Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago

Together with the Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica (IEAS), the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago once again co-sponsored this year's Taiwan Economics Research workshop which took place August 13-15.

For more information on the workshop, click here:
https://www.econ.sinica.edu.tw/summer2024/posts/6791

Check out EALC's, Yin Cai, who recently presented her research on material culture and the engagement of nature in textile productions from the 18th and 19th centuries in what is now modern-day China!

Four Humanities graduate students participated in UChicagoGRAD's 2024 "Research Speaks" and the "Transcending Boundaries Symposium." These programs provide a platform for graduate students from various disciplines to improve their communication skills, effectively connect with diverse audiences, and expand the impact and visibility of their work. Learn more. >> https://humanities.uchicago.edu/articles/2024/06/bridging-research-and-public-humanities-students-engage-diverse-audiences

In a recent story featured in the UChicago Division of the Humanities's official magazine, Tableau, students discuss the professional and personal benefits of the The Fulbright Program, including PhD candidate in UChicago Comparative Literature and EALC, Anthony Stott!

Anthony traveled to Japan where he obtained a unique firsthand dialogue with important figures in his field of study while also encouraging him to continue an extracurricular pursuit he’d begun during the pandemic: taking lessons in Noh, the traditional Japanese dance-drama genre.

Read more here:
https://bit.ly/3Af00Hj

Co-organized by Judith Zeitlin (The University of Chicago) and Rania Huntington (University of Wisconsin-Madison), the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago hosted the recent “Translating the Classical Chinese Tale” workshop which took place July 15-19.

This lively, international, interdisciplinary group of sixteen participants attended morning sessions presented by six different instructors, on topics that included “Comparative Translation Strategies,” “Literary Geography,” and “the Tale in Literary Sinitic by Japanese and Korean writers.” A highlight included a session on “East Asian Book History” in special collections at The University of Chicago Library. Afternoons were spent collectively workshopping individual participant’s translations into English. The range of texts selected by the participants was very broad: from ghost story, pseudo-biography, and miracle tale to accounts of mirages, book spirits, island shipwrecks, and even Western circus performances. The last morning was devoted to a mini-conference with panels on the final translations.

The group learned a vast amount from working together in such a diverse group on such a diverse body of texts and approaches to translation.

This workshop was supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago with generous support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

How do the histories of migration require us to rethink literary historical fields? Join the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society during next week's program, "Migrations in Literature: Methods and Periods," taking place July 29th-30th.

Featuring a number of faculty including Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago faculty member, Haun Saussy, this 2-day workshop will be the first in a series exploring relationships between literature and human migration, considers two sets of questions: How have specific methodological and theoretical approaches in literary studies shed light on the complex relationships between literature and migration? And how do the histories of migration require us to rethink literary historical fields?

Learn more here:
https://bit.ly/3LJ8gSp

“Alan combined his curatorial and art historical perspectives to position Matsuzawa within the context of contemporary art worldwide,” - Chelsea Foxwell (Professor in the Department of Art History and Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago).

The Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago extends its heartfelt condolences to the family of Art History student, Alan Longino, who passed away earlier this month. Alan focused on postwar Japanese conceptual art and global contemporary art.

Read more about Alan and the impacts he made in his field:
https://bit.ly/3Yj9gEd

Happening at 8 am CT on July 17th, hear Lorraine J. and Herrlee G. Creel Distinguished Service Professor in Early Chinese Studies, Edward L. Shaughnessy discuss his book, "The Origin and Early Development of the Zhou Changes," published in 2022 by Brill as the 9th volume of the “Prognostication in History” Book Series.

Hear Professor Shaughnessy discuss his book with another leading scholar in the field, Prof. Tze-ki Hon 韓子奇, Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College.

For more details, and to access the Zoom link, click on the link below:

https://criticaldivination.org/2024/07/11/iscsd-2nd-book-talk-edward-shaughnessy-on-the-zhou-changes/?_thumbnail_id=1640

In a recent installment of UChicago Hong Kong Campus' podcast, The Course, hear Professor of Modern Japanese Literature and Culture, Michael Bourdaghs, discuss his life and professional paths. His interest in Japanese literature and culture began after an opportunity to study for a year in Sendai arose. Having worked in the corporate world in Tokyo, Professor Bourdaghs returned to the U.S. to continue his studies and professional path which included joining the UChicago faculty in 2007 which he describes as a life filled with teaching, academic writing, and making time for his own fiction.

