Hai Ren

Interests

Research

Comparative media and popular culture studies, digital humanities, arts and aesthetics, critical theory, and political philosophy

Teaching

Popular Culture, Media Studies, Arts, Urban Studies, Cultural Anthropology, Asian Studies, American Studies, and Humanities

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

• Ren, H. (2019). “Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary Art — The Yangdeng Art Collective.”. In Socially Engaged Art in Southwest China: Yangdeng Art Cooperative, 2012-2017(pp 20-29). Chongqing, CHN: Chongqing Publishing Group.
• Ren, H. (2019). “当代艺术中的参与式艺术—羊磴艺术合作社” (Dangdai yishu zhong de canyushi yishu — Yangdeng yishu hezuoshe). In 《参与的艺术：羊磴艺术合作社，2012-2017》(Canyu de yishu: Yangdeng yishu hezuoshu, 2012-2017)(pp 6-16). Chongqing, CHN: Chongqing chubanshe.
• Ren, H. (2014). Sexuality and Mass Media. In Global History of Sexuality(pp 195-220). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

Journals/Publications

• Ren, H. (2023). “装配世界公众: 艺术智能和物导向的公民身份” (Assembling the Cosmopublic: Art Intelligence and Object-Oriented Citizenship).. 《文化与诗学》(Culture and Poetics), 34(1), 88-95.
• Ren, H. (2023). “Creative Authorship and the Aesthetics of Contemporaneity: Socially Engaged Art and Precarious Subjects in the Chinese Creative Economy.” . Societas/Communitas, 34(2), 225-248. doi:10.55226/uw.S.-C.2022.34.2.6
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  Intellectual critiques, technological developments, and social, economic, and political changes have reconfigured the modernist notion of the artist/author whose identity is based on the idealized self-enclosed creative subjectivity. As this article argues, new forms of creative authorship have emerged in recent decades through expanding creative subjectivity to the entire society in the development of creative economies in cities and rural areas. Based on ethnographic and comparative research in China, the author examines two kinds of creative authorship: that of creative workers (including artists) and that of precarious subjects (such as migrants, young adults, and people with disabilities) who are trained to become creative subjects through philanthropic projects. Focusing on the dialectical relationship between the two kinds of authorship, I demonstrate that creative authorship and the precariousness of labor are co-present. This notion of the contemporaneity of creative authorship raises questions about collaborative and collective claims of creative work.Keywords: Creative authorship, contemporaneity, socially engaged art, creative economy, risk society
• Ren, H. (2022). “感知审美、历史体制、星球性的未来主义：来⾃第15届卡塞尔⽂献展现场的反思”(Reflections on the Art of Lumbung at Documenta Fifteen: Aisthesis, Historical Regimes, and Planetary Futurism). 《艺术新闻／中文版》, 36-38.
• Ren, H. (2022). “感知审美、历史体制、星球性的未来主义：来⾃第15届卡塞尔⽂献展现场的反思”(Reflections on the Art of Lumbung at Documenta Fifteen: Aisthesis, Historical Regimes, and Planetary Futurism). 《艺术新闻／中文版》.
• Ren, H. (2022). Aesthetics of Futurism: Lu Yang’s Art and an Organological Redefinition of the Human in the Planetary Age. Screen Bodies, 7(1), 93-110. doi:10.3167/screen.2022.070106
• Ren, H. (2022). Aesthetics of Futurism: Lu Yang’s Art and an Organological Redefinition of the Human in the Planetary Age. Screen Bodies, 7(1), 93-110. doi:https://doi.org/10.3167/screen.2022.070106
• Ren, H. (2022). Artistic Critique of the Colonial Plant Ecology. Verge: Studies in Global Asias, 8(2).
• Ren, H. (2022). Bodies at Ruins Scenes of the Great Acceleration. Verge: Studies in Global Asias, 8(2).
• Ren, H. (2022). Planetary Art in the Sinophonecene: An Introduction. Verge: Studies in Global Asias, 8(2).
• Ren, H. (2022). Postanthropotric Art in the Planetary Age. Verge: Studies in Global Asias, 8(2).
• Ren, H. (2017). The Aesthetic Scene: A Critique of the Creative Economy in Urban China. Journal of Urban Affairs.
• Ren, H. (2021). "物导向艺术与当代艺术中的审美物” (Object-Oriented Art and the Aesthetic Object in Contemporary Art). 《山东社会科学》(Shangdong Social Sciences), 42-50, 59.
• Ren, H. (2021). Review of Driving toward Modernity: Cars and the Lives of the Middle Class in Contemporary China (Jun Zhang, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019). Pacific Affairs, 94(4).
• Ren, H. (2021). The Aesthetic Scene: A Critique of the Creative Economy in Urban China. Journal of Urban Affairs, 43(7), 15. doi:10.1080/07352166.2018.1443011
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  Print version
• Ren, H. (2020). Assembling the Cosmopublic: Art Intelligence and Object-Oriented Citizenship. Mediapolis: A Journal of Cities and Culture, 5(1). doi:https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/2020/03/assembling-the-cosmopublic-art-intelligence-and-object-oriented-citizenship/
