2019 IEAS Event Calendar

January 1, 2019

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Is the Śaiva Source of the Buddhist Herukābhidhāna's Treatment of Initiation pre-Tantric?

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies | January 24 | 5-7 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Alexis Sanderson, University of Oxford

In his work, Alexis Sanderson has maintained that the treatment of the topic of initiation found in the Buddhist Tantra Herukābhidhāna, also known as the Laghvabhidhāna or Laghuśaṃvara, has been adopted with some light editing from a Śaiva source. In this lecture he puts forward the hypothesis that this source, though surviving within a Tantric Śaiva work, shows archaic features that suggest that it has been drawn in from the lost scriptural literature of the pre-Tantric Kāpālikas.

Alexis Sanderson is Spalding Professor Emeritus of Eastern Religions and Ethics, and Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford. He is a scholar of Sanskrit, specializing in early medieval religion in India and Southeast Asia, with a focus on the history of Śaivism (including esoteric Śaiva tantra), its relations with the state, and its influence on Buddhism and Vaiṣṇavism.

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Friday, January 25, 2019

No Laughing Matter: Learning to Speak the "Common Language" in 1950s China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | January 25 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Janet Chen, Associate Professor of History and East Asian Studies, Princeton University

Panelist/Discussant: Wen-hsin Yeh, Professor, Department of History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In the winter and early spring of 1956, a series of articles appeared in nationally circulating publications, featuring an earnest entreaty: please do not laugh at those who are trying to learn putonghua, the “common language” of the socialist state. Beyond the headlines, permutations of the same refrain echoed in different forums. At the opening stages of a campaign to “popularize the common language,” the message was a curious one. What were people laughing at, and why? What was so comical about learning the language recently anointed as the spoken standard? This paper explores the vexing issues that emerged in the campaign for speech standardization in the early years of the People’s Republic. From 1955-1958, Communist Party propaganda enjoined “everyone” to do their utmost to learn putonghua, while forecasting the achievement of linguistic unity in the near future. Yet in between the lines of such sanguine predictions, persistent allusions to confusion and mockery surfaced. Where did these attitudes come from? What did laughter signify about popular reactions to the ideological assumptions embedded in the project of unifying speech? I explore these questions by examining the social and political dynamics of learning to speak a new standard language in the mid-1950s.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

From the Upper Indus to the East Coast of China: On the Origin of the Pictorial Representation of the Lotus Sūtra

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | January 30 | 5-7 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber, Peking University

Sponsor: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

In Chinese Buddhist art, there is an image of two sitting Buddhas, Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna, which can be traced back to the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. Because (until 2012) no image of the “Two Sitting Buddhas” had been found outside China, it has been assumed that the depiction of this pair of Buddhas is of Chinese origins. Drawing on four images that have been discovered since 2012, this talk will argue that the depiction of the “Two Sitting Buddhas” originated in the ancient Indian cultural area and then spread along the Silk Road to China.

Trained in Indology and Buddhist Studies in China (Peking University, MA) and Germany (Göttingen, PhD), Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber has held professorial appointments, teaching and serving as research scholar at the universities of Freiburg, Copenhagen, Vienna and Erfurt. She has also been visiting scholar in France, Japan and China, and she has served as Professor-at-large at the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies, Shandong-University (China). Recently she has served as senior researcher at Shenzhen-University (China), and currently she is attached in the same capacity to the Center of Buddhist Studies, Peking University.

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Thursday, January 31, 2019

The "Manananggal": On the Labor of Difference

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | January 31 | 12:30-2 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies, UCLA

Sponsors: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Filipino and Philippine Studies Working Group

The manananggal (viscera sucker) has been the subject of countless Filipino films. This talk focuses on representations and engagements of the manananggal as a feminist national icon made to bear the weight of the social order because of her monstrous difference.

Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns

The Veda, Indian Grammarians, and the Language of Early Buddhism

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies | January 31 | 5-7 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer: Oskar von Hinüber, Albert-Ludwigs Universität, Freiburg

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

Connections between the Vedic language and that of early Buddhism were observed already during the beginnings of Buddhology in Europe. After a brief survey of research, some features of syntax and vocabulary are discussed, while concentrating on the Vedic meaning of certain words and terms such as grāma or saṃkakṣikā partly unrecognized so far and preserved only in the oldest Buddhist texts. Particular attention is paid to the formation of the Vinaya term pārājika used to designate the first group of offenses, the transgression of which entails expulsion from the Saṃgha. Lastly, a verse from the first part of the Samyuttanikāya is interpreted to demonstrate, how the original form of this Buddhist verse can be reconstructed and the meaning understood only by referring to a Vedic text.

Oskar von Hinüber is professor emeritus for indologie of the Albert-Ludwigs Universität, Freiburg. He is ordinary member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur, Mainz, associé étranger (Membre de l’Institut) of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Paris, and corresponding member of the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna.

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Friday, February 1, 2019

Book Talk: The Feminist Awakening in China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | February 1 | 3-5 p.m. | UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center), IEAS Conference Room (510A)

Speaker: Leta Hong Fincher

Panelist/Discussant: Lü Pin

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

On the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, the Chinese government arrested five feminist activists and jailed them for 37 days. The Feminist Five became a global cause célèbre, with Hillary Clinton speaking out on their behalf, and activists inundating social media with #FreetheFive messages. But the Feminist Five are only symbols of a much larger feminist movement of university students, civil rights lawyers, labor activists, performance artists and online warriors that is prompting an unprecedented awakening among China’s urban, educated women. In Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China, Leta Hong Fincher argues that the popular, broad-based movement poses a unique challenge to China’s authoritarian regime today.

Through interviews with the Feminist Five and other leading Chinese activists, Hong Fincher illuminates both the difficulties they face and their “joy of betraying Big Brother,” as one of the Feminist Five wrote of the defiance she felt during her detention. Tracing the rise of a new feminist consciousness now finding expression through the #MeToo movement, and describing how the Chinese government has suppressed the history of its own feminist struggles, Betraying Big Brother is a story of how the movement against patriarchy could reconfigure China and the world.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Leta Hong Fincher

Dynasties and Democracy in Japan

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | February 1 | 4 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Daniel M. Smith, Associate Professor, Harvard University

Sponsor: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Political dynasties exist in all democracies, but have been conspicuously prevalent in Japan, where over a third of legislators and two-thirds of cabinet ministers come from families with a history in parliament. In his new book, Dynasties and Democracy: The Inherited Incumbency Advantage in Japan, Daniel M. Smith introduces a comparative theory to explain the persistence of dynastic politics in democracies like Japan, and explores the implications of this theory for candidate selection, election, and cabinet promotion, as well as the impact of dynasties on the quality of representation.

Daniel M. Smith is Associate Professor in the Department of Government. His research focuses primarily on political parties, candidate selection, elections and electoral systems, and coalition government, particularly in Japan. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University of California, San Diego, and his B.A. in political science and Italian from the University of California, Los Angeles. He has conducted research in Japan as a Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology research scholar at Chuo University, and as a Fulbright research fellow at the University of Tokyo. Prior to joining the Department of Government, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University.

Event Contact: cjs@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Shoroon Bumbagar: Tombs with Mounds in Central Mongolia

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Mongolia Initiative | February 7 | 4 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Nancy S. Steinhardt  , East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania

Moderator: Patricia Berger, History of Art, UC Berkeley, Emerita

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), UC Berkeley Mongolia Initiative

The talk begins with a tomb often known as Shoroon Bumbagar that was excavated in Bayannuur, Bulgan province, Mongolia, in 2011. Covered with murals but without an inscription or other information about its date, the tomb is studied alongside the better known tombs such as Pugu Yitu’s (d. 678), only five kms away, and tombs of Tang China and Sogdiana. Before drawing conclusions, the talk turns to Türk, Uyghur, and other contemporary painting and architecture in Mongolia, to question the borders of Chinese art and architecture and why they are so extensive.

Event Contact: CA, ieas@berkeley.edu, 5106422809

Chinese Animal Gods

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies | February 7 | 5-7 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer: Meir Shahar, Tel Aviv University

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

Our ancestors depended upon beasts of burden for a living. In the Chinese case this dependence was reflected in the religious sphere. Chinese religion featured deities responsible for the wellbeing of draft animals. The two principal ones were the Horse King (divine protector of equines) and the Ox King (tutelary deity of bovines). This lecture will examine the ecological background and historical evolution of these animal-protecting cults. I will survey the Horse King's and Ox King's diverse clientele, from peasants who relied upon the water buffalo to plough their rice fields to cavalrymen whose success in battle depended upon their chargers' performance. Particular attention will be given to the theological standing of animals as reflected in their tutelary divinities' cults. In some cases the animal itself was regarded as a deity who chose to sacrifice itself for humanity's sake. Chinese Buddhist scriptures described the ox as a bodhisattva who out of pity for the toiling peasant chose to be incarnated as his beast of burden.

Meir Shahar is Professor of Chinese Studies at Tel Aviv University. His research interests span Chinese religion and literature, Chinese Buddhism, and the impact of Indian mythology upon the Chinese imagination of divinity. Meir Shahar is the author of Crazy Ji: Chinese Religion and Popular Literature; Oedipal God: The Chinese Nezha and his Indian Origins; and The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion, and the Chinese Martial Arts, (which was translated into numerous languages). He is the co-editor (with Robert Weller) of Unruly Gods: Divinity and Society in China; the co-editor (with John Kieschnick) of India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought; and the co-editor (with Yael Bentor) of Chinese and Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism.

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Monday, February 11, 2019

Taming Japan’s Deflation

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | February 11 | 12-1:30 p.m. | Haas School of Business, Chou Hall N340/344

Speaker: Gene Park, Associate Professor, Loyola Marymount University

Panelist/Discussant: James A. Wilcox, Professor, Haas School of Business

Moderator: Steven Vogel, Professor, Political Science, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Clausen Center for International Business and Policy, Japan Society of Northern California

Around the world, governments have delegated political independence to central banks that wield tremendous power based on the belief that independence would allow these institutions to keep inflation in check. From the mid-1990s, Japan’s economy charted a unique trajectory: it fell into deflation and never fully emerged from it for nearly the next twenty years. Only with the election of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe at the end of 2012 and his appointment in early 2013 of new leadership at Japan’s central bank, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), did Japan finally launch a policy course capable of pulling Japan fully out of deflation. This presentation explains why it took so long for the BOJ to embrace bolder monetary policies to address this problem and the factors that led the government to shift course.

Dr. Gene Park is Director of the Global Policy Institute and Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). Prior to arriving at LMU, he taught at Baruch College, City University of New York. Professor Park was also a Shorenstein Fellow at Stanford University’s Asia Pacific Research Center. In addition, he spent two years as a researcher at Japan’s Ministry of Finance. He also has had affiliations with the Stockholm School of Economics and Keio University in Tokyo. He is a member of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation’s U.S.-Japan Network for the Future.

His published work includes Taming Japan's Deflation: The Debate Over Unconventional Monetary Policy, a co-authored book, from Cornell University Press (2018), a co-edited volume with Eisaku Ide entitled, Deficits and Debt in the Industrialized Democracies (Routledge, 2015), and Spending without Taxation: FILP and the Politics of Public Finance in Japan (Stanford University Press, 2011). Dr. Park received a B.A. in Philosophy from Swarthmore College and Ph.D. in Political Science from University of California Berkeley. He is a former Fulbright Scholar.

Event Contact: cjs@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing From Empires To The Global Era

Lecture | February 12 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 223 Moses Hall

Speaker/Performer: T.V. Paul, McGill University

Sponsors: Institute of International Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Institute for South Asia Studies

This presentation is based on the book with the same title (Yale University Press, 2018) which examines a crucial element of state behavior -- the use of international institutions, informal alignments and economic instruments such as sanctions -- to constrain the power and threatening behavior of dominant actors. Much of International Relations scholarship fails to capture the use of these non-military instruments for constraining superior power. The soft balancing debate for over a decade has generated much literature and criticisms. However, it has been used exclusively in the context of responses by second-tier states toward U.S. power. This book expands and tests soft balancing arguments to historical eras (such as the Concert of Europe, and the League of Nations during the interwar period) and the emerging/resurging powers, China and Russia while responding to criticisms aired against the concept and strategy. It seeks to explore: under what conditions do states resort to soft balancing as opposed to hard balancing (relying on formal military alliances and intense arms buildups)? When do they combine both? What are the differences and similarities between the 20th and 21st century cases of soft balancing--one under multipolarity, the other under near-unipolarity? When do soft balancing efforts elicit hostile reactions and when do they produce positive results? Finally, what are the implications of soft balancing for the rise of new great powers and the international order, especially conflict and cooperation among them in the 21st century’s globalized international system?

T.V. Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He was President of International Studies Association (ISA) during 2016-17. Paul is the author or editor of 18 books and over 70 scholarly articles/book chapters in the fields of International Relations, International Security, and South Asia. He is the author of the books: The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World (Oxford, 2013); Globalization and the National Security State (with N. Ripsman, Oxford, 2010); The Tradition of Non-use of Nuclear Weapons (Stanford, 2009); India in the World Order: Searching for Major Power Status (with B.R. Nayar Cambridge, 2002); Power versus Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear Weapons (McGill-Queen’s, 2000); and Asymmetric Conflicts: War Initiation by Weaker Powers (Cambridge, 1994). Paul currently serves as the editor of the Georgetown University Press book series: South Asia in World Affairs. For more, see: www.tvpaul.com.

Target audience: All Audiences

Open to audience: All Audiences

Event Contact: CA, iis@berkeley.edu, 5106422472

Friday, February 15, 2019

Multiplicity of Asian Buddhist Modernities: 2019 Sheng Yen Conference

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | February 15 – 17, 2019 every day | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Organizer: Cody Bahir, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

The conference will explore examples of Buddhist modernism that have arisen in Asia since the late 19th century up through the present day.

Saturday, February 16, 2019

Multiplicity of Asian Buddhist Modernities: 2019 Sheng Yen Conference

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | February 15 – 17, 2019 every day | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Organizer: Cody Bahir, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

The conference will explore examples of Buddhist modernism that have arisen in Asia since the late 19th century up through the present day.

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Multiplicity of Asian Buddhist Modernities: 2019 Sheng Yen Conference

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | February 15 – 17, 2019 every day | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Organizer: Cody Bahir, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

The conference will explore examples of Buddhist modernism that have arisen in Asia since the late 19th century up through the present day.

