On Friday, May 4, from noon until 1:30 pm, the Department of Curriculum and Instruction will host a Diversity Dialogue event featuring Lei Zheng from East China Normal University, who will talk about higher education in the 1970s in China and the process of constructing a historical memory of the experiences of the Young Worker-Peasant-Soldier College Students.

Until recently, the stories of nearly one million Young Worker-Peasant-Soldier College Students have been left out of China's public discourse. However, with a new focus on contemporary education reform and the humane care of non-mainstream groups, this unique generation of college students are receiving attention as an area of study. Interestingly, the expressions of memories of the same events vary significantly from subject to subject, causing the construction of a definitive historical memory to be a challenge. Therefore, Lei Zheng's study will draw on all kinds of memory texts from lexicon, mass media, and oral materials to provide an objective and rational discourse analysis of the constructive process of historical memory about Young Worker-Peasant-Soldier College Students, respectively from three levels: the government, civil society and individuals.

Lei Zheng is a master student of the Institute of Curriculum and Instruction in East China Normal University, which is well known as the "National team" of China's New Curriculum Reform. Lei is particularly interested in the intersection between culture, history and education; her current research mainly focuses on people's perceptions of particular educational events. As a visiting scholar in University of Minnesota, she would like to share and exchange opinions and experiences with students and scholars here.