• Ren, H. (2020). Book review: Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary China: Voices from Below. China Information, 34(2), 304-305. doi:10.1177/0920203x20927568h
• Ren, H. (2020). What is the Socially Engaged Art Museum? Lessons from the Yangdeng Art Collective in China. The Journal of Korean and Asian Arts, 1(1), 95-115.
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  Republished by “Public Art and Aesthetic Education Research” (公共艺术与社会美育研究), November 8, 2020
• Ren, H. (2020). “‘关系美学’在不同历史语境中有何影响？在当今‘逆’全球化的时代与‘在地’有何关联?” (“Relational Aes-thetics” in Different Historical Contexts: How is It Connected to Contemporary Anti-Globalization and Site-Specificity?). 《符号学与当代艺术》(Semiotics and Contemporary Art). doi:[https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/DhLjHReICgBq8p3KUM-WFA
• Ren, H. (2020). “物导向哲学与艺术的生成式审美” (Object-Oriented Philosophy and the Generative Aesthetics of Art) (part 1). 《符号学与当代艺术》(Semiotics and Contemporary Art). doi:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wGqQZ1iQOzjT4oYqqt_Enw
• Ren, H. (2020). “物导向哲学与艺术的生成式审美” (Object-Oriented Philosophy and the Generative Aesthetics of Art) (part 2). 《符号学与当代艺术》(Semiotics and Contemporary Art). doi:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/uVcFJEON2Rv209_eBDs32w
• Ren, H. (2020). “物导向本体论的讨论与哲学、艺术、科学的关系” (Object-Oriented Ontology: Philosophy, Art, and Science). 《符号学与当代艺术》(Semiotics and Contemporary Art). doi:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/kNG9Q1ZLK_DDTgrcvNczJw
• Ren, H. (2020). “生物艺术如何定义？五位专家学者为你分享生物艺术的前世今生” (Defining Bio-Art: Five Scholarly Views). 《符号学与当代艺术》(Semiotics and Contemporary Art). doi:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/1CJcGAV6gicUD3KrJewCcw
• Ren, H. (2019). “创造智慧的研究性艺术：以法国蓬皮杜中心的《史前史》展览为例” (Creating Wisdom: Research-Oriented Art & the “Prehistory: A Modern Enigma” Exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris). Chongqing Sculpture Institute (重庆雕塑学会). doi:
• Ren, H. (2019). “创造智慧的研究性艺术：以法国蓬皮杜中心的《史前史》展览为例” (Creating Wisdom: Research-Oriented Art & the “Prehistory: A Modern Enigma” Exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris). 《当代美术家》(Contemporary Artists), 22-25.
• Ren, H. (2019). “创造智慧的研究性艺术：以法国蓬皮杜中心的《史前史》展览为例” (Creating Wisdom: Research-Oriented Art & the “Prehistory: A Modern Enigma” Exhibition at the Pompidou Center in Paris). 《当代美术家》(Contemporary Artists).
• Ren, H. (2019). “推测现实主义的知道模式：双年展、极少主义与超越视觉的艺术体验” (Speculative Realism as a Mode of Knowing: Biennials, Minimalism, and Art Experience). 《西南民族大学学报》(The Journal of Southwest Minzu University) (Humanities and Social Sciences) WeChat site. doi:
• Ren, H. (2019). “推测现实主义的知道模式：双年展、极少主义与超越视觉的艺术体验” (Speculative Realism as a Mode of Knowing: Biennials, Minimalism, and Art Experience). 《西南民族大学学报》(The Journal of Southwest Minzu University) (Humanities and Social Sciences), 162-170.
• Ren, H. (2017). The Aesthetic Scene: A Critique of the Creative Economy in Urban China. Journal of Urban Affairs. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2018.1443011
• Ren, H. (2018). Review of Learning From Shenzhen: China’s Post-Mao Experiment from Special Zone to Model City. The China Quarterly, 568-569.
• Ren, H. (2018). The aesthetic scene: A critique of the creative economy in urban China. Journal of Urban Affairs, 43(7), 960-974. doi:10.1080/07352166.2018.1443011
• Ren, H. (2018). “什么是艺术智能？” (What is Art Intelligence?). 《当代美术家》(Contemporary Artists), 16-19.
• Ren, H. (2018). “什么是艺术智能？” (What is Art Intelligence?). 《当代美术家》(Contemporary Artists).
• Ren, H. (2018). “当代艺术的生成式审美：做为认识日常生活世界的模式的社会参与式艺术” (Generative Aesthetics in Contemporary Art: Socially Engaged Art as a Mode of Knowing in Everyday Life). 《学习与探索》(Study & Exploration), 159-167, 176.
• Ren, H., & Ren, H. (2018). The Aesthetic Scene: A Critique of the Creative Economy in Urban China. Journal of Urban Affairs. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2018.1443011
• Ren, H. (2016). “当代艺术的当代性：以成都说唱音乐为例” (The Contemporaneity of Contemporary Art: Chengdu Rap Music Collective).. 《文化研究》（南京大学人文高等研究院主办）, 27(27), 189-206.
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  This article was cited by 冯庆's "中国说唱江湖的文化基因：从社会质性到社会自信"(2017) ()
• Ren, H. (2017). 审美的历程：参与艺术社会性的历史考察. 《艺术当代》(Art China), 36-39.
• Ren, H. (2017). 审美的历程：参与艺术社会性的历史考察. 《艺术当代》(Art China).
• Ren, H. (2015). Cinematic Regimes and the Disappearing Factory in China. Signs & Media (符号与传媒) (Chengdu), 11(Fall 2015), 155-179.
• Ren, H. (2015). “Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible:" The Politics of Aesthetics and Hong Kong’s "Umbrella Movement". Anthropology News, 56(5-6), 7.
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  http://www.anthropology- news.org/index.php/2015/02/26/be-realistic-demand-the-impossible
• Ren, H. (2012). Millionaire migrants: Trans-Pacific life lines by David Ley. The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien, 56(1), 145-146. doi:10.1111/j.1541-0064.2011.00407.x

