(Posted March 15, 2011)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The history and culture on underground and independent filmmaking in China will be the subject of a lecture, "The Dynamics of Underground and Independent Filmmaking in China Today" at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, March 17, at Juniata College in Neff Lecture Hall in the von Liebig Center for Science.

The lecture, by Paul Pickowicz, Distinguished Professor of History and Chinese Studies at the University of California-San Diego, will cover the development of China's underground movie industry from the 1990s to today, where the filmmakers have become more like the independent filmmakers in western countries.

The lecture will cover the development of China's underground movie industry from the 1990s to today, where the filmmakers have become more like the independent filmmakers in western countries.

The lecture is free and open to the public. The lecture is part of the Delbert McQuaide Lectureship in History.

Pickowicz will discuss a series of groundbreaking films, some of which have been shown recently on campus, including "The Blue Kite," "Blind Shaft" and "East Palace, West Palace."

Pickowicz is Endowed Chair in Modern Chinese History and has written a number of books on China, including "Chinese Village, Socialist State," "Chinese Cinemas," "Revolution, Resistance and Reform in Village China," "The Chinese Cultural Revolution as History," "Dilemmas of Victory" and "China on the Margins."

He recently returned from a term as Distinguished Visiting Scholar at East China Normal University in Shanghai.

He received three teaching awards from the university, including the Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching Award in 1998 and the Chancellor's Associates Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate teaching in 2003.

The Delbert McQuaide Lectureship in History Series was established by Delbert McQuaide, a 1958 Juniata College graduate. He was a senior partner at McQuaide Blasko Law Offices in State College and served as general counsel for Penn State University and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He was president of the Centre County Bar Association, and a member of the Pennsylvania, and American Bar Associations and the National Association of College and University Attorneys. McQuaide was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1994 and served as chairman from 1996 until his death in 1997.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.