Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago China Lecture - Moving Chairs in Starbucks: How Rice Farming Made Southern China More Interdependent Than the North

Please join the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago (CEAS) China Lecture featuring Professor Thomas Talhelm, Associate Professor of Behavioral Science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, on Thursday, December 3, 5:00 p.m. (Central Standard Time).

Growing rice is very different from growing wheat. Traditional paddy rice required about twice as many labor hours as wheat, which led rice farmers to share labor. Paddy rice also relied on irrigation networks, which require farmers to coordinate their water use and flood their fields at the same time. These elements gave rice villages a dense social world, with tight social ties. Across four studies, Professor Talhelm has tested thousands of people’s thought style and behavior across China. The data shows that these patterns of behavioral differences fall along the historical borders of rice and wheat—even in modern day Starbucks.

To register for this event, please click the Zoom link HERE. 

Megumi Kim, Center Administrator 

Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago