The Intersection of the American Dream and the China Dream:

Experiences of Traveling to-and-from China and America and Back-Again

Dr. Yali Zou

University of Houston

Dr. Cheryl J. Craig

Texas A & M University
Introduction
Introduction

Research Questions

How the national dreams shape our knowing

How the national dreams contribute to the ways we make sense of people’s
lives as they push toward futures that are presently unknown
Introduction

▪ Professor, University of Houston

▪ Founding Director of the University of Houston’s Global Leadership and Asian
Dr. Yali Zou
American Studies Center
▪ Study Abroad trips to China Leader

▪ Professor, University of Texas A&M University

▪ Houston Endowment Endowed Chair of Urban Education
Dr. Cheryl Craig ▪ Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Canada-China Reciprocal
Learning Project

▪ M.S., University of Houston

Dr. Jing Li ▪ Ph.D., University of Texas A&M University
▪ Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, East China Normal University

▪ Doctoral Student., University of Houston

Brent Spraggins ▪ Director of Pre-Business Advising and Special Programs in the
University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business.
▪ China Study Abroad trip with Yali Zou
Literature Review

Global backdrop Dreams

American Dream
United States China
▪ Declaration of Independence
Age of country 243 years 5+ millennia
▪ Adams (1931)
Focus of culture Individual harmonious community “a dream of a social order in which each man and each woman
historical perspective shall be able to attain the fullest stature of which they are
Time perspective present (hours, days) (decades, centuries) innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are
‘God-given’ civilizational achievement of regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position”
Exceptionalism cultural supremacy Han people
world power ‘center of the universe’
Chinese Dream
Speed of change quick solution long-term approaches
▪ Poem, Flowering spring (下泉):
America is realigning its “heart [being] full of [the] China Dream (中国梦)”
China is returning to
Point of position not losing its
greatness, not rising out of ▪ Xi Jinping (2013)
contention power as the world’s
nothingness. “to realize the Chinese dream of great national rejuvenation
leader.
Position in the is to realize the country’s prosperity, national rejuvenation
global rival global rival
world and the happiness of its people”
Narrative Inquiry

‘experiential study of experience’

(Xu & Connelly, 2010, p. 340)

Interpretive Tools
Sharing Stories of Experience

“narrative line”
(Zinsse, 2004, p. 163)

Culture Change
American &
&
Dream National Dreams
National Dreams

Unique Stories
Chinese
&
Dream
National Dreams
Story Circles
(Curthoys, Cuthbertson
& Clark, 2012)
Sharing Stories of Experience

American
Dream

“to accomplish personal

and financial goals” “picture-perfect yards”
Individual
Americans
Perceived
“having a vision and a plan by “possessing luxury goods
for your life” others in abundance”
Sharing Stories of Experience

Chinese
Dream

“individual’s future is tied to the

destiny of the nation, which is a “from the national level to
the
lesson learned from history” the individual level“
rejuvenation
of China

“The Chinese dream is a ‘world-class’ “the exported American

dream for China” China Dream”
Sharing Stories of Experience

“China Dream [as] a collective dream,”

American Dream
as an “individualistic one intertwined with democracy,”
“accomplishing goals…together…”

“strong economically” Culture Individual citizens need to figure out

& how to personally express their country’s dream.
National Dreams
“from a higher education standpoint”
Sharing Stories of Experience

Yali Zou’ American transition story Brent Spraggins’s Chinese transition story

Unique stories there is “more accommodation for [him] as an individual

Yali’s smorgasbord experience belies the individualism & in the U.S. than there was in China.”
National Dreams
underpinning the American Dream.
“in a collectivist dream… you think about the good of the many
versus the good of one individual.”
Sharing Stories of Experience

Change
&
National Dreams
 Closing Comments

“Opportunity is not equally distributed”

“success in the western world”

One generation’s success with the American Dream
scaffolding the next generation’s attainment of the
American Dream
Closing Comments

“social discrimination”

“yellowed pearls”
(Levisky, 2004)
 Closing Comments

Not Fixed
But Generative
Closing Comments
Closing Comments

…if both Western/non-Western countries…maintain an open mind

while being clear about their…convictions, if they remain committed
to dealing peacefully with one another…and constantly strive to
understand one another better, then the future could [become] one of
diverse, flourishing, and mutually enhancing civilizations
(Tan, 2003, pp. 5-6)
Thank you