Fall 2008 Events
All events are free and open to the public
Email ceas@ccat.sas.upenn.edu for further information
September
Using your Advanced Degrees in Public Service and Policymaking
John D. Ciorciari
Thursday, September 4, 12:00PM, Cherpack Lounge (523 Williams Hall)
Former U.S. Dept of the Treasury Official John Ciorciari shares from his rich experience working inside Washington on US policy vis-a-vis Asia and beyond, in an informal discussion over sandwiches. All are welcome but PhD and JD students are especially encouraged to attend.
John D. Ciorciari is a 2008-09 National Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford University) and is currently completing a manuscript entitled “Hedging: The Alignment Politics of Secondary States.” He has extensive work experience in Southeast Asia as an academic, human rights lawyer, and U.S. government official. He has also served as a 2007-08 Shorenstein Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford and as a 2003-04 Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore. He holds a JD from Harvard Law School and DPhil from the University of Oxford.
Hedging Their Bets: Asian Security Responses to the Rise of China
John Ciorciari, 2008-09 National Fellow at the Hoover Institution (Stanford University)
Thursday, September 4, 3:30PM, Annenberg School, Room 111
During the Cold War, China was regarded with a mix of fear and loathing in many neighboring Asian capitals, often due to its ideological agenda and support for local communist movements. Moreover, until the “four modernizations” took hold, China’s anemic economy and limited power-projection capabilities gave it relatively few carrots to offer most Asian governments for cozying up to Beijing. Clearly, times have changed. After a few decades of more pragmatic policymaking and explosive growth, China is now a major economic and diplomatic force in Asia. The PRC’s military clout is also on the rise. To most neighboring Asian governments, China’s growth is both a major opportunity and a potential menace.
This seminar will explore how neighboring Asian governments are “hedging their bets” as the PRC gathers steam, focusing primarily on case studies from Southeast Asia. It will examine their robust engagement with the PRC in commerce and diplomacy, but it will also discuss how Southeast Asian governments (and others) are diversifying in those areas and preserving important fall-back security arrangements with the United States and others in case China becomes more threatening. The seminar will attempt to answer the following questions: what is the essence of a hedging strategy? Why are many Asian states hedging, and what are the likely benefits and pitfalls of doing so? How have they engaged the United States and others to provide security back-up without antagonizing Beijing? How do hedging strategies relate to multilateral diplomacy in ASEAN and related forums? Lastly, how do they affect the overall “balance of influence” in the Asia-Pacific region? All of these questions matter, because neighboring Asian reactions to China’s rise will have a seismic effect on the course of regional affairs for years to come.
Issues in Contemporary East Asia Lecture Series
The Korean Family in Colonial Space--Caught between Modernity and Assimilation
Clark W. Sorensen, Associate Professor, University of Washington
Thursday, September 11, 4:30PM, Fisher-Bennett Hall 231
Dr. Sorensen will discuss the development of family law in Korea during the colonial period emphasizing the tension among both Koreans and Japanese between "modernization", "control", and "colonial assimilation". In his paper of the same name, he hypothesize that the development of family law in South Korea between 1945 and 1989 reflects a post-colonial "restorationist" phase in the development of family law that has been rendered moot in recent years.
Korean Studies Colloquium
The Five Buddhas in Gandhara and their Relation with Binglingsi and Yungang in Fifth Century China
Marilyn Rhie, Jessie Wells Post Prof. of Art and Prof. of East Asian Studies, Smith College
Tuesday, September 23, 4:30PM, Stiteler B-26
One of the greatest monuments of Chinese Buddhism is the cave temple site of the second half of the 5th century at Yungang in northeast China. A major unresolved problem in Buddhist art is the identity of the five colossal Buddha sculptures in Caves 16-20, which are known as the Tanyao caves and were the first to be opened at Yungang by imperial order. This lecture presents evidences appearing in the art of Cave 169 at Binglingsi in northwest China as well as evidences in the surviving Buddhist art of Gandhara, both of which, supported by texts, shed new light on the iconography of the “five Buddhas” and the identification of the colossal images in the Tanyao caves at Yungang.
