Credit: Lolita Parker Jr.

Alumni, faculty and members of the incoming Class of 2012 arrived in Boston, Feb. 1, to attend the latest Cornell Mosaic conference, which offers Cornellians, particularly African-American, Latino and Asian alumni, opportunities to network, keep current on Cornell events and advance discussion about the university's diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Two presentations were featured at the event:

David Harris, Cornell's deputy provost, vice provost for social sciences and a professor of sociology, presented "Racial Classification in America," in which he criticized the current system's lack of research on cultural and social definition of race and for its failure to address multiracial people. Harris also discussed Cornell's new financial aid initiative, emphasizing that it will help to promote economic diversity in the student body.

Chen Jian, the Michael J. Zak Professor of History for U.S.-China Relations and director of the China and Asia-Pacific Studies program at Cornell, offered a general overview of 200 years of U.S.-Chinese relations titled "The China Challenge as Myth and Reality." Jian discussed the "myth" that China will become more powerful than the United States and discussed problems China faces as it develops politically and economically.