Faculty Introduction for “Should a Chinese Citizen Celebrate Western Festivals?”

Global Perspectives on Society not only challenged students to come to terms with sophisticated concepts and texts, but also to connect those concepts to their everyday experiences and unique cultural backgrounds. In addition, students worked to join authors of multiple texts in inquiry-driven conversation. Hancheng worked toward this essay by first analyzing James Rachels’ inquiry into the uses and limits of cultural relativism and Charles Taylor’s theory of cultural identity and the “politics of recognition.” He then moved to identify a “personal stake” issue, a relevant concrete example that he could analyze within a conceptual framework drawn from the Rachels and Taylor texts. In drafting his essay, Hancheng added Kwame Anthony Appiah and Martha Nussbaum’s thinking about cosmopolitanism to the conversation, creating in the end a rich and timely essay relevant not only to his own personal experiences and concerns, but also to those of the greater NYU Shanghai community.

David Perry, Lecturer