Ann Frechette, the Luce Junior Professor of Asian Studies, conducted a workshop on Chinese culture on November 30 in Foxboro, Mass., for families adopting children from China. Over 65 participants from around the United States attended. At the workshop, Frechette lectured on "Chinese History," "Language, Nation, and Ethnic Relations" and "Families, Festivals and Food."
On December 2, Frechette presented a paper at Davidson College titled "Democracy and Democratization among the Tibetan Exiles." In this article she examines the process of democratizaton among Tibetan exiles using what she describes as a "middle-way approach to the study of democracy - an approach that balances local understandings of democracy with an assessment of whether or not the political system under study can, indeed, be described as democratic, writ large." The paper addresses the questions of "whether or not there is one or more distinct Asian forms of democracy, whether or not Asian democratic forms should be viewed as viable alternatives to Western liberal forms, and whether Asian forms of democracy can be viewed as "consolidated" (or "complete") as opposed to "in transition" toward some other political arrangement."