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Global Entanglements of a Man Who Never Traveled: A Seventeenth-Century Chinese Christian and His Conflicted Worlds

Colloquium | February 21 | 4-6 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Featured Speaker: Dominic Sachsenmaier, Professor of Modern China with a Special Emphasis on Global Historical Perspectives, Göttingen University

Sponsors: Li Ka-Shing Foundation Program in Modern Chinese History at Berkeley, Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Dominic Sachsenmaier will present his recently published book, Global Entanglements of a Man Who Never Traveled (Columbia University Press, 2018), which explores the mid-seventeenth-century world and the worldwide flows of ideas through the lens of a Chinese Christian convert, Zhu Zongyuan. Born into a low-level literati family in the port city of Ningbo, Zhu likely never left his home province. Yet he nonetheless led a remarkably globally connected life. His relations with the outside world, ranging from scholarly activities to involvement with globalizing Catholicism, put him in contact with a complex and contradictory set of foreign and domestic forces. Taking particular aspects of Zhu‘s multiple belongings as a starting point, Sachsenmaier analyzes the contexts that framed his worlds as he balanced a local life and his border-crossing faith. At the local level, the book pays attention to the intellectual, political, and social environments of late Ming and early Qing society, including Confucian learning and the Manchu conquest, questioning the role of ethnic and religious identities. At the global level, it considers how individuals like Zhu were situated within the history of organizations and power structures such as the Catholic Church and early modern empires amid larger transformations and encounters. A strikingly original work, this book is a major contribution to East Asian, transnational, and global history, with important implications for historical approaches and methodologies.

Event Contact: brooks.jessup@berkeley.edu

Mongol ‘Translations’ of a Nepalese Stupa: Architectural Replicas and the Cult of Bodnāthe Stūpa/Jarung khashar in Mongolia

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies: Mongolia Initiative: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | February 21 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Isabelle Charleux, CNRS, Paris

Sponsors: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, Mongolia Initiative, Center for Buddhist Studies

The cult of the Nepalese stupa of Bodnath (Tib. and Mo. Jarung Khashor) was very popular in 19th and early 20th century Mongolia and especially in Buryatia, as testifies the translation into Mongolian of a famous guidebook to Bodnath, a corpus of Mongolian oral narratives, the many thang-kas and amulets depicting the Bodnath Stupa along with a Tibetan prayer, and the existence of architectural replicas in Mongolia, probably to create surrogate pilgrimages to Bodnath. I will focus on these architectural replicas and try to explain how the Nepalese architecture was ‘translated’ to Mongolia, and try to understand whether the differences between the original and the replicas are due to local techniques and materials, to the impossibility of studying the original, or to the distortions induced by their mode of transmission. Has the original building been reinterpreted to the point of transforming its meaning? Is the replica of an architecture accompanied by the replica of possible cultic practices associated with it?

Isabelle Charleux is director of research at the CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research, Paris) and deputy director of the GSRL (Group Societies, Religions, Laicities, National Centre for Scientific Research – Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes-PSL, Paris). Her research interests focus on Mongol material culture and religion. She published Nomads on Pilgrimage. Mongols on Wutaishan (China), 1800-1940 (Brill, 2015) and Temples et monastères de Mongolie-Intérieure (Paris, 2006), as well as scholarly articles on various topics such as miraculous icons in in Mongolia, Inner Mongolian mural paintings, and visual representation of past and present figures of authority in the Mongol world.

Event Contact: tangsilkroadcenter@berkeley.edu

Friday, February 22, 2019

Points of Transition: Ovoo and the Ritual Remaking of Religious, Ecological, and Historical Politics in Inner Asia

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Mongolia Initiative: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | February 22 | 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), UC Berkeley Mongolia Initiative, Townsend Center for the Humanities

Ovoo, the structures of stones, trees, scarves, skulls, steering wheel covers, and a staggering array of other objects that are ubiquitous across the landscape of contemporary Mongolia, Buryatia, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai, have long marked sites where ritual, though often highly spontaneous, practices invoke the presence of immanent relations. Built and maintained by various publics, gatherings at ovoo have over past centuries been major sites of political action, where the identities of and relationships between more and less local shamans, lamas, imperial officials, businesspeople, bureaucrats, politicians, and nonhumans are narrated, contested, and re-defined. At the same time, ovoo are often engaged individually, by travelers engaging roadside ovoo or at places generally unspoken of to others and not visible on the wider landscape, that are especially significant to an individual or intimate group. Scholars from the US, Europe, and Asia will be discussing such issues as how these sites are useful in juxtaposing historical and political narratives, ecological and environmentalist movements, religious practice, and the productive logics of households, businesses, and states.

Event Contact: ieas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2809

Document (PDF): Ovoo Conference Program

Monday, February 25, 2019

American Sutra: Buddhism and the Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | February 25 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Duncan Ryūken Williams, Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Southern California

Panelist/Discussants: Mark Blum, Professor, Shinjo Ito Distinguished Chair in Japanese Studies, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UC Berkeley; Carolyn Chen, Associate Professor, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Asian American Studies, Department of Ethnic Studies, Center for Buddhist Studies, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion

Duncan Ryūken Williams (USC) will discuss his new book “American Sutra” about Buddhism and the WWII Japanese American internment. The fact that the vast majority of Japanese Americans were Buddhist was responsible for why nearly 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, two-third of whom were American citizens, were targeted for forcible removal from the Pacific coast states and incarcerated in remote interior camps surrounded by barbed wire. Ironically, their Buddhist faith also was also what helped the Japanese American community endure and persist at a time of dislocation, loss, and uncertainty. Based on newly translated Japanese-language diaries of Buddhist priests from the camps, extensive interview with survivors of the camps, and newly declassified government documents about how Buddhism was seen as a national security threat, Williams argues that Japanese American Buddhists launched one of the most inspiring defenses of religious freedom in U.S. history.

Event Contact: CA, cjs@berkeley.edu, 5106423156

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Counter-Trajectories of Agrarian Change: Agroecology and Politics in a Sumatran Plantation Zone

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | February 26 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: David Gilbert, S.V. Ciriacy Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellow, Environmental Science, Management, and Policy, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy, and Mgmt. (ESPM)

This talk looks at what happened after a group of plantation laborers living on the Aren volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra joined with a self-proclaimed 'peasant' union in 1996 to occupy a nearly 100-year-old industrial ranch and plantation.

David Gilbert

Friday, March 1, 2019

Workshop on Tannishō Commentarial Materials

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | March 1 – 3, 2019 every day | Jodo Shinshu Center

Location: 2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Buddhist Studies, Otani University, Ryukoku University, BCA Center for Buddhist Education, Institute of Buddhist Studies,

The Centers for Japanese Studies and Buddhist Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, together with Ōtani University and Ryūkoku University in Kyoto announce a workshop under the supervision of Mark Blum that will focus on critically examining premodern and modern hermeneutics of the Tannishō, a core text of the Shin sect of Buddhism, and arguably the most well-read religious text in postwar Japan. 2019 will be the third year in this five-year project that meets twice each year: we will meet in Berkeley from March 1 to 3 and in Kyoto at Ōtani University from June 21 to 23. Organized around close readings of the most influential materials produced in early modern, modern, and postmodern Japan, the workshop aims at producing a critical, annotated translation detailing the salient ways in which this text has been both inspirational and controversial, as well as a series of essays analyzing a wide spectrum of voices in Japanese scholarship and preaching that have spoken on this work. For the early modern or Edo period, the commentaries by Enchi (1662), Jukoku (1740), Jinrei (1808), and Ryōshō (1841) will be examined. For the modern period, works by Andō Shūichi (1909), Chikazumi Jōkan (1930), and Soga Ryōjin (1947) will be the major concern. And for the postwar/postmodern period, due to the sheer volume of publications (over 300 titles), reading choices will be selected at a later date in consultation with participants.

Format: The language of instruction will be primarily English with only minimal Japanese spoken as needed, and while the texts will be in primarily in Classical Japanese and Modern Japanese, with some outside materials in kanbun and English. Participants will be expected to prepare the assigned readings, and on occasion make relevant presentations in English about content.

Dates: Exact dates will vary from year to year based on academic calendars, but for 2019 the meeting hosted by U.C. Berkeley will take place from the 1st to the 3rd of March at the Jōdo Shinshū Center in Berkeley, and in Kyoto the seminar will be hosted by Ōtani University from the 21st to the 23th of June.

Cost: There is no participation fee, but in recognition of the distance some will have to travel to attend, a limited number of travel fellowships will be provided to qualified graduate students, based on preparedness, need, and commitment to the project.

Participation Requirements: Although any qualified applicant will be welcome to register, graduate students will be particularly welcome and the only recipients of financial assistance in the form of travel fellowships. Affiliation with one of the three hosting universities is not required. We welcome the participation of graduate students outside of Japan with some reading ability in Modern and Classical Japanese and familiarity with Buddhist thought and culture as well as native-speaking Japanese graduate students with a scholarly interest in Buddhism. Although we welcome students attending both meetings each year, participation in only one is acceptable.

Application Procedure: Applications must be sent for each year that one wants to participate. To apply to register for either or both of the workshops for 2019, send C.V. and short letter explaining your qualifications, motivations, and objectives to Kumi Hadler at cjs@berkeley.edu by the end of January, 2019. Applications are by email only, and application deadlines will remain as end-January in subsequent years as well. Requests for a travel fellowship money should be included in this letter with specifics of where you will be traveling from and if you plan to attend one or both meetings that year. Questions about the content of the workshop may be sent to Professor Blum at mblum@berkeley.edu. Communication regarding the Kyoto meeting may be sent to Professor Michael Conway at conway@res.otani.ac.jp.

*This talk is open to the public
Title: Literary Representations of Buddhist Funerals
Date: Saturday, March 2, 5:00-6:30
Venue: Jodo Shinshu Center
Speaker: Michihiro Ama, University of Montana
Moderator: Mark Blum

In this lecture, Natsume Sōseki’s The Miner and “A Rainy Day” in To the Spring Equinox and Beyond are treated as works of path literature. During the Buddhist funerals, periods of transition in the lives of the literary characters and new sensations regarding life and death are identified through the connection of the term “path” as a synonym for passage. The funerals lead the fictional characters to reflect on their existence and the Buddhist funeral fictionalized in A Rainy Day was also cathartic for Sōseki himself. The lecture is based on my forthcoming book titled, The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction: Path Literature and An Interpretation of Buddhism, which aims to extract unrecognized Buddhist elements from the disciplinary divide between modern Japanese literary studies and Buddhist studies.

Event Contact: cjs-events@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Singing to the People: Evolving Iconic Songs in Contemporary China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | March 1 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Levi S. Gibbs, Assistant Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures, Dartmouth College

Panelist/Discussant: Andrew Jones, Professor and Louis B. Agassiz Chair in Chinese, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In China and around the world, performances of songs can create virtual meeting grounds where different voices and perspectives engage with one another. In his new book about the rise of “Folksong King of Western China” Wang Xiangrong, Levi S. Gibbs explores parallels between the song culture of Wang’s childhood mountain village and his contemporary national and international performances where individual and collective voices interact. By tracing similarities in the evolution of iconic songs over time, we can begin to better understand how these songs act as public conversations that tie each performance event to a sense of historical continuity while at the same time finding new ground and new points of view.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Workshop on Tannishō Commentarial Materials

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | March 1 – 3, 2019 every day | Jodo Shinshu Center

Location: 2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Buddhist Studies, Otani University, Ryukoku University, BCA Center for Buddhist Education, Institute of Buddhist Studies,

Event Contact: cjs-events@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Literary Representations of Buddhist Funerals

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | March 2 | 5-6:30 p.m. | Jodo Shinshu Center

Location: 2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Speaker: MichihirAmao , University of Montana

Moderator: Mark Blum, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Buddhist Studies, Otani University, Ryukoku University, BCA Center for Buddhist Education, Institute of Buddhist Studies,

In this lecture, Natsume Sōseki’s The Miner and “A Rainy Day” in To the Spring Equinox and Beyond are treated as works of path literature. During the Buddhist funerals, periods of transition in the lives of the literary characters and new sensations regarding life and death are identified through the connection of the term “path” as a synonym for passage. The funerals lead the fictional characters to reflect on their existence and the Buddhist funeral fictionalized in A Rainy Day was also cathartic for Sōseki himself. The lecture is based on my forthcoming book titled, The Awakening of Modern Japanese Fiction: Path Literature and An Interpretation of Buddhism, which aims to extract unrecognized Buddhist elements from the disciplinary divide between modern Japanese literary studies and Buddhist studies.

Event Contact: cjs-events@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Workshop on Tannishō Commentarial Materials

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | March 1 – 3, 2019 every day | Jodo Shinshu Center

Location: 2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Buddhist Studies, Otani University, Ryukoku University, BCA Center for Buddhist Education, Institute of Buddhist Studies,

Event Contact: cjs-events@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Monday, March 4, 2019

Remaking Urban Landscape in China’s Large Cities: State-Society Nexus and the Reproduction of Space amidst Accelerate Urbanization

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | March 4 | 4 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: George C.S. Lin, Chair Professor of Geography, Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong

Panelist/Discussant: You-tien Hsing, Professor of Geography, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Center of Global Metropolitan Studies

Phenomenal transformation of the landscape in Chinese cities has been conventionally understood as the spatial outcome of the reformation of state-market relations. The current urban landscape observable today is described as a juxtaposition of two elements, namely the legacy of the socialist city and the newly emerged space of marketization. This research identifies a new wave of urbanization in which a reformulated state-society relationship has given rise to a new landscape of urban redevelopment. The remaking of China’s urban landscape is effectively shaped not so much by forces of agglomeration economies or bid-rent dynamism but instead by a negotiation and reconciliation of the interests between the state and society. The bottleneck over urban renewals is overcome by local initiatives to redefine who gets what rather than who owns what. Existing land users are motivated by a decentralized power of decision-making and a share of the land conveyance income previously monopolized by the state. Contrary to normal expectation, no significant correlation is found between the extent of urban redevelopment and population density, level of development and degree of marketization and openness. Urban redevelopment tends to prevail in those modes of land disposition that are either monopolized by the state or subject to close-door negotiation. Chinese land users are found to be more concerned over exclusivity than transferability of property rights. Redevelopment is less contentious in a “village-in the city” where decisions are made by the collective organization internally than the other involving developers externally. Land use intensity and efficiency have been improved along with intensified social exclusion and marginalization. Findings of this research call for special attention to be paid to China’s reformulated state-society relations as a new driving force reshaping its restless urban landscape. Current planning and policy making need to be critically re-evaluated so as to take a better consideration and protection of the interests of the displaced workers, landless villagers, resettled residents, and removed migrant population.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

George C.S. Lin

History on the Run: Hmong Refugees and Knowledge Formation

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | March 4 | 4:30-6 p.m. | 554 Barrows Hall

Speaker: Ma Vang, Assistant Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, UC Merced

Sponsors: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Department of Ethnic Studies

Taking a feminist refugee approach and by analyzing Hmong women’s narratives against U.S. redacted archival records that erase Hmong and Laos history during the U.S. “secret war,”, this talk explores the politics of knowledge formation which has generated a historiography about the Hmong refugee as a masculinized refugee soldier and a distinct U.S. ally.

Ma Vang

Friday, March 8, 2019

Global Reception of the Classic Zhuangzi: Han to Tang (Day 1)

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies | March 8 | 9 a.m.-6 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), IEAS Conference Room (510A)

Sponsors: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, Eliaser Chair in International Studies

The classic Zhuangzi 莊子, a collection of sayings and anecdotes traditionally attributed to Zhuang Zhou 莊周 (trad. 369-286 BCE), has deeply influenced cultural life in East Asia and beyond. A key text in East Asian religious and literary history, it is still routinely cited in diverse discussions of ethics and philosophy, and informs practices from calligraphy to landscape painting. Despite its importance in East Asia, classrooms and journals around the world rarely engage the text’s influence over the last two millennia. Today, we tend to read the Zhuangzi as a literary expression or through the lens of the academic disciplines of philosophy or religious studies. In this first of a series of workshops on the global reception of the Zhuangzi, we are bringing together experts on the classic’s early reception history to talk about the multifarious responses the Zhuangzi has triggered through the first eight or ten centuries of its circulation from the Han to the Tang period. Over history, the text has been multivocal and mutable, resisting narrowly defined categories and academic disciplines.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Global Reception of the Classic Zhuangzi: Han to Tang (Day 2)

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies | March 9 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), IEAS Conference Room (510A)

Sponsors: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, Eliaser Chair in International Studies

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Picturing Identities and Ideologies in Modern Korea: Transnational Perspectives for Visual Culture

Conference/Symposium: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | March 14 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Institute | Note change in time

Featured Speakers: Youngna Kim, Professor Emerita, Seoul National University; Julia F. Andrews, Distinguished University Professor, Ohio State University

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

NOTE: Start time has changed! The event will now start at 4:00 PM.

In recent years, scholars have noted a few topics of visual culture commonly found in East Asia at the turn of the 20th century. At this time, new forms of popular culture presented a new image of the nation in the changing environment of world expositions and international congresses.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Picturing Identities and Ideologies in Modern Korea: Transnational Perspectives for Visual Culture

Conference/Symposium: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | March 15 | 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. | Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Institute

Featured Speakers: Youngna Kim, Professor Emerita, Seoul National University; Julia F. Andrews, Distinguished University Professor, Ohio State University

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

In recent years, scholars have noted a few topics of visual culture commonly found in East Asia at the turn of the 20th century. At this time, new forms of popular culture, including novels, magazines, and newspapers, as well as official public monuments presented a new image of the nation in the changing environment of world expositions and international congresses. Most of the essays in this conference tackle issues of hybridity, the mixing of the old and the new, the local and the foreign. As demonstrated by essays in Mirror of Modernity (1998), many so-called Japanese “traditions” in Meiji to Taishō Japan (ca. 1910s–1930s) were inflected with invention and innovation. Papers in this conference will also demonstrate how troublesome and confusing sometimes it was to “invent” or “reinvent” familiar artistic subjects for a new era. This gathering of scholars, hard to meet in one place, sheds light on the way in which visual symbols and fine arts of pre-modern Korea were re-encoded with a hierarchical system of modernity and associated with a more complicated set of modern identities. Speakers include Jenny Jungsil Lee, Kyunghee Pyun, Leon Wiebers, Soohyun Mok, Minjee Kim, Younjung Oh, Jungsil Lee, Olivier Krischer, Yeon Shim Chung, Sunglim Kim, Kyeongmi Joo, Hye-ri Oh, and Julia F. Andrews

Event Contact: cks@berkeley.edu, 510-642-5674

New Asian Disorder: Diagnosis and Prognosis

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | March 15 | 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

East Asia since 2010 has been characterized by the rise of China and the relative decline of the U.S., and by a corresponding disorder as China has increasingly defied the game rules set by the erstwhile hegemon and begun to outline an alternative set of rules. This conference will analyze the options open to Asian actors, such as China and the U.S., as well as Russia, Japan, Taiwan, and ASEAN.

Monday, March 18, 2019

"Three-Dimensional Chess": Dissecting the Political, Economic, and Military Layers of US-PRC-ROC Relations in 2019

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | March 18 | 5-7 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speakers: Yukon Huang, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Asia Program; T.J. Pempel, Jack M. Forcey Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley

Moderator: Brian Tsui and Tim Smith, on behalf of Strait Talk at UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

In the past six months, relations between the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of China have been subject to significant tensions. President Trump escalated US military ties with the ROC, Chairman Xi Jinping declared that the ROC “must and will be united” with the PRC, and President Tsai Ing-Wen criticized understandings of a “1992 consensus”. Cross-strait relations have played an increasingly greater role in the political, economic, and military relations between the three parties. How can conflict best be resolved, mitigated, or addressed in the Taiwan Straits? Do closer US-ROC ties impede closer US-PRC ties, and vice versa?

Strait Talk at UC Berkeley looks forward to exploring these topics with guest speakers Yukon Huang and TJ Pempel. Dr. Huang will examine the economic and financial circumstances governing cross strait relations. Professor Pempel will discuss recent political circumstances, drawing upon the political and military challenges faced by policymakers in the region. Discussion with moderators, attendees, and Strait Talk delegates will assess cross-strait relations with a view toward the future of conflict resolution in PRC-ROC-US relations.

*The phrase and analogy “Three Dimensional Chess” is from Michael J. Green’s By More than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783 (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2017).

Event Contact: ieas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2809

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

The Specter Haunting Singapore: Why the People's Action Party Cannot Get Over Operation Coldstore

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | March 19 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Dr. Thum Ping Tjin, Managing Director, New Naratif

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

This talk looks at the significance for Singapore's history of "Operation Coldstore" - the 1963 arrest and detention without trial of over 112 opposition politicians, trade unionists, and political activists on grounds of a communist conspiracy - including how it has shaped Singapore's governance, and why it matters to the ruling party today.

Thum Ping Tjin

Wai Wai Nu | On Rohingya Citizenship Rights: Talk followed by community updates by UC Berkeley's Rohingya Working Group

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | March 19 | 4-6 p.m. | Stephens Hall, 10 (ISAS Conf. Room)

Speaker: Wai Wai Nu, Visiting Scholar, Human Rights Center, UC Berkeley

Moderator: Eric Stover, Faculty Director of the Human Rights Center and Adjunct Professor of Law and Public Health, UC Berkeley

Organizer: Yoshika Crider, PhD Student | Energy & Resources Group

Organizer: Samira Siddique, MS PhD Student | Energy & Resources Group

Sponsors: The Subir and Malini Chowdhury Center for Bangladesh Studies, Institute for South Asia Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Human Rights Center

A lecture on the Rohingya Crisis

Beyond Imperial Aesthetics: Theorizing Art and Politics in East Asia

Panel Discussion: Center for Japanese Studies | March 19 | 5-7 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Panelist/Discussants: Naoki Sakai, Cornell University; Mayumo Inoue, Hitotsubashi University

Moderators: Miryam Sas, UC Berkeley; Steve Choe, San Francisco State University

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Observing that the division between theory and empiricism remains inextricably linked to imperial modernity, manifest at the most basic level in the binary between “the West” and “Asia,” the authors in the forthcoming collection Beyond Imperial Aesthetics (co-edited by Mayumo Inoue and Steve Choe, Hong Kong University Press, 2019) reexamine art and aesthetics to challenge these oppositions in order to reconceptualize politics and knowledge production in East Asia.

If the seemingly universal operation of capital and militarism in East Asia requires locally specific definitions of biopolitical concepts to function smoothly, this book critiques the circuit of power between the universalism of capital and particularism of nation and culture in the context of East Asia after 1945. Treating aesthetic experiences in art at large as the bases for going beyond imperial categories, the contributors discuss new modes of sensing, thinking, and living that have been unimaginable within the mainstream modality of Asian studies, a discipline that has reproduced the colonial regime of knowledge production.

Moderated by the book's co-editor Steve Choe, this book event will feature presentations by the book’s contributor Naoki Sakai and co-editor Mayumo Inoue, followed by a commentary from Miryam Sas.

Presenters:
Naoki Sakai (Comparative Literature and Asian Studies, Cornell University)
Mayumo Inoue (Comparative Literature, Hitotsubashi University)

Commentator:
Miryam Sas (Comparative Literature and Film & Media, UC Berkeley)

Moderator:
Steve Choe (Film Studies, San Francisco State University)

Event Contact: cjs-events@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Fireside Chat with Ambassadors Cho and Harris: With Introduction by Former Ambassador Stephens

Special Event: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | March 20 | 4-5:30 p.m. | International House, Chevron Auditorium

Speakers: Ambassador Harry Harris, U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea; Ambassador Yoon-je Cho, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the U.S.

Moderator: T.J. Pempel, Professor of Political Science, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Korea Economic Institute of America

This opportunity to directly engage the ambassadors is part of the Ambassadors’ Dialogue program, organized by the Korea Economic Institute.

Amb. Cho was appointed Ambassador of the ROK to the USA by President Moon Jae-in in August 2017.

Amb. Harris was nominated by President Trump in May and confirmed by the US Senate in June 2018 as US Ambassador to the ROK

On Twenty-first Century Postcolonialism

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | March 20 | 4-6 p.m. | 220 Stephens Hall

Speaker: Jinhua Dai, Professor in the Institute of Comparative Literature and Culture, Peking University

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

The lecture will address the place of post-colonial theory in the twenty-first century. This question is highly relevant to China, as it recalls the history of China’s involvement in the non-aligned movement, and subsequent efforts after the break with the Soviet Union to form third-world solidarities. But Dai calls into question whether the insights of postcolonialism are relevant for the transformations that have taken place in China in the last thirty years, as part of what she calls our current era of “the post-post-Cold War.” Historically the postcolonial binary of colonization/de-colonization blurred the coordinates of the Cold War, including most importantly China’s position as a “third” option within the non-aligned third world. Since the end of the Cold War, what can post-colonial theory tell us about the current dominance of finance capital and capital monopoly of new technologies that has reconstructed the entire third world to serve as production zones of cheap goods or fields of monoculture? To what extent is China implicated in these transformations? How can post-colonial theory address the enormous debt imposed on the global South by former colonial powers? Analysis of the cultural in post-colonial theory depended on the political-economic structure of the Cold War. How do we analyze the cultural in today’s world? And how can political critique and resistance become effective once again in China as well as around the world?

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Monday, March 25, 2019

Shifting Tides: Rise, Resurgence, and Deep Histories from the Atlantic to the Pacific

Lecture | March 25 | 6 p.m. | David Brower Center

Location: 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704

Speaker: Matt Matsuda, New Brunswick Honors College, Rutgers University

Sponsors: Institute of European Studies, German Historical Institute Washington, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius, Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

This keynote lecture with Matt Matsuda, Professor of History and Academic Dean New Brunswick Honors College, Rutgers University, is the opening event to the symposium "Entangling the Pacific and Atlantic Worlds. Past and Present", which is organized by the German Historical Institute Washington and ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius in cooperation with the Institute of European Studies and the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
Much contemporary geopolitical thought is built upon a presumed shift of power and influence from Europe and the Atlantic to Asia and the Pacific, framed in contested alliance with the Americas. What does this mean when placed into the centuries-long histories of these regions? From ancient voyaging and archipelagic cultures, to imperial and military struggles, to economic and environmental challenges, we will survey the clashes and confluences that have defined a changing world across treasure fleets, copra colonies, liberation movements, and cyber-societies.

The symposium is commemorating Helmut Schmidt, who served as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1974 to 1982. Helmut Schmidt was a pioneer among Western political leaders in recognizing this transformation and, in particular, China’s economic and political rise. The German chancellor strove for a respectful dialogue and a partnership of equals at a time when the world was still divided into “communist” and “capitalist” camps. Building on Schmidt’s reflections about the remaking of the global order, this symposium will analyze the unfolding situation and its historical background. Scholars, policy experts, and journalists will discuss the changing relationship between the Atlantic and Pacific regions, and the growing complexity of a world with multiple and competing poles.

Event Contact: menghini@berkeley.edu, 510-643-4558

Document: Symposium Program

Matt Matsuda

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Entangling Pacific and Atlantic Worlds

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Other Campus Events | March 26 | 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. | Anthony Hall

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), German Historical Institute Washington, Institute of European Studies

Click on title above for conference program

Fireside Discussion - Helmut Schmidt: The Global Statesman

Panel Discussion | March 26 | 6 p.m. | Alumni House

Speakers/Performers: Ronnie C. Chan, Hang Lung Properties; Manfred Lahnstein, Board of Trustees, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius; Kristina Spohr, Johns Hopkins SAIS - School of Advanced International Studies; Theo Sommer, former editor-in-chief, DIE ZEIT; Christoph von Marschall, journalist, Der Tagesspiegel

Sponsors: Institute of European Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), German Historical Institute Washington, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius

This fireside discussion is part of the symposium "Entangling the Pacific and Atlantic Worlds. Past and Present", which is organized by the German Historical Institute Washington and ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius in cooperation with the Institute of European Studies and the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

At his event, former friends and companions of Helmut Schmidt will discuss his role in connecting China and the West. Helmut Schmidt, who served as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1974 to 1982, was a pioneer among Western political leaders in recognizing this transformation and, in particular, China’s economic and political rise. The German chancellor strove for a respectful dialogue and a partnership of equals at a time when the world was still divided into “communist” and “capitalist” camps. Building on Schmidt’s reflections about the remaking of the global order, this symposium will analyze the unfolding situation and its historical background. Scholars, policy experts, and journalists will discuss the changing relationship between the Atlantic and Pacific regions, and the growing complexity of a world with multiple and competing poles.

Event Contact: menghini@berkeley.edu, 510-643-4558

Document: Symposium Program

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Storm Clouds of a New Order? An Outlook in the Age of Trump

Lecture | March 27 | 5:30 p.m. | Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Auditorium

Speaker/Performer: Ann Lee, CEO, Coterie New York

Sponsors: Institute of European Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), German Historical Institute Washington, ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius

This keynote lecture with Ann Lee, CEO, Coterie New York, is the closing event to the symposium "Entangling the Pacific and Atlantic Worlds. Past and Present", which is organized by the German Historical Institute Washington and ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius in cooperation with the Institute of European Studies and the Institute of East Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
“What is the end game for the current anti-China rhetoric and policies emanating from Washington? Does the designation of China as a strategic competitor mean that the world is descending into a second Cold War? Ann Lee, an author of several books including “What the US Can Learn from China” and “Will China’s Economy Collapse?” and a former professor at Peking University, Pace University, and New York University, will address the risks and implications of an adverse US-China relationship for the global economy.

The symposium is commemorating Helmut Schmidt, who served as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) from 1974 to 1982. Helmut Schmidt was a pioneer among Western political leaders in recognizing this transformation and, in particular, China’s economic and political rise. The German chancellor strove for a respectful dialogue and a partnership of equals at a time when the world was still divided into “communist” and “capitalist” camps. Building on Schmidt’s reflections about the remaking of the global order, this symposium will analyze the unfolding situation and its historical background. Scholars, policy experts, and journalists will discuss the changing relationship between the Atlantic and Pacific regions, and the growing complexity of a world with multiple and competing poles.