Presentations

• Ren, H. (2024, March 14-17).  “The Art of Habitability: Multispecies Aesthetics and Embodied Knowing in the Asian Anthropocenes.”. The Association for Asian Studies 2024 Annual Conference, Seattle. Seattle: The Association for Asian Studies.
• Ren, H. (2023, June 16). “科学，人文与研究性艺术：在全球气候变化下寻找整合性的探索方式” (Sciences, Humanities, and Research-based Arts: An Integrated Mode of Inquiry under the Planetary Condition of Climate Crises). Invited Public Lecture. Chengdu, China: Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Science.
• Ren, H. (2023, June 20).

  “100-Year Photography: From Today to the Future.” Public art workshop at Yangdeng, Guizhou, China, June 20. Website:

  . Public art workshop at Yangdeng, Guizhou, China. Yangdeng, Guizhou, China: Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2023, June 3).

  Keynote "A Theory of the Sinophonecene: Planetarity, Habitability, and the Cosmopublic"

  . Symposium “Worlding the Sinophonecene.”. Zoom: Research Network for Modern and Contemporary Chinese Art (ReNetMoCoCA) in Europe.
• Ren, H. (2023, November 11).

  “Reflections on the Asian Anthropocenes: Planetarity, Habitability, and the Cosmopublic.”