Hear his story here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=MTuPVYuuge4

Delivered during the spring quarter, view Peter Kornicki's lecture, "Why Did Matsudaira Sadanobu Copy the Tale of Genji Seven Times? Manuscript Culture in Edo Period Japan (1600‒1868)," now on YouTube!

Presenting the Paleography and the Book Lecture 2024, Peter Kornicki is a Japanese manuscript expert and was a Visiting Scholar in 2024. Art History Professor, and Director of the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago, Chelsea Foxwell, served as the Moderator.

View the recording here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tNSF7ivh0U

The Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago congratulates PhD student in the joint program between East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC) and the Theatre and Performance Studies Committee (TAPS), Susanna Sun, for receiving a The University of Chicago Diversity Award!

Announced by the UChicagoGRAD Diversity Advisory Board, this year's 17 awardees encompass a group that made significant contributions of underrepresented students on the University of Chicago’s campus.

Susanna researches Chinese opera across media forms and temporal divisions. During the 2023-2024 academic year, she organized a conference from April 5-6 that advocated for the all-female theater of Chinese opera—Yue opera. This conference was sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago with support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, The Franke Institute for the Humanities, the International House at the University of Chicago Global Voices Program, and the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations.

Read more about Susanna and the award here:
https://humanities.uchicago.edu/articles/2024/06/uchicagograd-diversity-advisory-board-announced-fourth-annual-diversity-awards

The Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago congratulates Dwight N. Hopkins and Young-Kee Kim, two of its affiliated faculty members, for recently receiving named, distinguished service professorships in 2024!

Professor Hopkins is a constructive social impact theologian (his first Ph.D. degree) with emphasis on wealth ownership informed by history, politics, and religion.

Professor Kim is a special advisor to the provost, previously held the Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor of Physics and the College. She is an experimental particle physicist and devotes much of her research to understanding the origin of mass for fundamental particles.

Read more here:
https://bit.ly/45ZpILJ

Last week, the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago hosted the "COLLOQIUM-SUDA: Korean Women's Writings, Trans-Pacific Mobility, and Translation," which took place June 25-26.

"Suda" refers to "수다" (chat) in Korean and "сюда" (here) in Russian. This one-and-a-half-day gathering featured conversations on Korean and Korean-American literary and cultural texts, focusing on issues of gender, sexuality, and diaspora. Six junior scholars from the Midwest and East Coast United States presented, alongside three senior feminist critics and editors of the Han'guk yŏsŏng munhak sŏnjip (Selected Korean Women's Writings; 7 volumes; July 2024) from Korea.

Co-organized by Kyeong-Hee Choi (EALC, University of Chicago) and Ji-Eun Lee (Washington University in St. Louis), the event fostered cross-generational, cross-Pacific, and cross-media dialogues, mediated by University of Chicago faculty and alumni literary professionals involved in scholarship and translation.

This event was co-sponsored with The University of Chicago Library.

This summer's annual Kuzushiji Workshop, which took place from June 3 through June 7, hosted 19 participants who worked to improve their skills at reading early modern works inscribed in Kuzushiji (cursive script). The advanced group read a series of personal letters written by women from samurai families, while the introductory group read a variety of print materials, including a divination manual and an account of private acts of famine relief.

The workshop ended with a special visit to the Meiji Modern exhibit at the Smart Museum, which was curated by Professor Chelsea Foxwell, who provided a tour and spoke in detail on some of the exhibit's pieces.

The Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago is pleased to announce the 2024 Asada Eiji B.A. Thesis Prize Winners for this year - Aaron Yike Huang (EALC and Music) and Chenjie Song (Sociology and Political Science)!