Event Contact: menghini@berkeley.edu, 510-643-4558

Document: Symposium Program

Ann Lee

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Will China Save The Planet?

Lecture | April 4 | 4-5 p.m. | 223 Moses Hall

Speaker: Barbara Finamore, Senior Strategic Director for Asia, Natural Resources Defense Council

Moderator: Ralph Cavanagh, Energy Co-Director of the Climate & Clean Energy Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

Sponsors: Institute of International Studies, Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Now that Trump has turned the United States into a global climate outcast, will China take the lead in saving our planet from environmental catastrophe? Many signs point to yes. China, the world's largest carbon emitter, is leading a global clean energy revolution, phasing out coal consumption and leading the development of a global system of green finance.

But as leading China environmental expert Barbara Finamore explains, it is anything but easy. The fundamental economic and political challenges that China faces in addressing its domestic environmental crisis threaten to derail its low-carbon energy transition. Yet there is reason for hope. China's leaders understand that transforming the world's second largest economy from one dependent on highly polluting heavy industry to one focused on clean energy, services and innovation is essential, not only to the future of the planet, but to China's own prosperity.

Barbara Finamore is the Senior Strategic Director for Asia at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She has nearly four decades of experience in environmental law and energy policy. In 1996, she founded NRDC’s China Program, the first clean energy program to be launched by an international NGO. She also served as President and Chair of the Professional Association for China's Environment (PACE) and is the co-founder and President of the China-U.S. Energy Innovation Alliance. In 2017, Barbara was named a member of Foreign Policy’s “The U.S.-China 50”, a group of 50 individuals who are powering the world's most complex and consequential relationship. She holds a J.D. degree with honors from Harvard Law School.

Event Contact: iis@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2474

Avalokitasvara / Avalokiteśvara, Amitābha / Amitāyus and pratyekabuddha / pratyayabuddha: Misinterpretations of Gāndhārī Buddhism by Sanskrit Composers of the Mahāyāna Scriptures

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies | April 4 | 5-7 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Seishi Karashima, Soka University, Tokyo

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

Śākyamuni seems to have preached in a colloquial language, namely Māgadhī. The scriptures of early Buddhism were transmitted also in various colloquial languages, e.g. Pāli. Probably, many of the early Mahāyāna scriptures were originally transmitted in colloquial languages as well, e.g. Gāndhārī, which were later gradually translated into (Buddhist) Sanskrit. There are quite a few instances where later Sanskrit translators and composers misunderstood the meanings of Gāndhārī forms and created hyper-sanskritised ones, from which new interpretations also appeared. Avalokitasvara, meaning “One Who Surveys Sounds”, Amitāyus (“Infinite Life”), pratyayabuddha (“one who has become a buddha by [understanding] causes”) are some such instances. We shall trace the misinterpretations of Gāndhārī Buddhism by Sanskrit composers by means of comparing Sanskrit texts and the early Chinese translations whose underlying language is probably Gāndhārī.

Seishi Karashima is Professor of Sino-Indian Buddhist Philology at The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology, Soka University, Tokyo. From 1976 to 1994, he studied Indology, Buddhist Studies and Sinology at the University of Tokyo (B.A. and M.A.), Cambridge University, Beijing University (Ph.D.) and at Freiburg University. Areas of publication and research include philological studies of early Buddhist Sanskrit Texts and early Chinese Buddhist translations. Among his publications are: A Glossary of Lokakṣema’s Translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, 2010; A Critical Edition of Lokakṣema’s Translation of the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, 2011; Die Abhisamācārikā Dharmāḥ, 2012, 3 vols.; Buddhist Manuscripts from Central Asia: The British Library Sanskrit Fragments, ed. with Klaus Wille, vol. 1 (2006), vol. 2 (2009), vol. 3 (2015); Buddhist Manuscripts from Central Asia: The St. Petersburg Sanskrit Fragments, vol. 1 (2015) ed. with M. I. Vorobyova-Desyatovskaya; Mahāyāna Texts: Prajñāpāramitā Texts,(1) (2016), (2) (2019) (Gilgit Manuscripts in the National Archives of India Facsimile Edition Volume II.1, 2).

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Friday, April 5, 2019

2019 Stanford-Berkeley Graduate Student Conference In Premodern Chinese Humanities

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies | April 5 | UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center), IEAS Conference Room (510A)

Sponsors: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Stanford Center for East Asian Studies

Initiated in 2014, the annual Stanford-Berkeley Graduate Student Conference on Premodern Chinese Humanities brings together graduate students from around the country and around the world who specialize in pre-modern Chinese studies.This national meeting of graduate students specializing in premodern Chinese studies aims to bring together young scholars from geographically distant institutions to present and discuss innovative research on China.

The conference, alternating sites each year between Stanford and Berkeley, will feature up to twelve competitively-selected graduate student presentations of original research on any aspect of premodern (technically, beginnings to 1911) Chinese humanistic culture, drawing on but not limited to the traditional disciplines of history, literature, religion, art, social sciences, and thought. We encourage proposals that explore new methodologies, utilize recent developments in digital technology, or reconfigure or cross disciplinary boundaries.

The 2019 conference will take place on Friday April 5 and Saturday April 6 at UC Berkeley. Please refer to the link below for detailed information.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Document (PDF): Call for Proposals

Key Issues in the Current Global Economy

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Korean Studies: Center for Japanese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 5 | 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsor: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

What are the contours of superpower competition? How do middle powers interact with great powers in the 21st century? In East Asia, what options do middle powers in Asia such as Taiwan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and other have? What lessons might we have from middle power strategies from the age of US-Soviet Cold War competition? This conference will explore super and middle powers in an era of strategic competition, financial regulation, industrial policy and green goods, and industrial policy, IP, investment, and trade conflict.

Event Contacts: ieas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2809; ieas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2809

Document (PDF): Program

Saturday, April 6, 2019

2019 Stanford-Berkeley Graduate Student Conference In Premodern Chinese Humanities

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies | April 6 | UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center), IEAS Conference Room (510A)

Sponsors: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Stanford Center for East Asian Studies

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Heavy Metal Bamboo: Making Archaic Bamboo Instruments Modern in Bandung, Indonesia

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 9 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Henry Spiller, Professor of Music, UC Davis

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

In 2009, nine people suffocated at a death metal concert featuring local metal bands in Bandung, Indonesia. In response, some Bandung-based metal musicians began to reconsider their wholesale adoption of global "heavy metal" values and musical style. In a quest to inject local values of community and cooperation into their musical practice, they hit upon the idea of reviving archaic rural bamboo musical instruments - karinding (mouth-resonated lamellophone) and celempung(idiochord tube zither) - as a means to reconnect to their Sundanese past [Sundanese, referring here to the ethnic group found predominantly in this part of West Java]. Their new group, Karinding Attack, plays metal-inspired music on these bamboo instruments.

This lecture examines how Bandung musicians create localized, alternative modernities by putting old bamboo music technology to new uses. The case of Karinding Attack is contrasted with another case study: Galengan Sora Awi("GSA"), a neighborhood-based group of musicians who render a variety of traditional Sundanese musical styles on new bamboo instruments of their own invention. Both groups have adapted traditional bamboo folkways and musical styles to localize some modern global values: the noisy timbres and diffuse pitches associated with distorted amplified guitars, the rejection by some countercultural groups of modern, sterile, mass-produced, manufactured goods in favor of a do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic, the fostering of renewable resources, conservation, and the cleanup of urban environments, and a renewed emphasis on local and regional identities.

This renaissance of bamboo music contributes to the fashioning of uniquely Sundanese places and histories by considering bamboo’s long-standing prominence in the environment and ecology of highland West Java, its versatility as a sound-producing material, the kinds of cooperative musical processes that are compatible with bamboo technologies, and the extramusical associations that have accrued over the generations to bamboo instruments and the musical processes they engender.

Henry Spiller is an ethnomusicologist whose research focuses on Sundanese music and dance from West Java, Indonesia. His books include Gamelan: The Traditional Sounds of Indonesia (ABC-CLIO, 2004) and Erotic Triangles: Sundanese Dance and Masculinity in West Java (Chicago, 2010). His most recent book, Javaphilia: American Love Affairs with Javanese Music and Dance (Hawaii, 2015), was awarded the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Bruno Nettl Prize in 2016. Spiller’s current project, based on fieldwork conducted in Bandung, Indonesia, with the support of a Fulbright Senior Scholar award, investigates music made with bamboo musical instruments. He earned his B.A. (music) from UC Santa Cruz, an MM (harp performance) from Holy Names University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from UC Berkeley. At UC Davis, he teaches world music classes and graduate seminars, and directs the department's Sundanese gamelan ensemble.

Event Contact: cseas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3609

Henry Spiller

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Buddhist Contemplation and Higher Education: Researching and Adapting Contemplation in Modern Universities

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies | April 11 | 5-7 p.m. | Goldman Theater, Brower Center

Location: 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704

Speaker/Performer: David Germano, University of Virginia

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

Buddhist contemplation has a long history with complex educational institutions, namely Buddhist monasteries all across Asia. In recent decades, there has been a surge of interest in the American academy in such practices, including scientific research on their efficacy and mechanism, possible adaptation for new pedagogical approaches in the classroom, and inspiration for fresh perspectives on co-curricular programming for students. This talk will reflect on such developments by considering both the promise and peril involved across multiple registers as modern academics revisit the fault lines of the ancient emergence of universities out of monastic institutions and their contemplative lifestyles.

David Germano is professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia where he also serves as the director of the Tibet Center (www.uvatibetcenter.org), director of the Contemplative Sciences Center (www.uvacontemplation.org), and director of SHANTI (Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts Network of Technological Initiatives, www.shanti.virginia.edu). He also is the founder and director of the Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL, www.thlib.org), the largest international initiative using digital technology to facilitate collaboration in Tibetan Studies across disciplines. His personal research interests are focused on the Nyingma and Bön lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, tantric traditions overall, Buddhist philosophy, and Tibetan historical literature and concerns, particularly from the eighth to fifteenth centuries. He also does research on the contemporary state of Tibetan religion in relationship to China, and non-monastic yogic communities in cultural Tibet, and has broad intellectual interests in international philosophical and literary traditions, including hermeneutics, phenomenology, literary criticism, systems theory, among others. He currently serves as the 2019 Chao Visiting Professor in Buddhist Studies at UC Berkeley.

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Assignment China: Tiananmen Square: A Film Screening and Panel Discussion

Panel Discussion | April 11 | 5-7:30 p.m. | North Gate Hall, Logan Multimedia Center (Room 142) | Note change in location

Sponsors: Graduate School of Journalism, Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

Thirty years ago this spring, China faced a dramatic turning point in its modern history – the Tiananmen Square protests for political reform, and the military crackdown that crushed it. It was a watershed moment not only for China but in the history of the international media, redefining the relationship between the press, public opinion, and foreign policy making, and continuing to influence both Chinese politics and international perceptions of China to this day.

"Assignment China: Tiananmen Square" tells the behind-the-scenes story of the international correspondents who covered those dramatic events in Beijing, when more than a million Chinese citizens took to the streets calling for change. Reported and narrated by Mike Chinoy, who was CNN’s Beijing Bureau Chief at the time, the film is one episode of a multi-part documentary film series on the history of American correspondents in China produced by the U.S.-China Institute at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, where Chinoy is a non-resident fellow.

The 90-minute documentary screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Mike Chinoy, Xiao Qiang, the founder and editor-in-chief of the bilingual China news website China Digital Times, and director and research scientist at the UC Berkeley School of Information’s Counter-Power Lab, which focuses on technology and the free flow of information in cyberspace, and Kevin O’Brien, the Alann P. Bedford Professor of Asian Studies and Political Science at UC Berkeley, and the Director of Berkeley’s Institute of East Asian Studies. Moderating will be Mary Kay Magistad, a former China correspondent for NPR (1995-99) and for PRI/BBC’s The World (2003-13), who now heads the audio journalism program at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Event Contact: juliehirano@berkeley.edu

Monday, April 15, 2019

From 'Daang Matuwid' Gone Crooked to 'Build Build Build': The Politics of Transport Infrastructure in the Philippines, 2010 to the Present

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 15 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: John Sidel, Sir Patrick Gillam Chair in International and Comparative Politics, London School of Economics and Political Science

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

This lecture examines the political dynamics, institutional arrangements, and economic interests which have shaped the varied and shifting patterns of transport infrastructure policy and politics in the Philippines under the Aquino (2010-2016) and Duterte (2016 to the present) administrations.

John Sidel

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

The Last Whalers: Telling the Story of One of the World's Last Whaling Tribes

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 16 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Doug Bock Clark, journalist

Sponsors: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Graduate School of Journalism

Award-winning journalist Doug Bock Clark will discuss his book The Last Whalers, which chronicles three years in the lives of the people of Lamalera, on the island of Lembata in eastern Indonesia, who hunt sperm whales with bamboo harpoons as they reckon with the encroachment of the modern world.

Doug Bock Clark

Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Visual bilingualism and the funerary space: Keys to understanding the spatial semiotics of Central Asian tombs in 6th century China

Lecture: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | April 17 | 5-7 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Pénélope Riboud, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU

Sponsor: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

The dominant religion of pre-Islamic Sogdiana was a local form of Zoroastrianism, and this has led most scholars to assume a correlation with the religious beliefs and practices within the Sogdian community settled in China. And indeed, many aspects of these tombs show that Central Asian funerary practices were maintained. However, some aspects of “Sino-Sogdian” tombs, such as the treatment of the corpses, the spatial organization of the tomb and the visual repertoire remain puzzling within the frame of any specific religious belief. These “discordances” have often been interpreted as compromises, and mere consequences of the need to adapt to a complex cultural environment. This talk will investigate these hidden funerary riddles, in order to understand what they tell us about the tomb’s owner, his beliefs and moreover, what were the deliberate strategies engaged to build a bilingual iconographic program that fits in both Chinese and Sogdian narratives of the after world.

Pénélope Riboud, an Assistant Professor of Chinese History and Art History at Inalco in Paris, is a historian and an art historian who focuses on the society and visual culture of Medieval China. She was trained in France as a historian and an archaeologist at Université Paris 1- Panthéon Sorbonne, then as a sinologist at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco-Langues’O) in Paris where she received her PhD in 2008. She is currently spending a year as Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University.

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Friday, April 19, 2019

China's Growing Sharp Power: Western, Asian, and African Perspectives

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Korean Studies: Center for Japanese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Other Campus Events: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 19 | 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. | David Brower Center

Location: 2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Canadian Studies Program (CAN)), Institute for South Asia Studies, Institute of European Studies, Center for African Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES)

A group of leading experts on China and American foreign policy recently released “Chinese Influence and American Interests: Promoting Constructive Vigilance,” a report documenting Chinese efforts to influence American society. The report examines China's efforts to influence American institutions, including state and local governments, universities, think tanks, media, corporations, and the Chinese-American community, and differentiates between legitimate efforts--like public diplomacy--and improper interference, which demands greater awareness and a calibrated response. The report also includes perspectives from other countries, including those in Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

On Friday, April 19, contributors to the report, including co-editors Larry Diamond and Orville Schell, and outside experts will gather at UC Berkeley to compare and discuss the forms and effects of Chinese “sharp power” across Western, Asian, and African countries.