  . Plenary lecture for the symposium “Sustainability and Resilience in East Asia.”. Biosphere 2, Arizona: Center for East Asian Studies, the University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2023, October 25). Arts Research from a Multispecies Perspective . School of Arts Lecture Series. Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson: School of Arts, University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2023, October 26). “100-Year Photography: From Today to the Future.” Artwork shown at the exhibition “Ways of Knowing, Ways of Being: Arts Research and Integration,” Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson, October 16-27.. Gallery talk for the exhibition "Ways of Knowing, Ways of Being: Arts Research and Integration". Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson: Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, Tucson.
• Ren, H. (2023, October 26-29).

  “Inhabiting the Asian Anthropocenes: Abyssal Aesthetics and Embodied Knowing in the Realm of Bardo.”

  . Paper for the conference on "Alien". Tempe, AZ: Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts.
• Ren, H. (2023, October 3).

  “社会和生态环境的研究性艺术” (Research-oriented Art on Social and Environmental Issues)

  . Invited Distinguished seminar (3 hours). Zoom: the Research and Training Institute on Narrative Sculpture in Southwestern China in the New Era, Department of Sculpture, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute..
• Ren, H. (2021, April 30). “星球时代的生成式审美：作为宇宙技术的艺术智能” (Generative Aesthetics in the Planetary Age: Art Intelligence as Cosmotechnics). 2021 ECUSTalk Design Series. Zoom: Invited by the College of Art, Design, and Media, Eastern China University of Technologies (华东理工大学艺术设计与传媒学院).
• Ren, H. (2021, December 18-19). Aesthetics of Futurism in the Planetary Age: Digital Media Art’s Organological Redefinition of the Human”(星球时代的未来主义的感知审美：网络艺术在器官学上对人的再定义). “Envisage/Presentation: International Forum on Internet Morphology & Sociology of Internet Art” (预·见：互联网形态主义&网络艺术社会学”国际学术论坛). Cloud-based international conference: Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and the Chongqing Municipal Artist Association.
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  本文从结合生态环境和科学技术两个方面探讨星球时代的网络艺术所表现出的未来主义的感知审美。一方面，从新物质论对人类与环境的反思出发讨论网络艺术的物质性（包括网络艺术的基础设施，能量消耗，非人类的物的能动性等）。另一方面，从科技研究（如神经科学，信息论，系统论等）和媒体研究中涉及器官学上包括生命的，人造的和社会的多种层面的问题出发讨论网络艺术对人的再定义。通过这两个方面的讨论，本文认为在器官学意义上的人具有一种在星球时代的未来主义的感知审美，不仅建立人与非人之间的亲属关系，而且也生成超越人的能动力的生境性的未来机制。
• Ren, H. (2021, January 8). “生物演化的终结者——人类” (The Humankind: The Terminator of Life Evolution on Earth). “In-Out Commune” (呼吸公社) Live Forum Series. Live Online (via Zoom): Server Art Foundation.
• Ren, H. (2021, May 5). The Sensible Life of the Bishan Commune: Its Intellectual, Material, and Sensible Dimensions. International workshop on the Bishan Commune. Zoom: Invited and sponsored by Asian Dynamics Initiative, University of Copenhagen.
• Ren, H. (2020, August 22). “‘关系美学’在不同历史语境中有何影响？在当今‘逆’全球化的时代与‘在地’有何关联?” (“Relational Aes-thetics” in Different Historical Contexts: How is It Connected to Contemporary Anti-Globalization and Site-Specificity?). Semiotics and Contemporary Art Live Forum Series. Live Online (via Zoom): Server Art Foundation.
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  Over 540,500 viewers
• Ren, H. (2020, December 5). “面对星球: 艺术如何关注人的存在的事情?”(Facing the Planet: The Art of Human-Existential En-gagement). International conference on “Co-Existence, Empathy, and Symbiosis: Chinese Community Art Education Action Plan Exhibition Online Theory Workshop” (共在 共情 共生：中国社区美育行动计划展线上研讨会). Chongqing, China and Live Online (via Zoom): Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Sichuan University, the Chongqing Municipal Artist Association, and the Sichuan Provincial Artist Association.
• Ren, H. (2020, December 8). “Community Engagement and Art Intelligence in the Anthropocene.”. The International Forum on “Revitalizing Rural Community Through Art Intelligence”. Shanghai, China and Live Online (via Zoom): Future Lab, Shanghai.
• Ren, H. (2020, July 11). “生物艺术如何定义？五位专家学者为你分享生物艺术的前世今生” (Defining Bio-Art: Five Scholarly Views). "Semiotics and Contemporary Art" Live Forum Series. Live Online (via Zoom): Server Art Foundation.
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  Over 510,500 viewers
• Ren, H. (2020, June 1). Art as Engagement in Postindustrial Creative Cities in China: An Object-Oriented Perspective. Asian Studies Lecture Series. Austin, Texas: Department of Asian Studies, University of Texas.
