Dive Brief:
- A Chinese economics professor terminated last month by Peking University will be invited to Wellesley College as a visiting fellow.
- The firing of democracy and human rights advocate Xia Yeliang raised academic freedom concerns in China and almost resulted in Wellesley faculty members voting to end the college's partnership with Peking.
- The invitation to Xia comes from Wellesley's Freedom Project, an initiative exploring freedom in different societies.
Dive Insight:
Wellesley sociology professor Thomas Cushman is behind the Freedom Project and is also a supporter of Xia who says he'd like to work with the Chinese academic to find out if Wellesley is a good fit for him. Despite faculty ultimately voting against ending the Peking University partnership, one has to wonder how the invitation to Xia will impact the relationship on Peking's end.