The event is co-sponsored by the Institute of East Asian Studies, Center for Chinese Studies, Center for Korean Studies, Center for Japanese Studies, Institute of European Studies, Canadian Studies Program, Institute for South Asia Studies, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, and Center for African Studies.

Event Contact: ieas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2809

Document (PDF): Program

Monday, April 22, 2019

Grit - Film Screening and Discussion

Film - Documentary: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 22 | 4:30-8 p.m. | Wheeler Hall, 315, Maude Fife Room

Panelist/Discussants: Sasha Friedlander, Filmmaker; Michael Manga, Garniss H. Curtis Endowed Department Chair and Professor of Earth and Planetary Science, UC Berkeley; Sylvia Tiwon, Associate Professor of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley; Max Rudolph, Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Davis; Coen Pontoh, Editor, IndoProgress

Moderator: Nancy Lee Peluso, Henry J. Vaux Distinguished Professor of Forest Policy, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

In 2006, during drilling operations by the Lapindo company in East Java, Indonesia, a mud volcano erupted from underground, rapidly submerging 16 villages and displacing 60,000 people. Shot over six years, this startling film looks at the disaster’s aftermath, and follows the local community as it confronts the drilling company and the Indonesian government.

Attendance restrictions: This event is free and open to the public

Friday, April 26, 2019

Agroecology in Japan and the Americas: History, Practice, and Future Directions

Workshop: Center for Japanese Studies | April 26 | 1-5 p.m. | 101 2251 College (Archaeological Research Facility)

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Archaeological Research Facility, Department of Anthropology, Berkeley Food Institute

This workshop highlights similarities and differences between agroecological approaches in Japan and those in the Americas with a focus on their historic and geographic contexts, and presents future visions of sustainable farming practice and resilient human-environmental interaction. Agroecology can be defined as a trans-disciplinary approach rooted in both traditional and scientific knowledge that seeks to design and manage productive, biologically diverse, resilient, and primarily small-scale agricultural systems. Starting with the discussion of Miguel Altieri’s seminal work on agroecolocy in South America and California, presenters in this workshop examine the roots, characteristics and goals of past and present agroecological approaches on the both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Event Contact: cjs-events@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

International Conference on Korean Literature: Korean Literature in the World

Conference/Symposium: Center for Korean Studies | April 26 | 1:30-7 p.m. | Alumni House, Toll Room

Speaker: Dong-il Cho, The National Academy of Korea

Sponsors: Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Literature Translation Institute of Korea

CKS has invited professors from Korea and various universities around the world currently engaged in teaching Korean Literature. The current status of Korean literary education and research in each region of the world, to be reported through this conference, will help those in the field seek new directions for Korean literature’s development on the global stage.

Maritime Hubs and Mobilities: Rethinking Metropolitan Hong Kong-South China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | April 26 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Helen Siu, Professor of Anthropology, Yale University

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

The Pearl River Delta Region and its metropolitan hubs have long engaged with the circulation of goods, people and ideas along what is now popularized as the Maritime Silk Road. Over the centuries these movements bridged continental divides. The talk focuses on the historical layers of economic and cultural resources, multi-ethnic identities, and strategic footprints across the oceans from Canton to Zanzibar. It also highlights potential paths of development and contestations.

Event Contact: ccs@berkeley.edu

Foreign factories in Canton, early 19th Century (source: Peabody Essex Museum)

Reading and Dialogue with Novelist Pyun, Hye-Young

Reading - Literary: Center for Korean Studies | April 26 | 4:30-7 p.m. | Alumni House, Toll Room

Featured Speaker: Hye-Young Pyun, Myongji University

Sponsors: Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Literature Translation Institute of Korea

Pyun Hye-Young was born in Seoul, Korea in 1972. She majored in creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts and earned a graduate degree in Korean Literature at Hanyang University. She is currently a professor of creative writing at Myongji University.

She made her literary debut in 2000 with her short story “Shaking off Dew”. She has published several collection of short stories, including Aoi Garden (2005), To the Kennels (2007), An Evening Proposal (2011) and The night passes (2013) as well as novels such as City of ashes and red (2010), Gone to the forest in the west (2012) and The Hole (2016). An Evening Proposal (Dalkey Archive, 2016), The Hole (Arcade publishing, 2017) and City of Ashes and Red (Arcade publishing, 2018) were published in English too. In her restrained, yet grounded writing style, Pyun Hye-Young’s works portray the insecurities of contemporary man and point to the hole of social system for causing this sense of alienation and isolation. She is noted for renewing herself piece by piece and building her own unique world of writing in the process.

She received some of the top literary accolades in Korea including Hankook Ilbo Literary Award (2007), Yi Hyo-Seok Literary Award (2009), Dong-in Literary Award (2011), Yi Sang Literary Award (2014) and Hyundai Literary Award (2015). She won the Shirley Jackson Award (2017) in the United States.

Event Contact: CA, cks@berkeley.edu, 15106425674

Saturday, April 27, 2019

International Conference on Korean Literature: Korean Literature in the World

Conference/Symposium: Center for Korean Studies | April 27 | 9 a.m.-5 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), Conference Room

Sponsors: Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Literature Translation Institute of Korea

Monday, April 29, 2019

New Discoveries in East and Southeast Asian Archaeology

Panel Discussion: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Korean Studies: Center for Japanese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Mongolia Initiative: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 29 | 3-5 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speakers: Peter V. Lape, Anthropology and Curator of Archaeology, Burke Museum, University of Washington; John W. Olsen, Regents’ Professor Emeritus & Executive Director, Je Tsongkhapa Endowment for Central and Inner Asian Archaeology, Anthropology, University of Arizona

Panelist/Discussant: Gyoung-Ah Lee, Anthropology, University of Oregon

Moderator: Junko Habu, Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Research Facility, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

This event celebrates the publication of the Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology by inviting two editors of this volume, both of whom are prominent scholars in the field of Asian Archaeology. Prof. John W. Olsen (University of Arizona) will talk about his recent archaeological expeditions in Mongolia and Tibet with a focus on Paleolithic archaeology in these regions. Professor Peter V. Lape (University of Washington) will discuss social change in Island Southeast Asia over the past 5000 years.

Abstracts and biographical statements are attached here.

Event Contact: ieas@berkeley.edu, 510-642-2809

Document (PDF): Program

A Tantric Theology from 12th century Tibet

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies | April 29 | 5-7 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer: Matthew T. Kapstein, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

The teachings of the tantric lineage of the Zur clan, which flourished in West Tibet during the early second millennium, have remained a missing element in the history of the “ancient,” Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. While the historical importance of the clan is well known and significant lines of transmission are attributed to it, few authentic works stemming from the Zur and detailing their tradition have appeared. The recent discovery of a major synthetic treatise, The All-Encompassing Lamp of Awareness, by a 12th century successor to the Zur and treating all major aspects of their doctrinal heritage, permits us for the first time to consider their contribution in substantial detail.

Matthew T. Kapstein received his PhD from Brown University and specializes in the history of Buddhist philosophy in India and Tibet, as well as in the cultural history of Tibetan Buddhism more generally. He regularly teaches Contemporary Theories in the Study of Religion in the History of Religions program, and Introduction to the Philosophies of India in Philosophy of Religions. His seminars in recent years have focused on particular topics in the history of Buddhist thought, such as Buddha Nature, idealism, and epistemology (pramāṇa), or on broad themes in the study of religion including the problem of evil, death, and the imagination. Kapstein has published over a dozen books and numerous articles, among the most recent of which are a general introduction to Tibetan cultural history, The Tibetans (Oxford 2006), an edited volume on Sino-Tibetan religious relations, Buddhism Between Tibet and China (Boston 2009), and a translation of an eleventh-century philosophical allegory in the acclaimed Clay Sanskrit Series, The Rise of Wisdom Moon (New York 2009). With Kurtis Schaeffer (University of Virginia) and Gray Tuttle (Columbia), he has completed Sources of Tibetan Traditions, published in the Columbia University Press Sources of Asian Traditions series in 2013. Kapstein is also Director of Tibetan Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris and current Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago.

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Japan's Imperial Underworlds: Intimate Encounters at the Borders of Empire

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | May 1 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: David Ambaras, North Carolina State University

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In this lecture, David Ambaras reveals how the movement of migrants, smugglers, pirates, and trafficked people between China and Japan -- and their sensationalization in the popular press -- created surprising cross-currents in the politics of Sino-Japanese relations during the years of Japanese imperial expansion.

Friday, May 3, 2019

Mithra, Buddha, and Mani Walk into a Desert...: Indo-Iranian and Sino-Iranian Encounters in Central Asia

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | May 3 – 4, 2019 every day | 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsors: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, Institute for South Asia Studies

All panels held at 180 Doe Library (*except where indicated)

Friday May 3, 10am–12:00pm
Introductory Remarks
Sanjyot Mehendale, UC Berkeley

Changing Vocabulary of Manichaean Visual Syntax in Uyghur East Central Asia
Zsuzsanna Gulácsi, Northern Arizona University

Manichaean Official Documents in their Central Asian Context
Adam Benkato, UC Berkeley

Manichaean Evidence for Kushan Buddhism
Jason BeDuhn, Northern Arizona University

Friday, May 3, 1:30–3:30 pm
Buddhist Sogdian Interconfessional Space: Remarks from Art and Textual Evidence
Barakatullo Ashurov, Harvard University

Indo-Iranian, Perso-Buddhist, and Sino-Iranian Entanglements: Imaging Religion and Royal Power at the End of Antiquity
Matthew Canepa, UC Irvine

Itinerant Kingship, Buddhist Monasteries, and the Making of a Kushan Royal Cult
Sanjyot Mehendale, UC Berkeley

*Friday, May 3, 5:15–7:00 pm
SPECIAL EVENT IN COLLABORATION WITH CAL PERFORMANCES AND THE SILK ROAD ENSEMBLE
Morrison Room, Doe Library

Heroes Take Their Stands: Milestones on the Silk Road
Ahmad Sadri, Lake Forest College

Sug-e Siavosh (Mourning for Siavosh)
Soroor Ghanimati, UC Berkeley

Electra, a Sonic Heroine
Duncan MacRae, UC Berkeley

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Fiction or Reality: Thinking Fukushima through Art

Seminar: Center for Japanese Studies | May 3 | 2:30-4 p.m. | 226 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker: Saeko Kimura, Professor, Tsuda University

Moderator: Miryam Sas, Professor, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

While we share the sense that fiction and plastic arts reflect a different relationship to reality than that of documentary or journalistic writing, writing on Fukushima often encounters a difficulty in distinguishing between the fictional and the real. How have recent Japanese artists and writers after 3-11 broached and responded to this difficulty in dividing the real from the imaginary? Is such a distinction possible? To consider this question, we will read Tawada Yoko’s The Emissary (which received the National Book Award for translation in 2018) in relation to the required removal of Yanobe Kenji’s controversial sculpture “Sun Child”from Fukushima (in September 2018, just a month and a half after its installation).

Open to audience: All Audiences

Event Contact: cjs-events@berkeley.edu, 510-642-3415

Saturday, May 4, 2019

Mithra, Buddha, and Mani Walk into a Desert...: Indo-Iranian and Sino-Iranian Encounters in Central Asia

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | May 3 – 4, 2019 every day | 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsors: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, Institute for South Asia Studies

All panels held at 180 Doe Library (*except where indicated)

Saturday, May 4, 10:00–12 noon
Wind and Fire: Some Shared Motifs in Indo-Iranian and Sino-Iranian Settings
Jenny Rose, Claremont Graduate University

Greek Helios or Indian Surya?: Evolution of the Sun God’s Iconography from India to Bamiyan and Dunhuang
Osmund Bopearachchi, UC Berkeley

Two Ascetics between Gandhara and Dunhuang and Back: Transformations in the Depiction of the Śyāmaand the Dīpaá¹ƒkara Jātakas
Jessie Pons, Ruhr-University Bochum

Saturday, May 4, 1:30–4:00 pm
Recent Fieldwork at the Site of Kuh-e Khwaja, Sistan, Iran
Soroor Ghanimati, UC Berkeley

Khotan and Rawak Vihara on the Southern Silk Road, 3rd to 8th Centuries
Ulf Jäger, University of Leipzig

Non-Buddhist Religious Icons in the Mural Paintings of Early Buddhist Caves in Kucha and Dunhuang
Satomi Hiyama, Kyoto University

Iconography without Texts in Yulin Cave 3
Michelle McCoy, University of Pittsburgh

Event Contact: fbille@berkeley.edu

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Between Maximum Pressure and Minimum Engagement: The EU’s Foreign Policy Towards North Korea

Lecture | May 7 | 12-1 p.m. | 201 Moses Hall

Speaker/Performer: Tereza Novotná, Free University Berlin

Sponsors: Institute of European Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

Since the PyeongChang Olympic Games at the beginning of 2018, hopes have risen for a peaceful solution to the crisis on the Korean peninsula. Three inter-Korean summits between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have taken place as well as the Singapore Summit between him and US President Donald Trump. Yet these ups have been followed by various downs, including the breakdown of the second US-DPRK summit in Hanoi. If the cycle reverts back to the “maximum pressure” policy, the North Korean conundrum may not only represent an international crisis, but it can also develop into a future hotspot where policies of the allies, the EU and the US (and others), may critically diverge, forcing the EU and its Member States into the Iraq war-like choices.
Can the stalled denuclearization talks be revived? How can the EU contribute to a solution? What is the best strategy that the new EU leadership should adopt after the May 2019 European elections? The lecture will look into these and other questions related to the EU’s foreign policy on the Korean Peninsula and in North East Asia.

Dr Tereza Novotná is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at the Center for European Integration at Free University Berlin where she works on her two-year “EUSKOR” research project about the role of the EU on the Korean peninsula and in North East Asia. She is also a Senior Associate Research Fellow at the EUROPEUM, a Prague-based think-tank and was previously a Korea Foundation Visiting Professor at Seoul National University, a Fudan Fellow in Shanghai and a post-doctoral researcher at Universite libre de Bruxelles.
Tereza received her Ph.D. in Politics and European Studies from Boston University and other degrees from Charles University Prague. Tereza is the author of the monograph How Germany Unified and the EU Enlarged: Negotiating the Accession through Transplantation and Adaptation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) and a co-editor of The Politics of Transatlantic Trade Negotiations: TTIP in a Globalized World (Ashgate, 2015). Her other research has been published in, among others, Journal of Common Market Studies, German Politics and Society, West European Politics, and Journal for Contemporary European Research as well as numerous policy and media outlets, including Washington Post, EurActiv, EU Observer, The Conversation, and others. She has also practical experience from working for the European Commission/EEAS, the EU Delegation in Washington, DC and the Czech Permanent Representation to the EU.