• Ren, H. (2020, October 14). “Don’t Chat: Impacts of WeChat’s Ban on American Citizens.”. The webinar on “Pandemic Blues and Blame Games: Anti-Asian Rhetoric and the Realities of US-China Antagonism.”. Live Online (via Zoom): Department of East Asian Studies and the College of Humanities, University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2020, September 30). “Sculpture Factory Fantasia.”. Brownbag Talk Series. Live Online (via Zoom): Department of Asian Studies, University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2020, September 6). “物导向哲学与艺术的生成式审美” (Object-Oriented Philosophy and the Generative Aesthetics of Art). Public lecture (in Chinese) sponsored by the Server Art Foundation. Live online (via Zoom): The Server Art Foundation.
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  The public lecture received over 740, 000 viewers
• Ren, H. (2019, April 5). “Art Intelligence: Art as Cosmotechnics in a Cosmopolis”. “Global Asias 5”. Penn State University: Penn State University.
• Ren, H. (2019, May 22, 2019). “从物导向看参与式艺术” (Object Orientation and Participatory Art). Public Lecture. Chongqing, China: Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2019, November 28). "研究性艺术：对雕塑生产和创作的意义" (Research-Oriented Art: What Does It Mean to Sculpture Production & Creation?). Workshop on Research-Oriented Art: Sculpture Production & Creation. Chongqing, China: The Center for Research-Oriented Art, the University of Arizona and Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2019, November 3). “技术与文化：数字人文与艺术方法的潜在性” (Technics & Culture: Digital Humanities and Art’s Potentialities). Public lecture. Chongqing, China: Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2018, April). The Third Information Highway: The State, Mass Media, and Popular Culture in Contemporary China.. Public Lecture invited by Chinese Studies. New York: Chinese Studies, the New School University.
• Ren, H. (2018, December 1). “作为宇宙技术的艺术智能”(Art Intelligence as a Cosmotechnics). Invited Public Workshop. Chengdu, China: "Cosmopolis #1.5: Enlarged Intelligence," a biennale organized by the Pompidou Center in Paris.
• Ren, H. (2018, December 4). “生成式审美：认识日常生活世界的知道模式的参与式艺术” (Generative Aesthetics: Art as a Mode of Knowing). Invited Distinguished Public Lecture, Tianfu Humanities Forums. Chengdu: Southwest Minzu University.
• Ren, H. (2018, May 22). “当代艺术的体验: 从极少主义艺术到全球双年展” (The Experience of Art: From Minimalist Art to Global Biennales).. Distinguished Professor Public lecture (in Chinese). Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing: Department of Sculpture, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2018, November 26). “Art Intelligence and Social Production: Art as Cosmotechnics in a Cosmopolis”(艺术智能与社会生产: 在宇宙都市中作为宇宙技术的艺术). International conference on “社区更新与公共艺术” (Community Regeneration and Public Art). Chongqing, China: Co-Sponsored by Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and the University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2018, November). The Aesthetic Scene: A Realistic Critique of the Creative Economy in Urban China. The American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. San Jose, CA: The American Anthropological Association.
• Ren, H. (2018, October). The City as an Object: Generative Aesthetics of Socially Engaged Art. Anthropology Colloquium Series. Tucson: School of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2018, September 10). What is the Creative City of the Present?. The 2018-19 "Show and Tell" Series. Tucson: The Confluenceter for Creative Inquiry, University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2017, December 1). He Yunchang's Body and the Truth of Contemporary Art. Workshop on "何云昌: 行为的体验". Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2017, December 12). 城市更新与文化创意：以人为本的创造力 (Human-Centered Creativity: Urban Renewal & Creative Industries). “公共艺术与’一带一路’城市发展论坛” (Public Art & “The Belt and One Road” Initiative Urban Development Forum, Chongqing). Chongqing: Chongqing Municipal Government.
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  keynote presentation
• Ren, H. (2017, December 8). Contemporary Art as a Method of Critical Inquiry. Workshop on "汪建伟: 困难". Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2017, January). Globalization and the Diversity of Contemporary Art. 中国在场:国际当代艺术论坛(The Presence of China: International Forum on Contemporary Art). Sanya, China: Hainan Government, China.
