COVID Crossroads: The Pandemic’s Impact on Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Beyond

Join the Pulitzer Center and the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago on Monday, June 28 at 4:30pm CDT for a conversation with journalist Nick Schifrin exploring the nuanced impact of COVID-19 in China, Hong Kong, and beyond.

Schifrin will discuss how the pandemic has centered the relationship of the government of Mainland China and its diverse territories, bolstering censorship and limiting civil liberties. The enactment of the controversial National Security Law in Hong Kong serves as an example of politics in one of China's Special Administrative Regions colliding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Schifrin also will discuss the role that China has played  domestically and globally in vaccine development, distribution, and diplomacy. 

Schifrin is PBS NewsHour's foreign affairs and defense correspondent and a longtime Pulitzer Center grantee. He leads NewsHour's foreign reporting and has done in-depth reporting from China, Russia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Cuba, Mexico, and the Baltics. Schifrin's Pulitzer Center-supported series Inside Russia won a 2018 Peabody Award. His most recent project produced in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center, China: Power and Prosperity, includes a series of 10 stories that cover topics ranging from the Belt and Road Initiative to China's electric car revolution.

After a Q&A with Schifrin, participants will have a chance to connect with one another to network and identify opportunities for aligning Schifrin’s reporting with their curricular goals for next year. 

This webinar is part of a multi-day virtual conference for educators to bring award-winning journalists together to discuss the global and local inequalities that COVID-19 has amplified. Featuring a combination of journalist-led presentations and interactive activities, the program will also introduce methods for integrating global news and journalism skills into diverse curricula to reinforce students’ critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills. Participants will leave with the tools to incorporate new content into their classes, as well as connections to journalists working on pressing global issues. Illinois-based educators are eligible to receive CPDU credits for attendance.

Register for the Zoom webinar here.