EALC Cammann Memorial Speaker, Humanities Colloquium
October
Love and Passion in Chinese Film
Ban Wang, William Hass Professor of Chinese Studies, Stanford University
Monday, October 6, 5:00PM, DRL Building A7
This talk will discuss romantic love and politics Chinese films from the 1950s to 1990s. It will address the uplifting of sexuality into ardent political passion in the psychological narrative of sublimation, the intertwining of aesthetic experience with political mobilization, and links and contradictions between the individual’s self-realization and nationalism.
Humanities Colloquium
A Discussion with Karl Friday
Karl Friday, Professor of Japanese History, University of Georgia
Wednesday, October 15, 12:00PM, Cherpack Lounge (543 Williams)
Dr. Friday will discuss his latest work, The first samurai: the life and legend of the warrior rebel Taira Masakado, as well as answer any questions that students might have pertaining to early Japanese history, Japanese military institutions and traditions, and samurai. Students of all levels of study are welcome. Lunch Provided.
Humanities Colloquium
The Shogun's Menagerie: The VOC and the diplomacy of Gift-giving in Early Modern Japan
Michael Laver, Assistant Professor of History, Rochester Institute of Technology
Friday, October 31, 12:00PM, Cherpack Lounge (543 Williams)
The relationship between the Dutch East India Company and Japanese officials in the seventeenth century was one based not only on the absolute compliance with Japanese "rules" of trade, but also on the lavish gifts that the Dutch brought from the ends of the earth for the shogun and his officials. VOC "dagregisters" routinely record relatively large sums set aside for these gifts, reinforcing the notion that it was through the connections forged in Edo and Nagasaki that the Dutch were allowed to trade in a country that had otherwise divorced itself from European contact. These gifts smoothed the way for Dutch commerce with Japan and ensured a relatively cordial relationship with the shogun and his bureaucracy. Presents given to Japanese officialdom often bordered on the bizarre: it was not uncommon to present exotic animals such as giraffes, lions, and water buffalo as well as a variety of European goods including globes, maps, telescopes, and, a perennial favorite, spectacles. In fact, when the Dutch did occasionally find themselves in trouble with the authorities, it was in part the presentation of extravagant gifts that helped to restore the broken relationship and to ensure that Dutch trade would resume its former prosperity. And it was this prosperity, manifested in large shipments of Japanese precious metals, that helped make the VOC the profitable trading company that it was in the seventeenth century.
November
What's Wrong with Korean History? An Examination of Peace and War.
Mark Peterson, Associate Professor of Korean, BYU
Thursday, November 6, 4:30PM, Fisher Bennett Hall 231
Most Korean historical narratives emphasize the war, turmoil and invasions that have rocked Korea , but here we will examine the other side of the coin and look at the civilian, peaceful and resilient traditions of one of the longest-maintained civilizations in the world.
Korean Studies Colloquium
Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics
Yasheng Huang, Professor of Political Economy and Management, Sloan School of Management, MIT
Tuesday, November 11, 4:30PM, Huntsman Hall 250
Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics is the title of Dr. Huang’s new book, a detailed narrative account of history of economic reforms in China. It is based on detailed archival and quantitative evidence spanning three decades of reforms, this book shows that private entrepreneurship, facilitated by financial liberalization and microeconomic flexibility, played a central role in China’s economic miracle. Professor Yasheng Huang teaches political economy and international management at Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His previous appointments include faculty positions at the University of Michigan and at Harvard Business School. He was also a consultant to the World Bank. In collaborations with other scholars, Professor Huang is conducting research on human capital formation in China and India, on entrepreneurship, ethnic and labor-intensive FDI. His research has been profiled in many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Businessworld, Le Monde, Economic Times, as well as in numerous Chinese publications. He has also contributed to Financial Times, New York Times, and Foreign Policy.
CEAS-Lauder Distinguished Lecturer Co-Sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, The Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies, and the Penn-Lauder CIBER
Two Court Scenes, with Poems, from the Reign of Tang Xuanzong
Paul Kroll, Institute for Advanced Study
Wednesday, November 12, 4:00PM, Cohen Hall 402
This presentation by Professor Kroll, a leading scholar of medieval Chinese literature, focuses on two incidents of symbolic importance and human interest at the court of Tang Xuanzong (r. 712-56). The first involves an auspicious visitation of a large flock of birds. The second relates to the emperor's famous troupe of dancing horses. Poems in forms other than other than standard shi-style verse are featured.
Humanities Colloquium
The Moral Fool. A Case for Amorality.