• Ren, H. (2017, May). 朗西埃的审美体制论. 四川美术学院青年学者圆桌计划第三期《体制的批判与批判的体制：兼论朗西埃》. Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2017, November 28). Zhang Xiaogang's Art and Media. Workshop on "张晓刚: 灵魂上的影子". Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2017, November 29). “认识日常生活世界的模式：当代艺术中的社会参与式艺术” (A Mode of Knowing the Everyday: Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary Art). Public lecture (in Chinese). Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing: Department of Sculpture, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2016, April). The Contemporaneity of Creative Authorship: Collaborative Art and Precarious Labor in Urban China. Anthropology Colloquium Series. Stanford: Department of Anthropology, Stanford University.
• Ren, H. (2016, December). “城市空间与艺术实践” (Urban Spaces and Art Practices). 重庆两江创意活动节开幕论坛(Chongqing Liangjiang Creative Festival Forum). Chongqing, China: Chongqing Municipality Government, China.
• Ren, H. (2016, May). “从历史和比较的角度探讨参与艺术: 观察与思考” (Historical and Comparative Perspectives on Participatory Art: Observations and Thoughts). University Distinguished Public Lecture (in Chinese). Chongqing, China: Department of Sculpture, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2016, May). “成都说唱与当代艺术” (Chengdu Rap Music and Contemporary Art). Distinguished Public Lecture (in Chinese). Chongqing, China: Department of Chinese Literature, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing.
• Ren, H. (2016, November). Scenes of Creative Labor: Cosplay in Urban China. The American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting. Minneapolis: The American Anthropological Association.
• Ren, H. (2016, November). The Contemporaneity of Contemporary Art. University wide interdisciplinary workshop. Binghamton, New York: The Material and Visual Worlds, a transdisciplinary working group, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY.
• Ren, H. (2016, November). What is Socially Engaged Art Museum?. University Distinguished Public Lecture. Binghamton, New York: The Material and Visual Worlds, a transdisciplinary working group, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY.
• Ren, H. (2015, April 17-18). At the Scene: Politics of Aesthetics and Creative Economies in Urban China. “China and India: New Urban Forms, New Fields of Inquiry". New York: The New School India China Institute.
• Ren, H. (2015, February 4). Chinese Liberalism and Globalization. Lecture at the Department of Anthropology. University of Alaska at Anchorage: University of Alaska at Anchorage.
• Ren, H. (2015, February). Cinema, Aesthetics, and Industrial Disappearance in China. Public lecture series on Chinese Culture and Society. The University of Alaska at Anchorage: The Campus Bookstore and the Confucius Institute at the University of Alaska at Anchorage.
• Ren, H. (2015, July 3-5). “寻找审美教育: 在创意产业的时代, 艺术还能审美吗?” (“In Search of Aesthetic Education: How Can Art Be Aesthetic in the Age of the Creative Economy?”). First International Symposium on Cultural and Communication Semiotics (文化与传播符号学国际学术研讨会). Chengdu, Sichuan, China: University of Sichuan.
• Ren, H. (2015, July 3-5). “符号学与艺术研究 ” (Semiotics and the Studies of Art). The First International Symposium on Cultural and Communication Semiotics (文化与传播符号学国际学术研讨会). Chengdu, Sichuan, China: University of Sichuan.
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  Panel discussant
• Ren, H. (2015, November 18-22). The Risk Economy of the Middle Class: Humanitarian Work and Socially Engaged Arts in Urban China. “Global Inequalities and the Idea of the Middle Class”. Denver, CO: The American Anthropological Association.
• Ren, H. (2015, September 18-21). Chengdu Contemporary: An Aesthetic Critique of the Creative Economy in China. Keynote at at the International Symposium on “The Concept of the People and Consumer Society". Chongqing, China: The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, Southwest University, Chongqing, and the Telos-Paul Piccone Institute, New York.
• Ren, H. (2014, December 3-7). Precarian Aesthetics: Equality and Justice As Future Projects. Panel on “Engaging Affect and Temporality in Anthropology, Part 2 - Uncertainty Unbound: Narratives of Future and Affective Visions of Change.”. Washington, D. C.: The American Anthropological Association.
• Ren, H. (2014, Feb. 27-28). Wellness Aesthetics: Affective and Intellectual Responses to Video Game Addiction Campaigns in China. Humanities, Medicine, & Wellness. Tucson: University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2014, May 9-10). The Work of Art in the Age of Industrial Disappearance. The Ends of Work. Detroit: the Society for Cultural Anthropology.
• Ren, H. (2014, Sept 22). Countdown to Chinese Dreams: A History of Public Time-Telling in Contemporary China.. Chinese Culture Festival. Tucson, AZ: the College of Humanities and the Confucius Institute, University of Arizona.