The annual Asada Eiji B.A. Thesis Prize awards the best The University of Chicago B.A. thesis dealing with topics related to East Asia (China, Japan and Korea). Since its inception in 2009, one prize has been awarded to a paper in the area of humanities and one in the area of social sciences. Preference is provided to papers utilizing original source materials in an East Asian language.

Read More:
https://socialsciences.uchicago.edu/node/32930

Taking place TODAY!

We are thrilled to welcome Kevin Kwan to Chicago in celebration of his newest novel, 'Lies and Weddings!' published by Doubleday Books. Join us at International House at the University of Chicago on June 3rd at 6pm. Kevin will be joined in conversation with Rachel DeWoskin. In partnership with International House at the University of Chicago and Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago. We can't wait to see you there! For tickets, please visit: https://www.semcoop.com/event/kevin-kwan-lies-and-weddings

It's the 2023-2024 Year-End Review! Take a look back at some of the highlights from this past academic year as we reflect upon the myriad of activities that took place at the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago!

CLICK HERE: https://conta.cc/4aZ5TVT

Join the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago, the International House at the University of Chicago, and The Seminary Co-op Bookstores for this special event!

This is a ticketed event! Secure your ticket here:
https://www.semcoop.com/event/kevin-kwan-lies-and-weddings

The Taiwan Economics Research 2024 will be hosting its workshop from August 13-15! Taking place at the Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica (IEAS), this program is also co-sponsored with the Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago.

Mentors of the workshop include University of Chicago Booth School of Business' Chang-Tai Hsieh and Ruey S. Tsay.

For more information, click on the link below:
https://www.econ.sinica.edu.tw/summer2024

Read the write-up of Political Science's Dali Yang's book talk held on March 25th! Professor Yang discussed his book, "Wuhan: How the COVID-19 Outbreak in China Spiraled Out of Control" with a panel of scholars including History's Kenneth Pomeranz, Global Health's Renslow Sherer, and Political Science's John Mark Hansen
at International House at the University of Chicago.

This event was part of the East Asia by the Book! CEAS Author Talks Series and was presented in partnership with the The Seminary Co-op Bookstores. This talk was also co-sponsored with International House at the University of Chicago Global Voices Program, the Department of Political Science and PhD in Political Economy, The Center for Global Health, and the Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression at the University of Chicago.

Click here:
https://ceas.uchicago.edu/node/32885

The Center for East Asian Studies, University of Chicago recently sponsored the 3rd Science/Technology Studies and Japan symposium: Ecological Thought and Practice Across the Disciplines from May 10-11.

This symposium provided a unique opportunity to develop a conversation between the researchers in the natural sciences, and researchers in the social sciences and humanities. At the center of the discussion were questions concerning ecological governance, resilience, and restoration, design, and science, with special attention to the relationship between ecological thought and practice in Japan. The conversation also considered the efficacy of environmental policies and measures adopted in the wake of previous techno-natural disasters in Japan alongside policies and measures being currently being developed in anticipation of future techno-natural disasters.

For the final component of the symposium, participants discussed the work of the Japanese ecologist/anthropologist/philosopher, Imanishi Kinji as well as the work of the British and American biologist and writers, David Haskell.

This program was co-sponsored with the The University of Chicago Library, and was generously supported by a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

It's the FINAL East Asia by the Book! CEAS Author Talks this academic year! EALC's own Ariel Fox will discuss her book, which examines the ways in which seventeenth-century playwrights recuperated commercial subjects and objects as narratively, morally, and socially productive.

To read more about her book, and to REGISTER to attend the talk, click below:
https://eabook_ariel_fox.eventbrite.com

This event and series is a partnership with The Seminary Co-op Bookstores.

Next Tuesday! Wesleyan University's Scott Aalgaard explores how artists, fans, amateur practitioners, and others have used music to tell stories of everyday life in Japan from the late 1940s to 2018, a practice that the book calls 'musical storytelling.'

Join us for another installment of East Asia by the Book! CEAS Author Talks, a collaboration with the The Seminary Co-op Bookstores as Professor Aalgaard discusses his new book, "Homesick Blues: Politics, Protest, and Musical Storytelling in Modern Japan."

REGISTER: https://eabook_scott_aalgaard2.eventbrite.com