THIBODAUX, La. — U.S.-China relations are at a precarious moment with stories about tensions popping up daily. With this backdrop, Nicholls State University professor Dr. Rya Butterfield has been named to a Michigan State University Press editorial board looking for submissions on that exact topic.
The “U.S.-China Relations in the Age of Globalization” series aims to publish book submissions that encompass both historical studies and contemporary analyses on the opportunities and dilemmas of relations between the two great powers. Dr. Butterfield was first appointed to the project’s task force and then the editorial board, which will review submissions.
“The appointment is significant for me, especially as junior faculty, because my cohort on this board are all admirable scholars,” she said. “The appointment is also significant because it is recognition of my previous successes in the field. It also associates Nicholls with circles of academics dealing with some of the most important international issues of our times.”
Dr. Butterfield serves on the standing committee of the Chinese Rhetoric Society of the World and has previously served as president and program planner of the Association for Chinese Communication Studies.
The series seeks submissions that are in-depth communication-based analyses of how United States and Chinese officials, scholars, artists and activists configure each other, portray the relations between the two nations and depict their shared and competing interests.
“The Chinese have long suspected Americans of the desire to prevent China’s global rise,” said Dr. Butterfield, whose course load includes speech and contemporary Chinese politics. “Still, the two nations have managed to build a structure of friendship against this backdrop of suspicion. This has been accomplished by establishing what diplomat Chas W. Freeman, Jr. has referred to as many ‘bureaucratic entanglements,’ built largely around industry. The severing of these entanglements does not bode well for the future of U.S.-China relations.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 26, 2018
CONTACT: Jacob Batte, Media Relations and Publications Coordinator, 985.448.4141 or jacob.batte@www.nicholls.edu
