News

Berkeley’s programs in Chinese and Japanese studies, established over 125 years ago, are among the most developed in the nation. This new Title VI grant focuses on building those areas of its East Asian studies program that are less well developed—mainly Tibetan, Korean and Cantonese studies, and certain aspects of its Chinese and Japanese programs. Coordinated by Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), the nexus of all East Asia programs at Berkeley, these efforts include not only language courses but teacher training, public outreach and organized research activities.

This special issue on “Buddhist Art in Mongolia,” guest edited by Uranchimeg Tsultemin, brings together four research articles and two photos essays that address the specific qualities of Mongolian Buddhist artworks by placing them in the historical, political, and social context of Inner Asia, and specifically the Tibet-Mongolia interface.

The Center for Chinese Studies welcomes Sophie Volpp as the new faculty chair effective July 1, 2019. She is currently Associate Professor and Comparative Literature Chair in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at UC Berkeley.

We would also like to thank prior faculty chair You-tien Hsing for her leadership and support in the past five years.

CSEAS has awarded Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS) graduate student fellowships for the 2019-20 academic year to Jennifer Duque (Ethnic Studies) and Aaron Gatdula (City & Regional Planning) to study Filipino, Ngoc-Mai Phan (Ethnic Studies) to study Vietnamese, and Justin Weinstock (Anthropology) to study Thai. Chyrylle Digsay (South & Southeast Asian Studies and Legal Studies) received an undergraduate FLAS award to study Filipino.

UC Berkeley's Department of Anthropology has announced a new faculty hire effective July 2019. Dr. Daena Funahashi is a medical anthropologist who studies mental health, sacrifice and addiction in Finland and Thailand. She received her Ph.D in Anthropology from Cornell University. Before joining the Berkeley faculty, she was Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Aarhus University in Denmark. 

Dynasties and Democracy in Japan
February 1, 2019
Colloquium
Speaker:
Daniel M. Smith, Associate Professor, Harvard University

Jon Soriano is a PhD Candidate in the History of Art department at UC Berkeley, working with his advisor Pat Berger on a dissertation regarding the material culture of the Kālacakra tantra between the Gelugpa Gaden Phodrang and the Qing court.

The CJS-JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) Fellowship Award provides opportunities for both pre- and postdoctoral students from the University of California, Berkeley to conduct cooperative research with leading research groups in Japanese universities and other research institutions under the guidance of a host sponsor. The fellowship is for a term of 1-12 months, and is open to all fields of the humanities, social sciences, engineering, and the natural sciences. 

Khmer language instructor Frank Smith, in the Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, has set up a website about his classes. These classes are also open via Distance Learning for enrollment by students at UCLA and UC Irvine.

CSEAS awarded Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for Summer 2019 to Melissa Carlson (South & Southeast Asian Studies) to study Burmese in Myanmar, Oren Samet-Marram (Political Science) to study Thai in Bangkok and undergraduate Chyrylle Digsay (South & Southeast Asian Studies, and Legal Studies) to study Filipino at the University of the Philippines.

Congratulations to Professor Andrew Jones, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and member of the IEAS Executive Committee, on winning a 2019 Distinguished Faculty Mentor Award.

Nominated by faculty colleagues and current and former graduate students, the award recipients have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to helping UC Berkeley graduate students to succeed academically, professionally, and personally.

An awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, April 16 (4:00–6:00pm) at the Anna Head Alumnae Hall (2537 Haste Street).

The Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley is pleased to announce that Dr. Uk Heo, Distinguished Professor in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, has been chosen as the new Editor of the journal Asian Survey.

The 30th quarterly issue of our open-access e‑journal Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review(link is external) is now online.