Hans-Georg Moeller, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Brock University
Thursday, November 13, 12:00PM, Cherpack Lounge (543 Williams Hall)
Ethics and moral language are highly esteemed in our society--but is the distinction between good and evil really a good distinction? With the help of some Eastern (Daoism) and Western philosophical sources some problems that may arise when moral communication is used are explored.
Humanities Colloquium
South-North Korean Relations and the North Korean Nuclear Question
Manhak Kwon, Visiting Scholar, Center for East Asian Studies and Professor, Kyunghee International College
Thursday, November 13, 4:30PM, Fisher-Bennett Hall 231
We will take a look at changes in South-North Korean relations and identify their determinants. Also, we will examine North Korea policies of previous liberal governments and current conservative Lee Myungbak government including their dealings with the North Korean nuclear question.
Issues in Contemporary East Asia Lecture Series
Simulations in International Relations: “Getting to Normal : A Six-Party Talks Simulation”
Friday, November 14 th , Fisher-Bennett Hall 401, 1:00-4:00PM
The Korean Economic Institute - Washington, DC, The International Relations Program, The Center for East Asian Studies, the Center for Korean Studies and The International Relations Undergraduate Student Association
Present:
“Getting to Normal : A Six-Party Talks Simulation”
North Korea alarmed the world by testing a nuclear weapon on October 9, 2006 resulting in the imposition of various internationally imposed sanctions. It also stimulated the rekindling of what has become known as the Six-Party Talks between the US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and North Korea that have been held on and off since 1994 at the start of the first nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula. This simulation will explore the dynamics of these multilateral talks and their national, regional, and global implications.
The Simulations in International Relations Program
The Six Party Talks simulation is first in a series of four simulations that will be conducted during the 2008-2009 academic year on Diplomacy, War-gaming, Hostage Crisis management and Peacekeeping. The simulation is limited to 36 students. Next Event: “War Gaming” with Dr. Arthur Waldron on Saturday, November 22, 2008
Participation is open to all students. No background knowledge necessary. Students are, however, encouraged to attend the Nov. 13 pre-briefing. Participants must pre-register. To do so, please contact, by Tues., Nov. 11, Dr. Frank Plantan at fplantan@sas.upenn.edu or Dr. James McGann at jmcgann@sas.upenn.edu
December
Seeing and Believing: The Modernist Vision of Miyazawa Kenji
Dr. Gregory Golley
Tuesday, December 2, 6:00PM, Annenberg 111
DECRIPTION TBA
E. Dale Saunders Memorial Lecture on Buddhism in Japan
The Making of Myths: Legends of the Building of Old Peking
Hok-lam Chan, University of Washington
Tuesday, December 2, 12:00PM, Cherpack Lounge (543 Williams)
This talk is based on a review of my recent book, Legends of the Building of Old Peking , jointly published by the Chinese University Press in Hong Kong and the University of Washington Press in 2008. It examines a series of popular legends surrounding the building and rebuilding of imperial cities in modern Beijing --most commonly known as Peking in Western literature-- that served as the capital of a succession of dynasties. They included the Nazha or Nezha City of the “Great Capital” (Dadu) of the Mongol-Yuan dynasty (1272-1368) and the “Northern Capital”(Bei-jing) of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644);. and the Mongolian legend of “siting by bowshot to locate the capital city” and its Chinese adaptations. Within a historical context, these legends feature the miraculous deeds of supernatural beings such as the Tantric Buddhist child deity Nazha (Nezha), Heavenly King Vaisravana, the Daoist Dark God (Zhenwu), and the sea demon Dragon King, all of which are intertwined with the exploits of romanticized historical personages such as Liu Bingzhong, Liu Bowen (i.e. Liu Ji ), Yao Guangxiao, and Shen Wansan. Meticulous research in Chinese and Mongolian historical and folkloric materials reveal in these legends a rich tapestry of religious and cultural traditions surrounding the Chinese and non-Han perceptions of the origins of the capital cities and within these contexts the aspirations for an ideal habitat and cultural environment. The legends and their evolution over several centuries are quite distinct from imperial ideologies and dynastic designs as they are transformed under changing political and cultural circumstances through the skillful recycling of old traditions. They unveil a unique dimension of the historical origins of the building of old Peking as well as the genesis and efflorescence of related popular culture in the modern capital of China .
Humanities Colloquium
