Joann Pittman
Joann Pittman is Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement and editor of ZGBriefs.
Prior to joining ChinaSource, Joann spent 28 years working in China, as an English teacher, language student, program director, and cross-cultural trainer for organizations and businesses engaged in China. She has also taught Chinese at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and Chinese Culture and Communication at Wheaton College (IL) and Taylor University (IN).
Joann has a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (MN), and an MA in teaching from the University of St. Thomas (MN).
She is the author of Survival Chinese Lessons and The Bells Are Not Silent: Stories of Church Bells in China.
Her personal blog, Outside-In can be found at joannpittman.com, where she writes on China, Minnesota, traveling, and issues related to "living well where you don't belong."
You can find her on Twitter @jkpittman.com and on Facebook at @authorjoannpittman.
She makes her home in New Brighton, Minnesota.
ZGBriefs | May 13, 2021
6 Stunning Statistics from China’s Population Census (May 10, 2021, Radii China) The results of China’s Seventh National Population Census have finally been released, triggering a wave of headlines and social media hot takes. There’s a lot of data to sift through, but here are six bits of info that made us sit up and take notice.
Theology in a Chinese Idiom
A Webinar on Reshaping the Conversation
Join us for a discussion of theology as an "idiomatic activity," expressing Christian thought in ways that are natural to a cultural native, looking specifically at key cultural material in Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.
ZGBriefs | May 6, 2021
Will Easing of Student Visa Restrictions Rekindle China-US Exchanges? (May 5, 2021, The Diplomat) It’s a step in the right direction, but there are still substantial hurdles – both logistical and political – for Chinese students to come to the U.S.
ZGBriefs | April 29, 2021
US Relaxes Entry Restrictions on Students Traveling From China (April 28, 2021, Sixth Tone) Finally, Chinese people traveling to America for school won’t have to take a 14-day detour in a country not affected by the Trump administration’s travel bans.
Beethoven in Beijing
A Film Recommendation
The remarkable story of the Philadelphia Orchestra's decades-long relationship with China is told in the documentary film Beethoven in Beijing. See it free until May 14, 2021.
ZGBriefs | April 22, 2021
“The Six,” a Film About Chinese Titanic Survivors, is Getting Rave Reviews in China (April 19, 2021, Radii China) The six were professional sailors onboard the Titanic, heading to New York to transfer to their next destination.
CMC Global 2020—On Demand
If you want to be encouraged by what God is doing in the world, I encourage you (and your church or small group) to take advantage of this opportunity.
ZGBriefs | April 15, 2021
'Ping Pong Diplomacy's' Legacy Challenged, 50 Years Later (April 10, 2021, NPR) Today marks the 50th anniversary of Ping-Pong diplomacy. That's when the U.S. table tennis team went to China for exhibition games at the height of the Cold War. Their trip changed history.
ChinaSource Perspective
Tea and Evangelism
ChinaSource Vice President of Partnership and China Engagement, Joann Pittman, recounts her observations of women in ministry over her 20 years spent in China.
ZGBriefs | April 8, 2021
China’s expat tax reform could see more than a third of American firms leave Shanghai, AmCham says (April 1, 2021, South China Morning Post) More than a third of multinational firms in Shanghai are considering moving all or part of their operation out of China or to another Chinese city when tax exemptions on allowances for foreign employees expire next year…