Event Contact: menghini@berkeley.edu

Tereza Novotná

Friday, May 24, 2019

Korean Film Workshop: Stupendous Villainy in Korean Cinema

Workshop: Center for Korean Studies | May 24 | 1-5:40 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), Conference Room

Speakers: Soh-Youn Kim, Dankook University; Robert Cagle, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Sue Heun Kim Asokan, UC Irvine; Jinhee Park, USC; David Scott Diffrient, Colorado State University

Panelist/Discussants: Hye Seung Chung, Colorado State University; Kelly Jeong, UC Riverside

Sponsor: Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

Sessions:
Depth of Evil, World of Crime
Changing Contour of Others

Saturday, May 25, 2019

Korean Film Workshop: Stupendous Villainy in Korean Cinema

Workshop: Center for Korean Studies | May 25 | 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), Conference Room

Speakers: Keung Yoon Bae, Harvard University; Chan Yong Bu, Princeton University; Jina Kim, University of Oregon

Panelist/Discussant: Joseph Jonghyun Jeon, UC Irvine

Sponsor: Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

Sessions
The Past, Present, and Echoes
Roundtable Discussion

Thursday, June 20, 2019

National Security and Foreign Relations with North Korea: A South Korean Perspective

Panel Discussion: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | June 20 | 3:30-6 p.m. | Doe Library, Morrison Library | Note change in time and location

Speakers: Chung-in Moon; Ihk-pyo Hong; Jae-jung Lee; Jong Dae Kim; Sung-Hwan Kim; Sun-sook Park; Jaeho Hwang

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS), East Asia Foundation, The Asia Foundation

A bipartisan delegation of members of South Korea’s 20th National Assembly, led by special advisor to the ROK President Chung-in Moon and former South Korean foreign minister Sung-Hwan Kim, will discuss South Korea’s current stance on national security and foreign relations in relation to North Korea. This event will be held primarily in Korean with consecutive English interpretation.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

East Asian Calligraphy Workshop - FULL

Workshop: Center for Japanese Studies | July 28 | 3 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Speaker/Performer: Kazuaki Tanahashi, Calligrapher and painter

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Master calligrapher and painter Kazuaki Tanahashi offers a demonstration and hands-on workshop in conjunction with Meditation in Motion: Zen Calligraphy from the Stuart Katz Collection. After a forty-five-minute lecture-demonstration about the formation of ideographic symbols, the... More >

Attendance restrictions: Hands-on workshop limited to 50 participants.

Registration required

Friday, September 6, 2019

Writing for Print: Publishing and the Making of Textual Authority in Late Imperial China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | September 6 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Suyoung Son, Assistant Professor of Asian Studies, Cornell University

Panelist/Discussant: Ling Hon Lam, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

This talk examines the widespread practice of self-publishing by writers in late imperial China, focusing on two seventeenth-century literati-cum-publishers, Zhang Chao in Yangzhou and Wang Zhuo in Hangzhou. By giving due weight to the writers as active agents in increasing the influence of print, it explores the intricate relationships between manuscript tradition and print convention, peer... More >

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

From Bonfire to Firewire: Innovative Online Modules on Philippine Folklore

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | September 10 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker: Pia Arboleda, Associate Professor of Filipino and Philippine Literarure, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Sponsor: Filipino and Philippine Studies Working Group

This talk will review current research on Ifiallig orature in Barlig, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, including the significance of Ifiallig oral traditions, the methods used in collecting orature, and the process of reviving tales through different media.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Transcribing Japanese Cursive Texts from the Edo Period

Workshop: Center for Japanese Studies | September 11 | 10 a.m.-3 p.m. | Dwinelle Hall, Academic Innovation Studio, Room 117 (Level D)

Speaker/Performer: Ryo Akama, Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumekan University

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Ritsumeikan University, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, East Asian Library

On the Digital Archive and Its Uses for Japanese Humanities: 2019 Collaborative Workshop by the Art Research Center of Ritsumeikan University and the University of California, Berkeley
Instructor (speaker): Ryo Akama

10:00am -12:00pm: Workshop "Transcribing Japanese Cursive Texts from the Edo Period" [registration required]

Registration required: CLOSED Required for morning workshop

Registration info: Register by September 6.

Visualizing the Complexity of Past and Future Shoreline and Near-Shore Environments over Time: Examples from Australia, Vietnam, and California

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | September 11 | 12-1 p.m. | 101 2251 College (Archaeological Research Facility)

Speaker: Thomas G. Whitley, Associate Professor, Anthropology, Sonoma State University

Sponsor: Archaeological Research Facility

By incorporating dynamic geomorphological processes into the environmental modeling it becomes possible to provide much more accurate depictions of the inundation and retreat of shorelines over time, their hydrodynamics, and the evolution of shoreline and near-shore ecosystems. Presented here are some examples of this approach using highly diverse datasets from Australia, Vietnam, and California.

Digital Archiving for Intangible Arts: Reproducing Past Kabuki Stages and Performances of Great Actors

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 11 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Ryo Akama, Art Research Center (ARC), Ritsumekan University

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Ritsumeikan University, Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, East Asian Library

Digital archives are changing the methods of studying arts and cultures. While tangible culture seems relatively easy to archive digitally, intangible culture is still difficult and it may seem impossible to reproduce the stage performances in the past.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Will North Korea denuclearize?: Big Deal, Small Deal, or More of the Same?

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | September 12 | 4:30-6 p.m. | Doe Library, Room 180

Speaker: Sung Joo Han, Professor Emeritus, Korea University

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS), The Asia Foundation, Institute of International Studies

Summary:

After the failure of Hanoi U.S.-North Korea summit held in February this year, the impasse between the two countries seemed irreversible. Washington wanted a “big deal” on North Korean nuclear weapons; Pyongyang insisted on a “small deal” first.

President Trump said after the break-up that North Korea wanted too much (“complete lifting” of sanctions) and offered too little (only... More >

Filled with Meaning: Why Do the Contents of Buddhist Statues Matter?

Colloquium: Center for Buddhist Studies | September 12 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer: James Robson, Harvard University

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

Scholars have recently come to realize that religious statues throughout Asia have hidden cavities that are filled with various objects inserted during a consecration ritual. This talk explores the hidden world of these statues through a discussion of a large collection of (primarily) Buddhist statues from China, Korea, and Japan. The statues discussed in this talk contain a niche carved into... More >

Friday, September 13, 2019

New Research Directions in Archaeology and Linguistic History of Hokkaido Ainu

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 13 | 3-4:30 p.m. | 2251 College (Archaeological Research Facility)

Speaker/Performer: Gary Crawford, University of Toronto

Sponsor: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Talk abstract coming soon.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Prof. Gary Crawford is an anthropological archaeologist specializing in archaeological botany and environmental archaeology. The field is known as palaeoethnobotany or archaeobotany. His current focus is East Asia where he is investigating the origins and intensification of agriculture. Actually, he’s never strayed far from... More >

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The River Grew Tired of Us: New Flows along the Mekong River

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | September 17 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Andrew Alan Johnson, Visiting Scholar, CSEAS, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Along the Mekong River, where it creates the border between Thailand and Laos, hydropower projects have triggered a transformation. Strange floods and ebbs disrupt fish migrations, undercut riverbanks, and sweep away nets. Facing this new landscape, fishermen on the Mekong seek out new, hidden sources of potency that have revealed themselves at the same time as other powers fade in importance.... More >

Andrew Alan Johnson

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Natural Resources, Environmental Challenges and Youth Leaders from Southeast Asia: A Forum on Innovations and Solutions

Panel Discussion: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | September 19 | 12-2 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

This forum will present current perspectives on environmental issues in Southeast Asia as experienced and envisioned today by young activists and students from the region. The participants are visiting UC Berkeley as part of a program managed by the East-West Center in Honolulu and sponsored by the U.S. State Department.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Buddhist Philosophy: The State of the Field

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies | September 20 | 10 a.m.-7 p.m. | Alumni House, Toll Room

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

A conference to honor the Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai's invaluable contributions to the field of Buddhist Studies, as well as to reflect upon issues in the study of Buddhist philosophy.

Help (Not) Wanted: Immigration Politics in Japan

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 20 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Michael Strausz, Texas Christian University

Moderator: Steven Vogel, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Why has Japan’s immigration policy remained so restrictive, especially in light of economic, demographic, and international political forces that are pushing Japan to admit more immigrants? In this presentation, Strausz will argue that Japan’s immigration policy has remained restrictive for two reasons. First, Japan’s labor-intensive businesses have failed to defeat anti-immigration forces within... More >

Monday, September 23, 2019

Mongolia's Monastery Massacres: "The Green-Eyed Lama"

Lecture: Center for Buddhist Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Mongolia Initiative | September 23 | 5 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speakers: Oyungerel Tsedevdamba; Jeffrey L. Falt

Moderator: Brian Baumann, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), UC Berkeley Mongolia Initiative, Center for Buddhist Studies

"The Green-Eyed Lama" (2008) is an award-winning and best-selling novel written by Oyungerel Tsedevdambaand Jeff Falt. Originally published in Mongolian, the book chronicles the romance between Sendmaa, a young belle in the countryside, and Baasan, a monk in the lamasery, as they try to cope with the turmoil of political purges, terrible massacres and mass executions of thousands of innocent lamas... More >

Green-eyed Lama

Delicateness in Times of Brutality

Performing Arts - Dance: Center for Japanese Studies | September 23 | 6-8 p.m. | Alumni House, Toll Room - Patio

Featured Performers: Wendy Jehlen, Founder and Artistic Director, ANIKAYA Dance Theater; DAKEI

Performers: Morio Tanimura; Yoshiko Honda; Nobunaga Ken

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), The Japan Foundation New York

Delicateness in Times of Brutality is a performance by Japanese butoh dancer DAKEI and American movement artist Wendy Jehlen. This piece was inspired by a performance protest of the same title (Delicadeza em Tempos da Brutalidade) that took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil in May 2015, in response to the bureaucratic coup that resulted in the dismantling of human rights and arts... More >

Registration required: Free

Registration info:

2019 Study Abroad Fair

Special Event: Center for Japanese Studies | September 27 | 11 a.m.-4 p.m. | Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, Pauley Ballroom

Sponsor: Berkeley Study Abroad

Come learn about study, work, intern, teach, and volunteer abroad opportunities for UC Berkeley students at our 2019 Study Abroad Fair!

Sponsored by Berkeley Study Abroad, the Study Abroad Fair is Cal’s signature event of the year for education abroad.

Monday, September 30, 2019

Anti-government Protests in Hong Kong: Causes and Implications

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | September 30 | 4-6 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), IEAS Conference Room

Speaker: Ming Sing, Associate Professor, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Panelist/Discussant: Mary Kay Magistad, Graduate School of Journalism, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Hong Kong has experienced its greatest political crisis in decades during this summer of discontents. This lecture will explore questions such as: What are the root causes of Hong Kong’s largest mass movement in history? Why has this extradition bill generated such intense and widespread reactions from the public? How did the situation deteriorate to this point and, if continued to intensify,... More >

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Voices of Vietnam: A Century of Radio, Red Songs, and Revolution

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 1 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Lonan O'Briain, Associate Professor of Music, University of Nottingham

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

This lecture reconstructs an oral history of music production processes and listening practices during the Second Indochina War, when radio was the principal mass medium for sound-based communications and the primary source for new music. The research draws on interviews with current and former employees of the Voice of Vietnam radio, supplemented by recent print collections and archival documents.

Lonan O'Briain

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Curator’s Talk: Julia White on Sakaki Hyakusen

Presentation: Center for Japanese Studies | October 2 | 12 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Senior Curator for Asian Art Julia White introduces the first US exhibition focused on the art of Sakaki Hyakusen, the founding father of the Nanga school of painting in Japan. Her tour will highlight the extensive conservation of Mountain Landscape, a pair of six-fold screens considered one of Hyakusen’s masterpieces.

Ancient Amazons: Warrior Women in Myth, Art, and Archaeology

Lecture: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | October 2 | 5-7 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer: Adrienne Mayor, Stanford University

Sponsor: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

Fierce Amazons are featured in some of the most famous Greek myths.
Every great hero, from Heracles to Achilles, battled these powerful warrior queens.
But were Amazons real? Join Adrienne Mayor as she recounts tales of women warriors and uncovers some realities behind the myths.

Thursday, October 3, 2019

New Trends and Current Directions in Balinese Performing Arts

Presentation: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 3 | 3:45-5 p.m. | 125 Morrison Hall

Featured Speaker: I Wayan Dibia, Artist in Residence, Gamelan Sekar Jaya

Moderator: Dr. Lisa Gold, Lecturer, Music, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Dr. I Wayan Dibia, a renowned dancer and scholar of Balinese dance and music, will discuss how the contemporary Balinese performance scene incorporates past traditions while constantly innovating. This presentation will include a lecture-demonstration with Dr. Dibia and dancer Dr. Ni Made Wirathini.

From Being “Enlightened” to Being “Woke”: Racial Justice Work in American Convert Buddhism

Colloquium: Center for Buddhist Studies | October 3 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Ann Gleig, University of Central Florida

Sponsor: Center for Buddhist Studies

On May 14 2015, a delegation of 125 Buddhists gathered for the first “White House-U.S. Buddhist Leadership Conference,” during which they delivered a letter titled “Buddhist Statement on Racial Justice.” This letter should be seen as part of efforts to challenge racism and white privilege in American Buddhist convert communities spanning over two decades. For much of this time, such efforts have... More >

Friday, October 4, 2019

Berkeley Mīmāṃsā Reading Workshop: with Alexis Sanderson

Workshop | October 4 | 3-6:30 p.m. | 341 Dwinelle Hall

Faculty Lead: Alexis Sanderson, Spalding Professor Emeritus of Eastern Religions and Ethics, University of Oxford

Sponsors: Institute for South Asia Studies, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professorship in South and Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Buddhist Studies, South Asia Studies Theories and Methods Townsend Working Group, Saṃskṛtaparaṃparā: The Berkeley Sanskrit Studies Fund, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion

The Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley is hosting a two-day Mīmāṃsā Reading Workshop with Professor Alexis Sanderson on October 4 and 5, 2019.

Making the World "Chinese"

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 4 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Xiaofeng Tang, Professor, Research Institute for Historical Geography, Peking University

Panelist/Discussant: Michael Nylan, Professor, Department of History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Using mainly materials from the Shang and Zhou eras, this talk will investigate the special characteristics of historical geography in early China. The lecture will discuss such concepts as the Central States (Zhongguo), the traces of Yu, the Nine Provinces, the Five Zones, all of which imply some level of advanced civilization. Then, too, the geographic area we associate with "Chinese... More >

Saturday, October 5, 2019

Berkeley Mīmāṃsā Reading Workshop: with Alexis Sanderson

Workshop | October 5 | 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | 341 Dwinelle Hall

Faculty Lead: Alexis Sanderson, Spalding Professor Emeritus of Eastern Religions and Ethics, University of Oxford

Sponsors: Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professorship in South and Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Buddhist Studies, South Asia Studies Theories and Methods Townsend Working Group, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, Saṃskṛtaparaṃparā: The Berkeley Sanskrit Studies Fund

The Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley is hosting a two-day Mīmāṃsā Reading Workshop with Professor Alexis Sanderson on October 4 and 5, 2019.

