In the morning of January 5th, 2015, Prof. Xia Yafeng from Department of History of Long Island University in New York, at the invitation ofInstitute for Global Cooperation and Understanding, Peking University (iGCU), gave an insightful special academic report on the study of American diplomatic history at School of International Studies. Prof. Zhang Xiaoming, Prof. Zhang Zhirong, Prof. Ding Dou, Prof. Cui Kun and Prof. Xiang Zuotao from School of International Studies, Guan Guihai, Executive Deputy Director of Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Yu Tiejun, Deputy Director of Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Associate Professor Niu Ke from Department of History of Peking University, and a dozen of master and doctoral students of School of International Studies participated in the seminar. Associate Professor Wang Dong, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding presided over the seminar. 

During the lecture, Prof. Xia first introduced the evolution of the concept "American diplomatic history" in the American academic circle, as well as the changes of specific faculty positions and titles in universities. Since the 1980s, study of social history and cultural history flourished, which marginalized the study in diplomatic history. However, big shifts were seen in the last decade.Under such a general background, Prof. Xia teased out three new frameworks to interpret American history of foreign relations——ideological framework of interpretation; cultural turn: race, gender, culture and the US foreign relations; transnational turn: study the US in the grand background of the international community. He introduced the existing and the latest research results under different frameworks of interpretation, and pointed out that national states remain a key object of study. At the end of his speech, Prof. Xia raised some problems in the diplomatic history study by American scholars. With new methodology and angles of interpretation, domestic political factors are often overlooked; besides, the researchers lack interest in non-English files and research results.

Prof. Xia' s sharing of the latest study in diplomatic history of the US in the last 15 years intrigued all the participating teachers and students, whom directed many questions at and engaged in heated discussions with Prof. Xia. The topics ranged from American human rights diplomacy, cultural turn of the entire social sciences and the boundary and future of study of diplomatic history.At the end of the seminar, Prof. Xia expressed his wishes that young scholars and students in the field of China' s cold war history could engage more with the international academic community, and let it hear more voices from China.