The center brings together students and scholars at Duke Kunshan University, Wuhan University, and other institutions across China and around the world to pursue a common scholarly interest in contemporary Chinese affairs. Many of the center’s activities are open to the broader community.
Sonne’s work explores the intersections where human systems (Knowledge, Infrastructure, Industry, and Technology) entangle and intermingle with ecological systems, through Documentary Media.
His current research includes a documentary film project, with the working title Intertidal.
Intertidal seeks to elucidate the intricate and complicated ecological and social assemblages of the tidal flats of the Yellow Sea – the littoral life, and the consequences of large-scale environmental change as it intersects with the life of the critically endangered spoon-billed sandpiper.
Sonne’s work has been presented internationally: at festivals, art institutions, and across land and public spaces; among others at Manifesta 8 (Murcia), The Dakar Biennial, Sequences Real-Time Festival, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, HEART – Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Brandts, Seoul National University Museum of Art, San Francisco International Film Festival, Sharjah Film Platform, ICDOCS, Antimatter [media art] and others.
At the Department of Critical Media Practices at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Sonne teaches courses on Documentary Media Poetics and advanced Documentary, helping students engage critically with the political and pedagogical potential of Documentary Media practices. through an interdisciplinary approach that draws on the study of social, cultural, historical, and global contexts.
Sonne has previously collaborated with the Center for the Study of Contemporary China as a global fellow, contributing to CSCC projects through mentorship, such as for the project 隙声集 GATHERING THE CRACKS: A Resonant Bacheng, by Junyi Yu, Jiaxing Wang, and Zhiyuan Ma, 2026.
During their time as adjunct faculty at the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, Sonne will conduct fieldwork for the documentary project Intertidal. The film seeks to understand the complicated intersections of humans, littoral labor, infrastructure, energy, technology, and construction as these activities intersect with the livelihood of migratory shorebirds on the precarious tidal plains of the Yellow Sea. The project is conceived in collaboration with Dr. Chi Yeung Choi, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at DKU. The project follows along the lines of Dr. Choi’s research, looking at the rapidly decreasing habitat for waterbirds, due to human development and the destruction of the intertidal wetlands which are crucial habitats for migratory shorebirds attuned to very specific feeding habits, notably the critically endangered Spoon-billed sandpiper.
This project works from the premise that one of the most important ways to engage and inform about large-scale environmental change and degradation caused by human activity is through the power of affect – through the emotional connection that documentary media can provide, as a form of communication that facilitates change.
Read more about Sonne and their work here: lauridssonne.art
Yuan Wang’s work explores how global China interact with recipient states. Her current research includes the reception of China’s educational public diplomacy, recipient countries’ public perception towards Chinese Belt and Road projects, the globalization of Chinese state-owned enterprises, among others. Yuan Wang’s work has been published in leading journals such as China Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, Comparative Politics, World Development, Review of International Political Economic, and her book The Railpolitik was published in 2023 with Oxford University Press.
At Peking University, Yuan Wang teaches courses on Case Study Method for PhD students at the Institute for South South Cooperation and Development (ISSCAD) under National School of Development. The course helps ISSCAD students, who are mainly mid-high level bureaucrats from global South countries and China, to structure qualitative analysis and research design. She also teaches undergraduate course Frontier in International Development: Theory and Practice, which helps students understand the introduction of China in international development sphere and the challenges and opportunities it brings, and how Chinese actors interact with recipient actors.
Yuan Wang has previously collaborated with the Center for the Study of Contemporary China as assistant professor at DKU, teaching GChina 101 and other courses. She is developing opportunities for joint research projects with the Center comparing international students in DKU and PKU regarding their perception of China and China’s development model. She is also working with the Center to potentially bring speakers from ISSCAD to DKU to enrich DKU students’ learning by offering them opportunities to interact with real world decision makers from China and global South. She also offers opportunities for DKU faculty to have guest lecture in ISSCAD to enrich their network for fieldworking.
Read more about Yuan Wang and their work here: yuan-wang.org