Sakaki Hyakusen and the Birth of Nanga Painting

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | October 5 | 1 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Speakers/Performers: Felice Fischer, Luther W. Brady Curator of Japanese Art and Senior Curator of East Asian Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Patricia Graham, Adjunct Research Associate, University of Kansas Center for East Asian Studies; Richard Pegg, Curator and Director, MacLean Collection of Asian Art and Maps in Chicago

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Complementing the exhibition Hinges: Sakaki Hyakusen and the Birth of Nanga Painting, this colloquium explores the fascinating relations between Chinese art of the Ming and Qing dynasties and Japanese art of the Edo period, especially Hyakusen’s role in the transformation of painting in eighteenth-century Japan. Presenters are curators Felice Fischer and Richard Pegg and scholar Patricia... More >

Tickets required: Included with admission to museum

Sunday, October 6, 2019

The Kingmaker

Film - Documentary: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 6 | 5 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Dubbed “Marie Antoinette with shoes,” Imelda Marcos was the first lady of the Philippines for twenty-one years, notorious for her lavish lifestyle while her country sank into unrest and economic turmoil. She and her husband Ferdinand amassed a fortune in the billions before they were forced into exile during the 1986 revolution. Director Lauren Greenfield first featured Marcos in her book... More >

Monday, October 7, 2019

Inequality and Habitus in Thailand

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 7 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker: Boike Rehbein, Professor of Society and Transformation in Asia and Africa, Humboldt University

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Thailand is a country of the global South but has never come under colonial rule, even as it emulates Western modernization. The result is a double-faced social structure, one part consisting of a precapitalist structure (baan muang) and the other comprising a hierarchy of social classes. People manage to move between the two components. This talk will explore Thai social structure and the... More >

Prof. Dr. Boike Rehbein

Transcending Patterns: Silk Road Cultural and Artistic Interactions through Central Asian Textile Images

Lecture: Institute of East Asian Studies: Mongolia Initiative: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | October 7 | 5 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Mariachiara Gasparini, San Jose State University

Moderator: Joyce Ertel Hulbert, Textile Conservator

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Tang Center for Silk Road Studies, UC Berkeley Mongolia Initiative

In her book "Transcending Patterns: Silk Road Cultural and Artistic Interactions through Central Asian Textiles," author Mariachiara Gasparini investigates the origin and effects of a textile mediated visual culture that developed at the heart of the Silk Road between the seventh and fourteenth centuries. Through the analysis of the Turfan Textile Collection in the Museum of Asian Art in... More >

Transcending Patterns cover

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

China’s Rise in Historical Perspective

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 8 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Klaus Mühlhahn, Professor of Chinese History and Culture, Free University of Berlin

Panelist/Discussant: You-tien Hsing, Professor, Department of Geography, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Many commentators claim that China's ongoing global rise reflects a restoration of its earlier international prominence, while others highlight that China's emergence reflects distinctive characteristics of the country's current political leadership. In his new book, Making China Modern, Klaus Mühlhahn of the Free University of Berlin provides a panoramic survey of China's rise and resilience... More >

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Butoh Body Workshop: Community Dance Class

Workshop | October 12 | 10-11:30 a.m. | Center for Arts and Religion, Doug Adams Gallery

Location: 2365 LeConte Ave, Berkeley, CA

Speaker/Performer: Shinichi Iova-Koga, INKBOAT

Sponsors: Cal Performances, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Graduate Theological Union

Butoh Body Laboratory. Presented in conjunction with the performances of Sankai Juku "Meguri: Teeming Sea, Tranquil Land" at Cal Performances, Movement workshop for all ages and abilities led by Shinichi Iova-Koga of inkBoat, a physical theater and dance company founded in 1998. Participants will explore elements of butoh, a form of Japanese dance theater that encompasses a diverse range of... More >

Oscillating Time: Environment and Temporality in Sankai Juku's Butoh

Colloquium | October 12 | 12-1:30 p.m. | Center for Arts and Religion, Doug Adams Gallery

Location: 2365 LeConte Ave, Berkeley, CA

Moderator: Michelle Summers, Lecturer Dance Studies, Writing & Composition, Theater, Dance and Performance Studies

Sponsors: Cal Performances, Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Graduate Theological Union

A panel discussion on Butoh Dance, presented in conjunction with the performances of Sankai Juku "Meguri: Teeming Sea, Tranquil Land."

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Renarrating the Past: Conflict and Negotiation of Narratives along the Borders of India, Vietnam, and Japan

Panel Discussion: Center for Japanese Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 16 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speakers/Performers: Hisashi Shimojo, University of Shizuoka; Kana Tomizawa, University of Shizuoka

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Institute for South Asia Studies, Center for Global Studies (CEGLOS), University of Shizuoka

Introduction
- Keiko Yamanaka, Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
- Dana Buntrock, Department of Architecture, UC Berkeley

Panelists
- Kana Tomizawa, University of Shizuoka
How to Narrate Oppressed Grief: from Yasukuni to Calcutta
- Hisashi Shimojo, University of Shizuoka
Belonging and Religion in a Multi-Ethnic Society: Cross-Border Migration... More >

The Belt and Road Initiative: The Future of Energy + Water in Asia and Beyond

Panel Discussion: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 16 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Haas School of Business, Chou Hall N440+N444

Sponsor: BERC and the Institute of East Asian Studies

Join BERC and IEAS/CCS as we discuss the implications of large-scale infrastructure development on natural resources through the lens of China's BRI.

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Taste Matters: Cosmopolitan Aspiration and Cultural Belonging in South Korean Culinary Dramas

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | October 17 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Jenny Wang Medina, Emory University

Sponsor: Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

Food-related cultural content exploded in South Korea in the 2000s, becoming fodder for everything from literary fiction to video games, and turning the country and the world into a map of tasty eateries (matjip). Scholarship on food media in Korea has focused on nationalist formulations of Korean cuisine, the rise of celebrity chefs, and vicarious visual consumption through reality programming... More >

“Some Live in Darkness, Some Live in Light”: China and Elsewhere in 1900

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 17 | 4-6 p.m. | Faculty Club, Heyns Room

Speaker: Peter Perdue, Professor of History, Yale University

Panelist/Discussant: Wen-hsin Yeh, Professor, Department of History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

At the turn of the twentieth century, in a brilliant spectacle, the Western powers and Japan demonstrated their imperial prowess at the Paris Exposition of 1900. Several months later, the same powers invaded China to lift the siege of the foreign legations by the Boxers and the Qing government. The Qing government fell to its nadir, but China’s inextricable links to global trends soon brought... More >

The Great Decoupling and Sino-US Race for Technological Supremacy

Lecture | October 17 | 6:30-8 p.m. | Haas School of Business, Spieker Forum, 6th floor Chou Hall

Speaker/Performer: Carol Christ, Chancellor, UC Berkeley

Performer Groups:

The Financial Times, The Financial Times

The Asia Society

The Institute for Business Innovation

Sponsors: UC Berkeley Institute for Business Innovation, Office of Chancellor, Financial Times, Asia Society

After nearly 40 years of engagement, a "great decoupling" is underway between the United States and China. A focus on strategic competition is undermining bilateral links built up over decades in trade, investment, education and other areas. If the current trend toward superpower estrangement is carried to its conclusion, it could tear the world apart. But which side — the U.S. or China — is... More >

Reservation required

Reservation info:

by October 17.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Getting to Know the Gods of Taiwan: Children’s Literature and Identity Formation

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 18 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Natasha Heller, Associate Professor of Chinese Religions, University of Virginia

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In secular children’s books, gods are often part of history and culture—but what roles are they expected to play in the lives of contemporary children? Focusing on picture books and early readers about the goddess Mazu 媽祖 and the earth god (tudi gong 土地公), I will argue that they represent different strategies of incorporating religion in the creation of... More >

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Transparency, Control Mechanisms, and Social Trust In Chinese History

Workshop: Other Campus Events | October 20 | 1:30-4:30 p.m. | East Asian Library, Art History Seminar Room

Panelist/Discussants: Trenton Wilson, EALC,UC Berkeley; Michael Nylan, History, UC Berkeley; Natasha Heller, Religious Studies, University of Virginia; Thomas Hahn, Berkeley independent scholar

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

This session, while designed for graduate students, is open to the public. Talks will be 35 minutes each, so as to leave ample time for discussion.

Workshop theme and impetus:
Zhu Xi (1130-1200), echoing Wang Bi’s (226-249) reading of the Analects, wrote, "to anticipate duplicity and dishonesty will, I fear, give rise to a mechanical mind" (jixie zhi xin). Following after Zhu Xi, we might say... More >

Monday, October 21, 2019

Industry 4.0 and the Extension of Malaysia's Economic Success Story: With Malaysia's Minister of Finance

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 21 | 1-2 p.m. | B100 Blum Hall

Featured Speaker: Lim Guan Eng, Malaysia's Minister of Finance, Malaysian Government

Sponsors: AMENA Center for Entrepreneurship & Development, Blum Center for Developing Economies

Lim Guan Eng, Malaysia's Minister of Finance and the Secretary General of the Democratic Action Party (DAP), will deliver a talk on the investment environment in Malaysia. His talk will include the causes behind Malaysia’s success in reducing its dependence on extractive resources and agriculture, diversifying its economy, and transitioning to a knowledge based, competitive, and innovative... More >

RSVP recommended

RSVP info:

or or by emailing Syreen Ponferrada at ponferrada.syreen@berkeley.edu by October 19.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Life at the Border: Farmers and Nomads at the Edges of the Bukhara Oasis during Antiquity

Lecture: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | October 22 | 5-7 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer: Sören Stark, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU

Sponsor: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies

The oasis of Bukhara in present-day Uzbekistan was a major node in the network of ancient and medieval communication lines across Eurasia, located at an important crossroad where routes between eastern Iran and Samarqand met with routes which ran between Bactria/Tokharistan (and India) and Lake Aral and further on to eastern Europe. Archaeological and historical studies on this region have long... More >

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Javanese and Balinese Gamelan: Noon Concert Series

Performing Arts - Music: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 23 | 12 p.m. | Hertz Concert Hall

Sponsor: Department of Music

The music of small ensembles
directed by Midiyanto, Ben Brinner, & Lisa Gold
featuring I Wayan Suweca (Balinese gender wayang) and Heni Savitri (Javanese vocal)

Free. No reserved seating.

Doors: 12:00pm
Concert: 12:15-1pm

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Great Power Competition in the 21st Century: Linking Economics and Security

Conference/Symposium: Institute of East Asian Studies | October 24 | 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Berkeley APEC Study Center (BASC), UC Labs Fund

Great power competition is once again a critical component of the international system, with far reaching implications for the stability of the existing political and economic order. However, power is not always won by confrontation, but through tactical, indirect rivalry across issue areas. Strategic competition between the United States, China, India, and other rising powers spans industries... More >

Cultural Expertise on Southeast Asia and Asylum Expert Witnessing

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 24 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker: ChorSwang Ngin, Professor of Anthropology, CSU Los Angeles

Sponsors: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies

What is "cultural expertise"? And what is Southeast Asian Studies useful for? This talk will review these questions illustrated with asylum cases from Indonesia, Myanmar, and Malaysia, to advocate for the teaching and learning of Southeast Asian Studies within the framework of “Cultural Expertise in Litigation”— a current project Prof. Ngin is involved in at Oxford University.

ChorSwang Ngin

Friday, October 25, 2019

Maneuvering in a World of Great Powers

Conference/Symposium: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Korean Studies: Center for Japanese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | October 25 | 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Berkeley APEC Study Center (BASC), Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In a globalized international political economy, with increasing competition between the US, China and other large powers, medium and small powers must maneuver carefully.

This workshop will specifically focus on the security and economic dimensions of strategic competition including industrial policy, strategic trade, and the financial system.  ..

Monday, October 28, 2019

A People's Weapon: Law and Propaganda in the Early People's Republic of China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 28 | 4-6 p.m. | UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center), IEAS Conference Room 510

Speaker: Jennifer Altehenger, Associate Professor in Chinese History, University of Oxford

Panelist/Discussant: Rachel Stern, Professor, School of Law, University of California, Berkeley

Sponsors: Li Ka Shing Foundation Program in Modern Chinese History, Center for the Study of Law & Society

Throughout the history of modern China, people have been taught about their country's laws. Even as polities and regimes changed, they shared in common the conviction that to learn, know, and abide by laws should be an elementary civic duty. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the new government invested even more energy than its predecessors into devising methods to... More >

Relationship Among People - CANCELED

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | October 28 | 6:30-8 p.m. | 112 Wurster Hall | Canceled

Speaker: Daisuke Sakai, Co-Founder, teamLab

Moderator: Dana Buntrock, Professor, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Dept. of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning

Daisuke Sakai, a co-founder of teamLab, speaks about the theme of 'Relationships Among People', one of teamLab’s concepts which aims to explore a new relationship among people, and to make the presence of others a positive experience through digital art. Sakai will introduce such concept along with teamLab’s works.
teamLab was founded in 2001 as an... More >

Registration required: Free

Registration info:

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Global Borderlands: Fantasy, Violence, and Empire in Subic Bay, Philippines

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 29 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Victoria Reyes, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UC Riverside

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

This talk, derived from Prof. Reyes' new book, draws on archival and ethnographic data to describe the everyday experiences of people living and working in Subic Bay in the Philippines (a former U.S. military base, now a Freeport Zone), to make the case for critically examining similar spaces across the world.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Book Talk: Gender and Class in Contemporary Korea

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | October 30 | 4-6 p.m. | Doe Library, Room 180

Speaker: Laura C. Nelson, University of California, Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

Gender and Class in Contemporary Korea brings together a variety of recent studies utilizing transnational and intersectional analyses to understand the current configurations of social relations in South Korea.

Cambodian Women Building Democracy

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 30 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 554 Barrows Hall

Speaker: Mu Sochua, Vice-President, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP)

Sponsors: Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Department of Gender and Women's Studies, Center for Race and Gender, Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies

EVENT HAPPENING AS SCHEDULED - Mu Sochua is Vice-President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). In this talk she will discuss the role of women in politics in Cambodia and current developments in the country. She received a degree from UC Berkeley’s School of Social Welfare in 1981, and was the recipient of the Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award from UC Berkeley in 2006.

