Visiting Fulbright scholar Yuan Ren will present two lectures on Chinese urbanization and population challenges on Thursday, Feb. 18, at Coastal Carolina University. Both talks are free and open to the community.

The first lecture, "Massive Migration and Migrants' Social Integration during Chinese Urbanization," will be at 10:30 a.m. in the James J. Johnson Auditorium in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration.

The second lecture, "China's Population Prospects and Challenges," will be held at 5 p.m. in the Recital Hall in Room 152 of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts. A reception will follow the second lecture in the Edwards Lobby.

Ren is a professor of demography and urban studies at Fudan University, China. He is also deputy director of China's Institute of Population Research, as well as deputy director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies. He has been awarded fellowships at the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom by the British Council (2000), at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2002) and at the International Center for the Study of East Asian Development in Japan (2006).

Ren conducts research and publishes on a wide range of topics that include population and development, aging studies, urbanization and migration, employment and labor market, urban and regional development, global city and global-local nexus, urban affairs and public policies, low carbon cities, urban sustainability and more, with a primary focus on China, especially in and around Shanghai Area.

For more information, contact CCU's cultural arts department at 843-234-3410 or tpillai@coastal.edu.