Read about China's "vacationing scholars" in my Global Times Op-Ed. (photo by Crystal Leigh Shearin)
My Op-Ed on China’s visiting scholars that really just vacation just got published in the Global Times. Here’s an excerpt:
Wang is not engaged in any of the rigorous teaching, lecturing or research that you would expect of a visiting scholar. She fills her mornings doing little more than the work of an undergraduate research assistant, such as organizing data or other clerical tasks. She has no supervisor in the US or China requiring her to produce, say, a scholarly paper for publication. She even invited her child and mother-in-law to live with her, something no serious visiting scholar would ever do, lest they be distracted from their studies.
Instead, you might call Wang a “vacationing scholar,” someone who travels under the guise of scholarly work, in order to enjoy a holiday abroad. Wang doesn’t deny it, either. Once, she confessed to me that her time in the US is like a comfortable respite from life in China.
Curious about China’s “vacationing scholar” phenomenon? Read the full article here. And if you like it, don’t forget to pass it on. 
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