History Professor Jeannette Ford Publishes Book on China’s Mao

Mao's Prey: The History of Chen Renbing, Liberal Intellectual,written by Jeannette Ford, Ed.D., associate professor of history in the College of Liberal Arts, is being reissued by Routledge Taylor Francis as part of a series entitled China Under Mao, which is intended to target the international university community. Ford lived in Asia for seven years, three of those in Shanghai, China. 

“Mao's Prey details the role of intellectuals in China before and during the Maoist era, with particular focus on Chen Renbing as a target of multiple anti-intellectual campaigns,” said Ford. “Oral histories with dozens of intellectuals form the core of the book.” 

A portion of Ford’s course load is teaching Modern Asian Studies and Survey of Chinese History and Culture at Bethune-Cookman University.

During summer 2018, Ford will serve as principal investigator on two projects. First is a collaboration for digital archiving of oral history projects she created, mostly related to B-CU history. The contract is with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Robert Fredrick Smith Fund, which provides two interns working offsite at B-CU, and who will present research findings at the August 8 –11, 2018, meeting of the Association of African American Museum in Hampton, Virginia. The second is a B-CU CURE grant working with two interns to create a digital map of Historic Second Avenue in Daytona Beach and the Midtown neighborhood.

Since 2001, Ford began creating and directing five ongoing oral history projects: Centennial Oral History Project, 25 interviews, including some with individuals who knew Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune; Family History Portfolio, 1,000-plus African American history student interviews of family elders; Veterans History Project, 20 interviews with WWII, Vietnam and Korean War veterans, according to guidelines of the Library of Congress; Bethune Legacy Project, interviews with legacy families who are multi-generational graduates of B-CC/B-CU and Historic Second Avenue Project, 20-plus interviews of locals connected to the Midtown area.