chin
Georges Pimpaneau - Chiny. Kultura i tradycje
W. Scott Morton, Charlton M. Lewis - Chiny. Historia i kultura
and knowledge about the current issues concerning China

Zhang Yimou's movie, 'Raise the red lantern' was the first one shown movie. The showing was preceded by a short introduction by Joanna Wardęga, PhD. Movie in Chinese language with Polish subtitles. Admission: free.

The next movie, 'Infernal Affairs', will be shown two weeks later, on 17th March, 17:00.

On the weekend 26th-27th February the Confucius Institute in Krakow organized Chinese calligraphy and painting workshops, conducted by the masters from China: prof. Chen Yungang and Hu Xuhui PhD. The lectures and workshops were accompanied by an exhibition of the works by the invited artists. Participation was free for the students of the Confucius Institute.

The Chinese Culture Festival in this year was accompanied by a unique cultural event – a concert by the National Orchestra of the Chinese Radio. 25 musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments came to Krakow. The artists performed in Auditorium Maximum two times, on 11th and 12th February 2011.
Organizers: Confucius Institute, PRoC Embassy, Choy Lee Fut Centre Poland, Jagiellonian University.
More photos are available in our gallery.

During the Chinese Culture Festival, the Confucius Institute organized a series of open lectures in Auditorium Maximum of the Jagiellonian University.
All the below listed lectures met a great interest among the public:
Mini-lesson of the Chinese language: greetings and presentations
Magdalena Krasuska – Chinese style of negotiations
Piotr Popiołek – A green world of Oolong tea
Małgorzata Krzyśko – Kitchen God, Goddess in the kitchen
Mini-lesson of the Chinese language – counting in Chinese
prof. Sun Zhongli – Knowledge of Chinese proverbs
Adina Zemanek, PhD – Chinese women
Joanna Wardęga, PhD – How to travel around China
Mini-lesson of the Chinese language – survival Chinese for travelers
Bogdan Zemanek, PhD – South-Western China
Małgorzata Krzyśko – Year of Rabbit – what would it bring?
Adina Zemanek, PhD – Fashion in China
Mini-lesson of the Chinese language – how to express feelings
Bogdan Zemanek, PhD – Non-Chinese Chinese New Year

In the meantime Wu Di and Sun Zhongli instructed the guests how to write down their names with Chinese characters. The youngsters could enjoy training in the art of the Chinese paper cutting techniques and play with Chinese painting books. They also were making colorful lanterns , decorated with Chinese characters and, of course, rabbits, to celebrate the New Year of Rabbit.

The Travelers' Club 'Śródziemie' in cooperation with the Confucius Institute in Krakow also took part in celebration of the Chinese New Year in Piwnica Pod Baranami. The event consisted of a slide show of photos by Jacek Kisiała 'China – a country much closer than you'd suppose', calligraphy class by Sun Zhongli and Piotr Waśniowski, Chinese tea ceremony, taiji show and Chinese karaoke.
More pictures available on the website http://www.klubpodroznikow.com/relacje/azja/916-chiny-kraj-blizszy-niz-myslisz

Friday, 4th February, 5.00 pm, Confucius Institute, Sala Malinowa
Students and friends-and-relations of the Confucius Institute welcomed the Year of Rabbit on the Rabbit Party on 4th February in Sala Malinowa of the CI's seat. The event started with a New Year's Lion Dance, followed by a concert of Chinese songs by Chinese students of the Krakow Music Academy.
After the artistic part, the guests could play with Chinese language and take a chance to win some prizes (brought from China!) in Confucian contests. They also were trying to learn some traditional Chinese dances.
Those who wanted to feel even more Chinese could get a Chinese name and check own Chinese horoscope for the upcoming year. At the end, all the guests had a chance to try and enjoy some Chinese treats.
During the event the CI's students received their diplomas for the 1st semester and the best of them were awarded prizes.

The Confucius Institute in Krakow took patronage over the celebration of the Chinese New Year by the Kolanko Nr 6 Club (17 Józefa St. in Krakow). The event was organized by the Polish Association of the Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Programme:
Saturday, 5th February:
12.00 – Traditional Chinese Medicine – lecture by Mariusz Gizycki PhD
2.00 pm – Superstitions and taboos related to the Chinese New Year by Joanna Afek (Confucius Institute)
4.00 pm – dietetics in the Traditional Chinese Medicine by Teresa Majewska
6.00 pm – Tea ceremony
6.00 pm – Chinese martial arts show - Jow Ga Kung Fu School
Sunday, 6th February
12.00 – Chinese dance workshops – Lu Yan (Confucius Institute)
2.00 pm – Chinese calligraphy workshops – Wu Di (Confucius Institute)
4.00 pm – Chinese proverbs and sayings – Sun Zhongli (Confucius Institute)
5.30 pm – photo slide show 'Four worlds of China' – Joanna Wardęga (Confucius Institute)

On Friday, December 17 at 17:00 the reactivation of the tournament in the Chinese board games: Mahjong and weiqi (go) took place.
We provided a brief introduction to the rules of those games. Everyone was invited to play, have some tea and treats from China. Free admission.

Between 10 and 12 December 2010 in Beijing Confucius Institutes hold annual conference of the delegates from all of the world. There were about 1400 representatives of the Confucius Institutes and universities from 96 countries - including four Polish institutes. Confucius Institute in Krakow was represented by its director, Joanna Wardega, Ph.D., vice-director, Sun Zhongli, and prof. Leszek Korporowicz, director of the Middle and Far East Department (Jagiellonian University), who represents the board of the CI in Krakow. Among the topics under discussion were: teacher standards and training of local Chinese teachers, Confucius Institutes and contemporary China studies, development of Confucius classrooms, the methods of raising and managing funds, cooperation with the business sector, Confucius Institutes and career development, evaluating performance of the institutes.

Earlier, there was a three-days symposium of the representatives of the Confucius Institutes, which were created in cooperation with the Beijing Foreign Studies University. BFSU already has 17 Confucius Institutes, mostly in Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Spain, Germany, Russia, Italy, Hungary, but also in Malaysia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. The meeting was an opportunity to present annual working reports, exchange experiences and inspiration.

Between 20 and 23 November 2010 four Polish lectors from Confucius Institute in Krakow participated in training on the use of the new books and electronic learning aids for learning Chinese language, designed especially for children and youngsters. This course was held at Nankai University in Tianjin by the Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban).

In Krakow elementary school No. 114 Chinese Culture Week was organized. One of the events was an exhibition of the photographs of China by the director of CI in Krakow, Joanna Wardega. Chinese Culture Week was held under the patronage of honor Voivodship Marshal's Office, Middle and Far East Institute of the Jagiellonian University and the Board and Council of District III in Krakow.