One of the most exciting aspects about UT's American Studies department is its expansive reach: our faculty and students live and work in all corners of the globe, whether volunteering in the Peace Corps or presenting innovative research and projects in far-flung locales.This past September,  Dr. Jeff Meikle participated in a series of workshops and seminars hosted by the new M+ Museum for Visual Culture in Hong Kong, along with four designers and design scholars from Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan, and Korea. Under the theme "Import/Export: Postwar Design and Industry in East Asia," designers and scholars spent two days advising museum curators on collecting strategies in product design.These scholars also gave presentations and participated in round table discussions at separate events in Hong Kong and across the border in Shenzhen in mainland China, a city of 12-15 million where many products on the American market are manufactured. In Hong Kong on Sept. 11, Dr. Meikle lectured on "Researching Industrial Design and Plastics in the U.S.: A Methodological and Conceptual Case Study," and in Shenzhen on Sept 13, he participated in a roundtable discussion on "Taking Histories Forward."See some photos from the event below: