The Next Generation Leadership in Asian Affairs

Fellowship Announcement
The Next Generation Leadership in Asian Affairs

Dear Colleague:

The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) is pleased to announce the Next Generation Leadership in Asian Affairs Fellowship for 2008-2009, a year-long program that focuses on bridging the gap between scholarship and policymaking. The fellowship is open to recent master's degree recipients and professional degree holders (e.g., MA, MBA, LLM, JD, etc.) and will be based at NBR's headquarters in Seattle. Fellows will collaborate with leading scholars to conduct independent research and share research findings with the policymaking community in Washington, D.C.

The Next Generation Leadership program, which is in its third year, is breaking new ground by mentoring and immersing young Asia specialists from a wide variety of fields and interests to bridge the gap between the best scholarly research and the pressing needs of U.S. foreign policy toward a rapidly changing Asia. Each fellow will receive a fellowship award, as well as a stipend for relocation expenses.

Application Deadline
January 14, 2008

Eligibility
The fellowship is open to recent master's degree recipients and professional degree holders (e.g. MA, MBA, LLM, JD, etc.)

Location
Seattle, Washington

The application deadline is January 14, 2008. Fellowships begin June 2, 2008 and conclude May 30, 2009. For further information and application materials please visit

http://www.nbr.org/NextGeneration

Please forward and post the full-text announcement available at http://nbr.org/nextgeneration/announcement.pdf. Thank you for sharing this with your colleagues and students.

Sincerely,
Michael Wills

Director, Research and Operations
Please contact Aishah Pang, Senior Project Manager, at nextgen [at] nbr.org or 206-632-7370 for any questions you may have regarding this.

NBR is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization devoted to bridging the policy, academic, and business communities with advanced policy-relevant research on Asia. NBR does not take policy positions,but rather sponsors studies that promote the development of effective and far-sighted policy.

Nippon Culture Day

IRASSHAI! Welcome to Nippon Culture Day!

We invite you to join us as we celebrate Culture Day on the UH-Manoa
campus.

The Japanese section of the Dept. of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Hawaii at Manoa, will be holding its annual Nippon Culture Day on Thursday, November 1, 2007 at the East-West Center's Imin Center Wailana Rooms, from 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

The event coincides with BUNKA NO HI (Culture Day) in Japan. Culture Day is a national holiday held annually in Japan on November 3 for the purpose of promoting culture, the arts, and academic endeavour. Festivities typically include art exhibitions, parades, and award ceremonies for distinguished artists and scholars.

Nippon Culture Day will feature seven different hands-on workshops, which will be held simultaneously throughout the day. They include: art flower, shodo (calligraphy), ikebana (flower arrangement), omusubi making, advanced origami, Japanese-style gift wrapping, and Japanese tea ceremony. Most of the workshops will be led by faculty members within the Japanese section at UH-Manoa.

Students who are currently taking Japanese at UH-Manoa are given priority and can pre-register for any or all of the workshops, however, visitors may participate on a space-available basis and are welcome to observe any of the activities.

In addition to the workshops, Japanese bookstore Hakubundo and representatives from the UH-Manoa Study Abroad Center and the Consulate-General of Japan will be present. Door prizes donated by Hakubundo will be given away hourly.

This event is organized by the Japanese section of the Dept. of East Asian Languages and Literatures with support from the Center for Japanese Studies and the Soshitsu Sen Way of Tea Center. Contact CJS if you have questions about parking.

Personal Adornment from China

EXCELLING THE WORK OF HEAVEN: PERSONAL ADORNMENT FROM CHINA will be open from October 28 - December 14, 2007 at the University of Hawai'i Art Gallery. It features nearly 700 exquisite objects of personal adornment made of silver, jade, kingfisher feathers, ivory, precious stones, and coral created predominantly during late imperial China (1368-1911) from the San Francisco-based Shyn collection, with special loans from the Honolulu Academy of Arts.
On Sunday, October 28: a special lecture by Terese Tse Bartholomew, curator of Himalayan art and Chinese decorative art at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, at 1:00 p.m., followed by the opening reception from 2:00-4:00 p.m.

On Sundays beginning November 4, guided tours of the exhibition will be offered from 2:00-3:00 p.m. A catalogue of the exhibition will be available for purchase.

Middlebury Language School Fellowships

Kathryn Davis Fellowships for Peace:
Investing in the Study of Critical Languages

Summer 2008

The Monterey Institute is pleased to announce 25 full fellowships - including tuition, room, board, books, and travel - to attend Middlebury Language Schools, June - August 2008.

This intense study, equivalent to a full year of college-level language learning, will allow students to enhance language skills to meet enrollment prerequisites at the Monterey Institute for Fall 2008. To be eligible for the fellowships, candidates must be admitted to the Fall 2008 semester in either the Graduate School of International Policy Studies or the Fisher Graduate School of International Business at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.*

Languages of Study at Middlebury College’s Language Schools Fellowships:

* Arabic - beginning or intermediate
* Chinese (Mandarin) - intermediate
* Japanese - intermediate
* Russian - intermediate

AND

The Monterey Institute Fellowships are offered only for students admitted to one of the following master’s programs:

* International Business - MBA
* International Policy Studies
* International Environmental Policy
* International Trade Policy
* Public Administration in International Management - MPA

Qualifications

By the time of enrollment at the Monterey Institute in Fall 2008,
students must demonstrate language proficiency at the following levels:

* Arabic - Ready to begin studies at the second or third-year
college level.
* Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese, Russian - Ready to begin studies at
the third-year college level.

Students who successfully complete their studies at Middlebury should meet the Monterey Institute entry requirements.

For the application and more information, please see the Kathryn Davis
Fellowships for Peace.

http://www.miis.edu/finaid/fellowships_for_peace.html

Application Deadline

All application materials must be postmarked by:
January 5, 2008 for Arabic
January 14, 2008 for Chinese, Japanese, or Russian

Monterey Institute of International Studies
Admissions Office
460 Pierce Street
Monterey, CA 93940 USA

831-647-4123
admit@miis.edu

About the Fellowships

These fellowships are made possible by a $1 million gift from Kathryn Davis to address today’s critical need for more effective language proficiency. Fellowship recipients will study Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, or Russian through the Language Schools’ signature immersion model: "No English Spoken Here." This intense study, equivalent to a full year of college-level language learning, will allow students to
enhance language skills to meet enrollment prerequisites at the Monterey Institute for Fall 2008.

In establishing the "Fellowships for Peace," philanthropist Kathryn Davis challenged Middlebury College and its affiliate, the Monterey Institute, to use the institutions’ combined expertise in language acquisition, policy studies, and international business, to recruit and train future potential peacemakers. Announcing the program, Middlebury President Ronald Liebowitz stated, "Mrs. Davis wants to improve the prospects for peace in the 21st century...We thank her not only for her
generosity but also for her sense of immediacy and urgency in bringing new ideas and new voices to serve the peace-building process."

With this unusual offer of combined study, the Monterey Institute seeks individuals committed to rigorous language study, master’s-degree training, and professional skill development to address global issues of development, fair trade, international commerce, environmental preservation, nuclear nonproliferation, and other critical issues of our time. "Fellowships for Peace" recipients will be chosen on the basis of academic credentials, experience, and commitment to building a more peaceful world.

* (Students who are currently enrolled at the Monterey Institute should apply directly to Middlebury through their separate Kathryn Davis fellowship program).

UH SHAPS Graduate Student Conference

The 19th Annual University of Hawai'i at Manoa School of Pacific & Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference

Moving Tides: Rearticulating Space in Asia and the Pacific

Wednesday, March 12 - Friday, March 14, 2008
Korean Studies Center, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

The 2008 SHAPS Graduate Student Conference is an event open to students from ALL disciplines. Our aim is to provide a forum for graduate students from a broad range of specialties to discuss their latest innovative research relating to Asian and/or Pacific Islands Studies. UH-Manoa students and students from other colleges and universities -- local, mainland, and international -- are all encouraged to participate.

Call for submissions!
Seeking papers and presenters by graduate students in Asian and Pacific Studies.
Abstract submission deadline: Monday, January 28, 2008
Final paper submission deadline: Thursday, February 15, 2008
A limited number of stipends for student presenters coming from off-island will be available. These funds are earmarked for food and accommodation expenses for non-O'ahu students only (will not cover cost of air travel). Please check the website over the next few weeks for more information.
Top presenters in each area study will receive cash prizes!
Submit your abstract for consideration.

Call for volunteers!
Seeking UHM faculty and graduate students interested in previewing abstracts.

Travel Information
Indulge yourself in Asia-Pacific academia and then enjoy Spring Break in Hawai'i!
Register as an attendee to receive conference updates.

Conference Coordinators
Sugato Dutt (Geography)
Nichole La Torre (Asian Studies)
Marata Tamaira (Pacific Islands Studies)
James Viernes (Pacific Islands Studies)

"The Big Read Performance" - Joy Luck Club

via Hawaii Public Library System -

"A staged readers theatre style performance of Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club" takes us on a journey from pre-World War II China to modern day United States through the words and lives of four mothers ("The Joy Luck Club") and their very westernized daughters. Join us as East meets West and cultures sometimes collide in this heartwarming tale of love and the constant need to adapt in order to keep that love alive."

The performance is going to be at four different Hawaii libraries this month, is sponsored by a ton of arts endowments (including the Manoa Outreach College) and looks way cool! Check here for dates, times, locations & performer info.

Call for Papers

Call for Papers For the Third Issue of
Indigenous Politics: Migration/Citizenship/Cyberspace (2008)
Guest Editors: Petrice Flowers, Jungmin Seo

Possible topics for the final issue might focus on the relations between race and space in conceiving the indigenous.

Historically, migration and diasporic communities have created indigenous/non-indigenous divides related, but not identical to race and ethnicity. How are these flows of people and ideas as well as the institutions to manage then, impeded or assisted by the state and other social, political, and economic institutions? What does improved knowledge and understanding of these flows contribute to how one defines an indigenous person or community? What role do global technologies play in linking migrant and diasporic communities to each other and to the homeland? Please see the attached call for papers for a more comprehensive explanation of this three-volume special series and for instructions for submitting abstracts.

Petrice R. Flowers, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Political Science
University of Hawaii at Manoa
2424 Maile Way
640 Saunders Hall
Honolulu, HI 96822
+1-808-956-8494 (phone)
+1-808-956-6877 (fax)

COLUMBIA EAST ASIA GRADUATE STUDENT CONFERENCE

CALL FOR PAPERS:

GRADUATE STUDENT CONFERENCE ON EAST ASIA Seventeenth Annual Graduate Student Conference on East Asia at Columbia University
Friday, February 8 to Saturday, February 9, 2008
Columbia University in the City of New York

Graduate students are invited to submit papers for the Seventeenth Annual Graduate Student Conference on East Asia. This two-day conference provides a forum for students from institutions around the world to meet and share ideas with their peers. Participants gain valuable experience in presenting their work for discussion with other graduate students and some Columbia faculty.

We welcome applications from graduate students engaged in research on all fields in East Asian Studies, including history, literature, political science, art history, religion, sociology, and anthropology. Proposals for both organized panels and individual papers are welcome.

PARTICIPATION:
Participants can take part in the conference as presenters and/or discussants.

Presenters deliver 15-minute (maximum) talks that summarize research in progress. We strongly encourage presenters to form their own thematically linked 3-person panels.

Discussants introduce the panelists and facilitate the 20-minute discussion session following the presentations.

__________________________________

APPLICATIONS (due December 10, 2007):

E-mail the conference organizers (cuasiagradcon@gmail.com) with the
following information:
*Your full name as you would like it to appear in the abstract booklet and conference schedule
*Contact info: telephone, e-mail, and mailing address
*Institution
*Major area of study (region and discipline)
*Title of your paper
*One-page (250 words max) abstract in print-ready format, including your name and institution. NOTE: we will not accept applications without abstracts
*If you have already formed a panel, the names of your fellow panel members
*Any audiovisual equipment you will need for your presentation.

Please note that resources may be limited, and presenters must bring their own laptops for computer presentations.
____________________________________

HOUSING:

Unfortunately, we cannot provide housing, but a list of local accommodations can be made available to participants upon request. The conference runs from Friday afternoon to late Saturday evening.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS:
Buyun Chen
Christopher Craig
Andy Liu
Jenny Wang Medina
Yurou Zhong

CONTACT INFORMATION:
cuasiagradcon [at] gmail.com
Graduate Student Conference on East Asia
Dept. of East Asian Languages and Cultures
407 Kent Hall, Mail Code 3907
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
FAX: 212-678-8629
Visit the website at http://columbia.edu/cu/ealac/gradconf

DEADLINES:
Applications and abstracts December 10, 2007
Submit applications via e-mail to cuasiagradcon@gmail.com
Presenters must also submit one-page (250 word maximum), print-ready abstracts including the author’s name, institutional affiliation and paper title.

Notification of acceptance: within one week of application deadline.

Final Papers (5-7 pages maximum): January 7, 2008.

PLEASE NOTE:
*Since presentations will be limited to 15 minutes, full-length research
papers or theses will not be accepted.
*In order to fund printing costs for abstracts and the Saturday banquet, we will ask that you pay a $5.00 fee upon your notification of acceptance to the conference. We encourage you to pay by check in advance but also will accept payment on the first day of the conference, February 8th.

Graduate Student Conference on East Asia
Dept. of East Asian Languages and Cultures
407 Kent Hall, Mail Code 3907
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
FAX: 212-678-8629
Email: cuasiagradcon [at] gmail.com
Visit the website at:
http://www.columbia.edu/~abl2002/gradconf/index.htm

Do you need money to fund this thing? I know I do.

Here are some resources to help out with funding:

FastWeb has been around forever, and has some of the most annoying advertisements on earth (make sure to click "no thanks" on all the loan consolidation and credit card offers) but continues to be good at thoroughly searching for scholarships. It brought up some Hawai'i community scholarships available to those of us who live here - yes, even if your tuition bill says "nonresident". Various deadlines.

East West Center Scholarships and Fellowships - various fall deadlines

Finally, if you're a doctoral student, Hamilton Library has a nice collection of resources for research funding called the "Foundation Collection" near the reference desk on the first floor. If you're having trouble finding it just come up and ask someone at the desk.

"The Case Study of Chujohime"

CENTER FOR JAPANESE STUDIES SEMINAR SERIES

The Crossing of Boundaries between the Religious and Social Constructions of Gender in Medieval Japanese Buddhist Narratives: The Case Study of Ch•ujohime

By Dr. Monika Dix
Visiting Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature
EALL, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

DATE: Thursday, October 25, 2007
TIME: 3:00 - 4:30PM
PLACE: Tokioka Room (Moore Hall 319)
The story of the legendary eighth-century young noblewoman, Chujohime, is one of the
extensive body of late medieval short stories - collectively called otogi zÿshi -which are preserved in written form from the Muromachi period (1392-1573) onward and are generally considered the earliest works of popular literature in Japan.

One of the key stories in the Chujohime legend is her journey to Hibariyama - a fantastic textual, physical, and spiritual transcendent travel which played a key role in the popularization of Ch•ujohime's legend and her cult from the fifteenth to seventeenth century.

This paper focuses on the significance of Chujohime's transcendent journey to Hibariyama and explores how it constitutes a crossing of boundaries between the religious and social constructions of gender in this Buddhist tale of female salvation, presenting Chujohime as religious outcast - not being able to attain enlightenment in her female body due to her sex - and as social outcast - transgressing the bounds of her role of filial daughter vis-à-vis her father.

Dr. Dix suggests that Chujohime's forced journey to Hibariyama - her exile - not only triggers her religious awakening (hosshin) but also indicates a constant renegotiation of gender-power imbalance between Pure Land Buddhist ideology and social customs which mutually influenced each other in casting transgressing women as religious outcasts in late medieval Japanese society.

East-West Center to feature traditional Japanese music

What: A program of koto and shakuhachi
Where: Imin Center at Jefferson Hall, East-West Center
When: 8 p.m. Oct.13, 4 p.m. Oct. 14

"The show, titled "Music Masters from Japan: Koto and Shakuhachi," will feature Masateru Ando, principal koto master at Tokyo University of the Arts, and his daughter, Tamaki Ando.

Christopher Yomei Blasdel, a veteran performer and teacher in Japan, will be the featured shakuhachi artist.

Tickets are $15 ($12 military, students and seniors), available at the University of Hawaii-Manoa Campus Center box office, at via the Honolulu Box Office, phone 550-8457, or online at www.honoluluboxoffice.com." - from The Advertiser

Orient Yourself: study abroad opps

The "Orient Yourself: Online Catalog of Study Abroad Opportunities in East Asia", sponsored by the United States Department of Education, is an online database to promote the learning of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

http://nealrc.osu.edu/studyineastasia/default.cfm

Chinese Studies Faculty Websites

I am in the process of assembling the links for websites published by Chinese Studies faculty since none are listed on the Chinese Studies website. Please bear with me as the list slowly develps.

Vincent K. Pollard

google calendar! & introduction

Hello everyone,

I'm Amanda, the student who no one sees because I'm just taking classes in Library and Information Science this semester. I'm in Japanese Studies also - studied abroad one year at Kansai Gaidai Univ in Hirakata, Osaka - and since I'm in LIS I'm really into technology and networking, but I'm also into getting together face to face which I hope to do with some of you all :)

I've integrated all of our events into Google Calendar. If you already have an existing Google Calendar it's great because you can just check a box and have all the Asian Studies events overlaid in your calendar - or uncheck the box and have it all disappear. If you don't have a Google Calendar it's a good time to check it out, our calendar is viewable even if you don't have an account.



I have some other nefarious plans but my mind sometimes goes faster than the time I have so that's all for now. I work at the BHSD reference desk at Hamilton, so if you see me feel free to say hi.

Formosa Betrayed

It looks as if there is a film coming out based on George Kerr's novel, "Formosa Betrayed".

Here is the link for the movie website:
http://www.formosabetrayed.com

Here is the link for a review of the film:
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/article.php?id=5031&IssueNum=87

Chinese E-Resources

China Academic Journals 中国期刊数据古
(cover journals published in China -- use simplifed Chinese to do search)

http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=2550

Subscription includes the following series:
Literature/History/Philosophy: 1994-
Economics/Politics/Law: 1994-
Education/Social Sciences: 1994-
Medicine/Hygiene: 2000-
Century Journals Project, 1950-1993

Gu Jin Tu Shu Ji Cheng 古今圖書集成
(use traditional Chinese to do search)

http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=47358

This database contains all the most important classics of the ancient China through the Qing dynasty. It is divided into six main categories, 32 sections, and 6,117 sub-sections, and each sub-section contains 10 parts. Topics of interest include astronomy, geography, history, philosophy, literature, politics, economy, art, education, agriculture, medicine, etc. Your PC must have Traditional Chinese (Big 5) Language Support package installed.

We also have 2 major e-resources installed on Asia Workstation 9, 4th floor of Hamilton Library.

Wen Yuan Ge Si Ku Quan Shu 文淵閣四庫全書電子版
(use traditional Chinese to do search)

Xian Qin Liang Han Gu Ji zhu zi suo yin cong kan 先秦兩漢古籍逐字索引叢刊 (use traditional Chinese to do search)

Chinamaxx Digital Libraries for Chinese E-Books from SuperStar

Our Chinese Specialist Librarian K.T. Yao (kyao@hawaii.edu) sent out this email of resources today.

Currently, we have more than 800 full-text Chinese e-books in this database. You may access them from the following URL:

http://micro189.lib3.hawaii.edu/ezproxy/details.php?dbId=52610

You can also go to Hamilton Library’s main page:

http://library.manoa.hawaii.edu/

Select -- E-Resources & Databases
Then type – "Chinamaxx" in the search box to find the “Chinamaxx Digital Libraries for Chinese E-Books.”

If you are accessing this database off campus, you need to enter your UH ID and Password.

Once you login to the Chinamaxx Digital Libraries, you will find 2 search boxes. You may use the upper search box to find the titles that our library has. You may also search the lower search box to view titles that we don’t have.

I also created a website to list those e-books titles. You may find the
list in the China Collection website --

http://www.hawaii.edu/asiaref/china/Ebook_Home.htm

You are welcome to recommend new e-book titles for us to buy. However, the China Specialist Librarian will review the titles and make decisions on which ones to purchase.

Okinawan Festival

Did anyone attend the Okinawan Festival at Kapiolani Park this weekend? I've been there in years past, but couldn't make it this year. How was it? I only had a chance to go on Friday night for the opening ceremony and found it really enjoyable because it wasn't crowded and it was quite cool and refreshing outside. I didn't have to wait in line AT ALL for the andagi treats and the opening ceremony performances of hula and musical performance were really enjoyable and free!

E KOMO MAI!

Welcome!

As you know, the Asian Studies program is organized so that it inherently isolates each area of specialization. China researchers, for example, have little interaction with Korea researchers and Japan researchers have little interaction with Southeast Asia researchers, and so on and so forth. Within this structure, to understand Asia in a regional context, a student must go out of his way to seek this information. For example, he must subscribe, not only to his own Area Studies Mailing List, but also the other Area Studies Mailing lists. Additionally, he must take time to immerse himself in the activities of the other Areas independently.

As graduate students in Asian Studies, it is crucial we have a stronger idea of how our countries of specialization relate to each other in the overall Asia-region context. People ask these kind of questions of us constantly and expect competent answers. A graduate student in Asian Studies is expected to be knowledgeable about the current affairs of the Asia region, especially those who are pursuing Plan B.

The key to a successful academic and personal experience is two-fold:

The first is having convenient access to comprehensive and practical information about our program's administrative requirements, classes, scholarships, events, conferences, etc,. Being on top of these fundamentals (in order to really concentrate on the important stuff) can save time and energy you can't even imagine. Department websites and mailing lists may at times not reach everyone and valuable opportunities are lost. This blog, if used as a collective resource, will attempt to cover that grey area.

The second aspect to a successful experience is being able to be in touch with each other regularly on what we are doing. Discovering another classmate is in Chengdu, China, or Kyoto, Japan, the same time you are there is invaluable. These exchanges could make all the difference in a short, 2-year academic career.

We don't expect to always be able to get together in person, thus Blogger is a good start as a virtual gathering point. We hope that if you have something to contribute, that you blog about it too! If there's an event that you attended, blog your thoughts on it! We'll blog back and everyone else will too. This is a collaborative effort. This is OUR resource, a place where we can help each other get the most out of this investment called graduate school.

Lastly, this blog is completely independent of the university and the program, so there's no need to be formal. We're all friends here!

Cheers,
The Asian Studies Blog Admins

P.S. - You won't be able to post until you're registered as an author. Email an author to be added ASAP!