Shepherd's Scarborough Society to host presentation on Chinese leader

ISSUED: 17 April 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
(Shepherd's Scarborough Society to host presentation on Chinese leader)

Shepherdstown, WV--The Scarborough Society of Shepherd University will host a lecture featuring David Gordon, associate professor of history at Shepherd University, on Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. in the Scarborough Library reading room. The program will focus on the life of Sun Yatsen, an early Chinese revolutionary and leader of the Nationalist Party.

Gordon has written a book manuscript, Sun Yatsen: Seeking a Newer China, for Pearson Prentice Hall's Library of World Biography series. Widely regarded in both mainland China and Taiwan as the "father of modern China," Sun (1866-1925) helped organize the overthrow of China's final dynasty in 1911 and went on to create China's Nationalist Party. Gordon's book examines the circumstances of Sun's life in a context that helps integrate Chinese and global themes for freshmen in world history courses.

Gordon received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in modern Japanese history and served as a visiting professor at the College of William and Mary before coming to Shepherd in 2000. He was inspired to write a biography of Sun in part through his interest in Sun's second wife, the famous Soong Qingling, whose palatial residence in Beijing Gordon visited during a 2003 trip to China.

This presentation is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture. The Scarborough Society is a friends of the library organization established in 2002 by the Shepherd University Foundation. Its annual membership dues help support library acquisitions, technology, and programs. Membership is open to all interested supporters of the Scarborough Library. For further information about the lecture series or the Scarborough Society, contact the Shepherd University Foundation at 304/876-5397.

-30-HORST

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