CERC and the Comparative Studies of Education Traditions SIG were very proud to host Professor Ruth Hayhoe for a seminar titled “East-West Crosscurrents in Comparative Education” on November 21st, 2023. The seminar consisted of a thirty-minute talk and a dialogical discussion about the challenges of bridging the gap between the rich Eastern higher educational traditions and the dominant Western university traditions. During the seminar, Professor Hayhoe shared insights from a recent book chapter on how Comparative Education and Comparative Higher Education have been influenced by the emergence of a Dialogue Among Civilizations and a value-explicit approach to educational research pioneered by scholars rooted in Asian civilizations. A book table was also set up at the event, showcasing four books that Ruth has contributed to CERC since the early 1990s. The event was attended by faculty staff, members of CERC, and the Comparative Studies of Education Traditions SIG from both domestic and international locations.

Ruth Hayhoe has been an old friend of CERC and is currently a professor at the University of Toronto. She previously served as the Cultural Secretary in the Canadian Embassy in Beijing (1989-1991) and as the Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, now known as the Education University of Hong Kong (1997-2002). Her research primarily focuses on Chinese higher education and educational relations between East Asia and the West. Some of her recent books include “China Through the Lens of Comparative Education” (2015), “Canadian Universities in China’s Transformation” (2016), and “Religion and Education” (2018).