Confucian Expert Lectures

Tu Weiming, one of the world's foremost scholars of Confucian tradition and Chinese culture studies, will present his views at Grand Valley State University in an open lecture beginning at 3 p.m. Friday, December 5, in the Cook-DeWitt Center on GVSU's Allendale Campus.

The lecture, titled 'Beyond the Enlightenment Mentality: A New Perspective on Confucian Humanism,' is open to the public free of charge.

Tu will also attend Grand Valley Commencement Ceremonies on Saturday, where he will be presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree by GVSU President Mark A. Murray. Commencement begins at 10 a.m. at the Van Andel Arena.

Tu, director of the Harvard-Yenching Institute, has taught at Princeton University, the University of California at Berkeley, and since 1981 has held the position of professor of Chinese history and philosophy at Harvard University. He is the author or editor of more than 30 books in English and Chinese and is active in the World Economic Forum, the United Nations' Group of Eminent Persons on the Dialogue Among Civilizations, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Tu wrote a three-page essay for the book 'Wandering —;; Brush and Pen in Philosophical Reflection' by Grand Valley philosophy professors Stephen Rowe and Peimin Ni.