On April 24, Prof. Chen Ling, a distinguished alumna of SPPM and also an associate professor of the school, presented her thoughts on the role of language in public policy for MIDialogue, a new informal brown bag lecture series on life in the international development sector. At the event, Prof. Chen shared her recent observations, reflected on current events and emerging trends and exchanged views with MID students on the complexities of interpreting culture through the many layers of language.
Prof. Chen opened the event by providing a cross-cultural comparison between the policy processes in the U.S. and China in terms of their experience with healthcare reform, which explored the variety of strategies for pursuing policy objectives. She then provided some historical background on the recent history of policy and bureaucratic language and interaction with the public in China. During her lecture, she encouraged the students to carefully analyze the tone of official communication so as to better understand larger policy goals and objectives.
MIDialogue is a new monthly lecture series that aims to provide an informal setting in which MID alumni, development practitioners and academia can share their experience and advice with the future practitioners in the MID program.
By Claire HSU