Reviews

• Ren, H. (2024. Review of Red Creative: Culture and Modernity in China (Justin O'Connor and Xin Gu. Chicago: Intellect, 2020).
• Ren, H. (2020. Review of Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary China: Voices from Below (Meiqin Wang, Routledge, 2019)(pp Vol. 34, No. 2 (July): 304-305.).
• Ren, H. (2017. Review of Visual Culture in Contemporary China: Paradigms and Shifts (by Xiaobing Tang)(pp 221-222).

Creative Productions

• Ren, H. (2023.

  “Art Research in the Unruly World: Questions, Forms & Methods.”

  . Research-based art exhibition. Graduate Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ: School of Art, University of Arizona.
• Ren, H. (2020. Sculpture Factory Fantasia (20 minutes) (experimental and documentary film). https://vimeo.com/463476477. Chongqing, China and Tucson, AZ: The Center for Research Oriented Art, the University of Arizona and Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2020. WeChat Lives (3:22 minutes) (documentary). https://vimeo.com/464875103. Chonqqing, China and Tucson, AZ: The Center for Research Oriented Art, the University of Arizona and Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2019. Academic Director of the exhibition “In Search of a Utopian Community: Art as an Innovative Method in Public Health". Ecool, Chongqing, China. Ecool, Chongqing, China: The UA-SCFAI Center for Research Oriented Art, Chongqing Mental Health Center; Art Therapy Studio, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2019. “Preface” for the exhibition “In Search of a Utopian Community: Art as an Innovative Method in Public Health". Ecool, Chongqing. Ecool, Chongqing, China: The UA-SCFAI Center for Research Oriented Art, Chongqing Mental Health Center; Art Therapy Studio, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2019. “人人都是艺术家：郭开红的参与艺术” (Everyone Being An Artist: Guo Kaihong’s Participatory Art) (in Chinese). 羊磴艺术合作社 (Yangdeng Art Collective) WeChat Site. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wnmrL4EsBKErehRFG1nfiQ: 羊磴艺术合作社 (Yangdeng Art Collective).
• Ren, H. (2019. 《寻找桃花源：艺术的社会创新》展览前言. 重庆两江新区金山意库. 重庆两江新区金山意库: The UA-SCFAI Center for Research Oriented Art, Chongqing Mental Health Center; Art Therapy Studio, Sichuan Fine Arts Institute.
• Ren, H. (2014. Mac OS 10.9 version of an original software for creating iPad applications. UA: UA Confluence Center.
  More info

  Mac OS 10.9 version of an original software for creating iPad applications. Team: Hai Ren (PI), Jonathan Sprinkle (co-PI), and Kun Zhang (member), Department of East Asian Studies and the Department of Electric and Computer Engineering, the University of Arizona. The team created, tested, and updated more than nine versions of the Mac OS application. (workload: 50%)
• Ren, H. (2014. iOS 7.0 version of an iPad app on the figure of the precariat. UA: UA Confluence Center.
  More info

  iOS 7.0 version of an iPad app on the figure of the precariat. Team: Hai Ren (PI), Jonathan Sprinkle (co-PI), and Kun Zhang (member), Department of East Asian Studies and the Department of Electric and Computer Engineering, the University of Arizona. Our work involved all the steps of producing an iOS app, such as planning, designing, experimenting, creating, and updating. (workload: 75%)

Others

• Ren, H. (2017, April). 参与性艺术与城市更新. http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/iEjzng7DRB1hENRPZkehvQ. http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/iEjzng7DRB1hENRPZkehvQ