Mark Rowswell (DaShan)

• Breaking Barriers
  How was Dashan able to become accepted inside the Middle Kingdom?
• Perceptions of “Dashan”& China’s Relationship with the Outside World
  What do differing perceptions of Dashan across the cultural divide tell us about China”s complex relationship with the outside world?
• Television in China since the 1980s
  Fast Track from Ed Sullivan to YouTube – the evolution of mass media in China is a direct reflection of political, societal and cultural change in this period of rapid transformation
• 150 Years of Chinese Comedy

Honors

• Dashan has been inducted into the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour.
• In 2012, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper named “Dashan” Canada’s Goodwill Ambassador to China.
• In 2009 Dashan received a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Thompson Rivers University for “efforts to build global connections between cultures and economies”.
• In 2008, Dashan was awarded the White Magnolia Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Dinner Game, marking the first time a foreign national has received one of China’s top three dramatic arts awards.
• Dashan was selected to be an official torch bearer for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
• In 2006, Dashan received the Key to the City of Ottawa for his contributions in building bridges between Canada and China
• In 2005, Dashan became the first foreigner selected as one of ten “Outstanding Youth of Beijing”, one of the highest honours granted by the Beijing authorities.
• In 2004, Dashan was awarded a Special Recognition Award from the Canadian Cancer Society for serving as the society’s Goodwill Ambassador in China.
• In 1999, University of Toronto selected Dashan as one of “100 Alumni Who Shaped the Century”. That same year, TIME Magazine selected Dashan as one of the “Leaders for the 21st Century”
• In 1998, the 20th anniversary of China’s reform and opening, New Weekly Magazine chose Dashan as one of the “Outstanding People of the Past 20 Years”