Mu Sochua

Thursday, October 31, 2019

ESPM Seminar Series, Fall 2019: Brian Eyler

Seminar: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 31 | 3:30 p.m. | 132 Mulford Hall

Speaker: Brian Eyler

Sponsor: Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy, and Mgmt. (ESPM)

Brian Eyler, Senior Fellow and Director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia program, will present: "Last Days of the Mighty Mekong." Coffee will be available before the talk at 2:30PM in 139 Mulford; meet the speaker after the talk in 139 Mulford Hall.

Oyin-i geyigülügči [The Illumination of the Mind]: Science of Salvation in a Sa skya Soteriological Treatise in Pre-Classical Mongolian Verse

Colloquium | October 31 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker/Performer: Brian Baumann, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Buddhist Studies, Mongolia Initiative

With a promise of salvation from this mortal coil and the threat of infernal perdition for heretics, religions such as Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam expound a doctrine of faith in the possibility of achieving a catholic state of enduring peace and justice irrespective of any one individual. With this faith these religions gained supremacy over their respective worlds by winning unto their... More >

Friday, November 1, 2019

The Spatiality of Emotion in Early Modern China: From Dreamscapes to Theatricality

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | November 1 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Ling Hon Lam, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UC Berkeley

Panelist/Discussant: David Marno, Associate Professor of English, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Emotion takes place. Rather than an interior state of mind in response to the outside world, emotion per se is spatial, at turns embedding us from without, transporting us somewhere else, or putting us ahead of ourselves. In his book The Spatiality of Emotion in Early Modern China, Ling Hon Lam gives an original account of the history of emotions in Chinese literature and culture centered on the... More >

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Rethinking Nikkô and the Tokugawa Culture of Light

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | November 6 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Timon Screech, University of London SOAS

Sponsor: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

It is well known that Tokugawa Ieyasu died in 1616 and was deified. It was determined that he should be a kami (Shinto god) that existed as an avatar of a Buddha, the Medicine Buddha being selected. There were geomantic reasons for these steps.
Ieyasu’s body was then disinterred and relocated to Nikkô, a geomantically important site.

The modest Shinto-Buddhist precincts demolished and rebuilt... More >

Exploring Plantation Worlds: Towards Ethnographic Collaboration

Colloquium: Institute of East Asian Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | November 6 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 223 Moses Hall

Speaker: Tania Murray Li, Professor of Anthropology, University of Toronto

Sponsors: Center for Ethnographic Research, Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Institute of International Studies

In this talk Tania Li describes the rewards and challenges of team-based ethnographic research drawing on work she carried out in Indonesia’s oil palm plantations together with her collaborator Pujo Semedi and around 100 students from their two universities (Toronto, Gadjah Mada).

Thursday, November 7, 2019

TDPS Speaker Series | An Invitation to Kabuki: A History and Demonstration of Kabuki with Kyozo Nakamura

Presentation: Center for Japanese Studies | November 7 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Durham Studio Theater (Dwinelle Hall)

Speaker/Performer: Kyozo Nakamura, Kabuki Actor & Japan Cultural Envoy

Sponsors: Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Agency of Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan

Join us for a dynamic lecture and demonstration with veteran onnagata (actor specializing in female roles), Kyozo Nakamura. Mr. Nakamura will introduce the basics of male and female acting in kabuki and talk about his own path to becoming a seasoned actor.

Registration required: Free

Registration info:

Friday, November 8, 2019

Abandoning the City: Studying Chinese Landscape in the Age of Climate Change

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | November 8 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: De-nin D. Lee, Associate Professor, Visual & Media Arts, Emerson College

Panelist/Discussant: Gregory Levine, Professor, Art and Architecture of Japan and Buddhist Visual Cultures, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In a 1999 lecture (published in 2005 in Archives of Asian Art), Prof. James Cahill offered thoughts on the history and post-history of Chinese painting. Not solely about landscape, nevertheless, his remarks were inextricable from his lifetime’s study of that genre. The field of Chinese landscape, he observed, produced on the basis of internal, stylistic developments a coherent canon. This canon... More >

Javanese Gamelan: Late twentieth-century works for Javanese Gamelan

Performing Arts - Music: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | November 8 | 8 p.m. | Hertz Concert Hall

Sponsor: Department of Music

Late twentieth-century works for Javanese Gamelan Concerto for Piano and Gamelan by Lou Harrison (1917-2003)

Gamelan compositions by leading Javanese composers K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat (known as Pak Cokro, 1909-2007), and Ki Nartosabdho (1925-1985)

Gamelan Sari Raras directed by Midiyanto and Ben Brinner

Featuring soloists Sarah Cahill (piano) and Heni Savitri (vocals)

Tickets: $16 General Admission, $12 Senior, Student (non-UCB), UCB Faculty/Staff, $5 UCB students

Ticket info:

or by calling 510.642.9988, or by emailing tickets@calperformances.org

Thursday, November 14, 2019

How to Claim a Migrant: Koreans, Borders, and Belonging at the Edge of Asia and Russia

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | November 14 | 4-6 p.m. | Doe Library, Room 180

Speaker/Performer: Alyssa Park, University of Iowa

Sponsor: Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

Summary: In the late nineteenth century, Koreans suddenly began to cross the border to Russia and China by the thousands. Their continuous mobility and settlement in the tripartite borderland made them an enduring topic of dispute between multiple countries (Korea, Russia, China, and Japan), and prompted a host of questions that concerned fundamental questions about states’ governance over... More >

Friday, November 15, 2019

Pilgrimage and Identity Formation in Taiwan

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | November 15 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Craig Quintero, Associate Professor, Chair, Department of Theatre and Dance, Grinnell College

Panelist/Discussant: SanSan Kwan, Associate Professor, Theater Dance and Performance Studies, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In 1991, the Taiwanese experimental theatre company U Theatre started incorporating the Baishatun Matsu pilgrimage into their actor training. The actors joined thousands of Taiwanese pilgrims in the religious procession devoted to the goddess Matsu, walking 350 kilometers from Baishatun to Bei-gang in nine days. During the late 1990s, an increasing number of experimental theatre companies also... More >

2019 Annual Tang Lecture: Over Mountains and Steppes: Tracing ancient tracks of Asia’s Silk Roads

Lecture: Mongolia Initiative: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | November 15 | 5-7 p.m. | Alumni House, Toll Room

Speaker/Performer: Michael Frachetti, Washington University in St. Louis

Sponsor: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies

For over a century, the Silk Road was depicted by camel caravans crossing barren deserts, transporting exotic commodities to oasis cities across Central Asia and beyond. The harsh grasslands of the Eurasian steppe and the soaring peaks of Inner Asia were seen as barriers to this flow of Asian commerce — risky regions to be crossed quickly or avoided altogether. Yet new archaeological research in... More >

“Both Eyes Open” Chamber Opera: a Workshop Performance (SOLD OUT)

Performing Arts - Theater: Center for Japanese Studies | November 15 | 7 p.m. | Morrison Hall, 125, Elkus Room

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, Japanese American Studies Advisory Council

An experimental chamber opera-play
Music by Max Giteck Duykers
Libretto by Philip Kan Gotanda
Directed by Missy Weaver
Performed by tenor John Duykers, baritone Kelvin Chan, Soprano, Kalean Ung
With pianist Marja Mutru, marimba lumina performed by Joel Davel.

The story of the enduring psychological trauma
of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II

Registration required: Seating is now full

Registration info:

Saturday, November 16, 2019

The Spring River Flows East

Film - Feature: Center for Chinese Studies | November 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Part I: Wartime Separation (Ba nian li luan); Part II: Darkness and Dawn (Tianliang qian-hou). Included on the Hong Kong Film Awards list of the greatest Chinese-language films of all time, The Spring River Flows East has been termed China’s Gone with the Wind, a sweeping decades-spanning epic that sums up an entire nation’s history and identity. A married couple in Shanghai are separated during... More >

Monday, November 18, 2019

Study Abroad in Japan

Information Session: Center for Japanese Studies | November 18 | 3-5 p.m. | 140 Barrows Hall

Sponsor: Berkeley Study Abroad

Learn about study abroad opportunities in Japan at this info session and panel. We will also talk about available scholarships.

Korean Conglomerates (Chaebol) in Times of Crisis

Lecture: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | November 18 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Rebecca Chunghee Kim, Professor, College of International Management, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

This research investigates responses of the international and domestic (South Korean) publics to one of the most hotly debated corporate scandals in recent years: Korean Air’s so-called nut rage incident. By analyzing both international and domestic media coverage of the occurrence, we reveal contrasting interpretations between the two. Whereas the South Korean public tends to generate intense... More >

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

The Myanmar Shwe: Rule of Law in the New Burma

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | November 19 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Stephen Rosenbaum, Lecturer, Berkeley Law School, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Foreign development actors, policymakers and civil society have initiated a number of rule of law activities in Myanmar, with many references to concepts such as “access to justice” and “human rights.” Global marketplace competition and development of human capital are among the drivers leading the nation to modernize its entire educational system and produce a corps of professional and ethical... More >

Stephen Rosenbaum

Boy Soldiers: The Secret War in Okinawa

Film - Documentary: Center for Japanese Studies | November 19 | 5-8 p.m. | Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Auditorium (#310)

Speaker: Hanayo Oya, Journalist; Documentary Filmmaker

Speakers/Performers: Renee Pastel, Film & Media, UCB; Katherine Mezur, Comparative Literature, UCB

Sponsor: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Heralding the downfall of the Japanese military regime in 1945, the Battle of Okinawa has already been the topic of various documentary and fiction films. However, the history of the guerilla war, fought by Okinawan child soldiers under the command of Japanese officers, is still regarded as taboo. With an acute sense of urgency, this documentary depicts the inhumanity of militaristic... More >

Registration required: Free

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Five Dedicated to Ozu

Film - Documentary | December 1 | 4:30 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Kiarostami's film dedicated to Yasujiro Ozu is composed of five long shots, most taken along the waters of the Caspian Sea, each “starring” such actors as tides and driftwood, a gang of ducks, croaking frogs, or the reflection of the moon. Those wondering “where the action is” need only truly open their eyes to discover a different kind of cinema, and a different kind of seeing. Meditative or... More >

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Navigating the US-China Confrontation: Lessons from John Fairbank and the 1950's

Colloquium: Institute of East Asian Studies | December 3 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Paul Evans, Professor of Asian and trans-Pacific affairs, University of British Columbia

Sponsors: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

The deepening Sino-American conflict presents very difficult problems for China scholars and universities with extensive activities in, on and with China. With an eye on the contemporary situation, the presentation will focus on the intellectual, institutional, and policy activities of John Fairbank in the 1950s. What can we learn from a Cold War era eerily consonant with today?

Paul Evans is... More >

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

FLAS Information Workshop

Information Session: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Korean Studies: Center for Japanese Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | December 4 | 11 a.m.-12 p.m. | 309 Sproul Hall

Sponsor: International and Area Studies (IAS)

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis for the academic year and for summer. These fellowships encourage the study of less commonly taught foreign languages. This info session, presented by the Title VI-funded National Resource Centers at UC Berkeley that manage the FLAS fellowship program, will review the application and program requirements.

Townsend Book Chat with Grace Lavery: Quaint, Exquisite: Victorian Aesthetics and the Idea of Japan

Lecture: Center for Japanese Studies | December 4 | 12-1 p.m. | Stephens Hall, Geballe Room, 220 Stephens

Sponsor: Townsend Center for the Humanities

Lavery examines the contradictory role — as both rival empire and cradle of exquisite beauty — played by Japan in the Victorian imagination.

Archipelagic Vietnam: Rethinking Nationalism and Trans-Pacific Regionalism at the Shoreline

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | December 4 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: David Biggs, Professor of History, UC Riverside

Sponsor: Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Until recent conflicts over the South China Sea, Vietnam’s history has been almost wholly described in terrestrial terms. Seaborne connections across the East Sea and the Pacific have however played key roles in defining modern Vietnam. This talk reimagines Vietnam as an archipelago, a more permeable nation-system of nodes linked by flows of energy, food, people and technology.

David Biggs

First Step(pe)s: The Silk Road from a Steppe Perspective

Lecture: Mongolia Initiative: Tang Center for Silk Road Studies | December 4 | 5-7 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer: Ursula B. Brosseder, Bonn University

Sponsor: Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS)

Numerous, far-reaching migrations and contacts have taken place during prehistory across the vast Eurasian steppes, reaching from Eastern Europe or the Near East to Inner Asia and present-day China. However, the intensity and speed of connectivity between East and West changed profoundly in the late first millennium BC. Traditional narrative holds that this change was initiated by the travels of... More >

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Borderland Dreams: Korean Chinese Migrants' Bodies, Money, and Time

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | December 5 | 4-6 p.m. | Doe Library, Room 180

Speaker/Performer: June Hee Kwon, California State University, Sacramento

Sponsor: Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

This talk examines the remittance-driven everyday lives of Korean Chinese who move back and forth between Seoul, South Korea, and the Korean Chinese Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian, China, an ethnic zone bordering North Korea.

Friday, December 6, 2019

Worlding the narod: Recontextualizing the Chinese Reading of Russian Realism

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | December 6 | 4-6 p.m. | 180 Doe Library

Speaker: Roy Chan, Assistant Professor, Chinese Literature, University of Oregon

Panelist/Discussant: Edward Tyerman, Assistant Professor, Russian and Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley

Sponsor: Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

This talks aims to examine the various ways in which Russian ideas about realism circulated in China, with particular emphasis on the People's Republic of China's deep engagement with Russian and Soviet literature. As the "the people" (renmin) constituted a normative pillar that was central to the PRC's political legitimacy, aesthetic practices designed to provide representational articulation of... More >

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Immigration Policy in Japan and South Korea and the Development of their Sending Countries: An Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) Presentation

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | December 12 | 1-3 p.m. | 554 Barrows Hall

Speakers: Annabelle Baker, UC Berkeley; Amanda Wong, UC Berkeley; Ishani Ghosh, UC Berkeley; Sophia Quach, UC Berkeley

Sponsors: Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Institute of Research on Labor & Employment

Low birth rates, an aging population, and rapid economic development in Japan and South Korea have put great pressures on an increased need for immigration, threatening the historical emphasis of ethnic homogeneity in both countries. On the other hand, in Nepal and Vietnam, the lack of opportunities and rampant inequality have caused citizens to view emigration as a source of hope for... More >

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Gallery + Studio: A Landscape in Your Pocket

Workshop: Center for Japanese Studies | December 14 | 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

After an interactive tour of Hinges: Sakaki Hyakusen and the Birth of Nanga Painting, experiment with a range of drawing materials on Japanese paper to create value and tone, and build an imaginary landscape on your own miniature folding screen. Workshop led by Marcela Florez.

About Gallery + Studio

On the second Saturday of each month, Gallery + Studio connects art viewing with art making... More >

Gallery + Studio: A Landscape in Your Pocket

Workshop: Center for Japanese Studies | December 14 | 1-2:30 p.m. | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor: Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Back to IEAS Past Events

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Global Entanglements of a Man Who Never Traveled: A Seventeenth-Century Chinese Christian and His Conflicted Worlds

Andrew Alan Johnson

Green-eyed Lama