Laboratory on Urban Research

Jeffrey Wasserstrom is an urban historian, blogger for “The China Beat,” frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines (including Time), and the author, most recently, of the books Global Shanghai,1850-2010 (2009), and China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (2010).  His comments will focus on placing the Shanghai Expo into the World’s Fair lineage, which stretches back to the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851 and includes major events, like the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, that took place while the United States was rising rapidly in the global hierarchy and becoming a source of international fascination and concern, much as China is doing today. He will also talk about links between the city of Shanghai, World’s Fairs, and science fiction.