2022 IEAS Events

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

[In-person Event] Two Faces of Sovereignty: Patterns in the Law and Politics of Authority Along China’s Periphery

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | April 1 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker:  Jacques deLisle, Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law, Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, University of Pennsylvania

Panelist/Discussant:  Rachel Stern, Professor of Law and Political Science; Pamela P. Fong and Family Distinguished Chair in China Studies, Berkeley Law

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Across seemingly diverse issues and highly contested cases, China’s behavior reflects a Janus-faced view of sovereignty. At international law and in international relations, sovereignty is nearly indivisible and indestructible, not subject to binding commitments that could alienate sovereignty or limit its exercise. At domestic law and in internal governance, sovereignty is highly positivistic...   More >

Registration not required 

An Evening of Wayang Bali

Performing Arts - Other: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 2 | 7:30-9 p.m. | 125 Morrison Hall

Sponsors:  Department of Music, Center for Southeast Asia Studies

According to Balinese philosophy, a shadow play (wayang) performance is a symbol of the cosmos. This performance will be presented by ShadowLight Productions, led by puppet master (dalang) Larry Reed.

[Virtual] The Role of Law: Interrogating the Contributions of Lawyers and Complexities of Legal Reform in Burma's Democracy Movement

Panel Discussion: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 6 | 2-4 p.m. |  Online - Zoom webinar

Panelist/Discussants:  Jonathan Liljeblad, Associate Professor, School of Law, Australian National University; John Dale, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University; Khin Maung Win, former Director, Justice For All; Su Yin Htun, former Professor of Law, Mandalay University

Moderator:  Seinenu Thein-Lemelson, Lecturer, Anthropology, UCLA

Sponsors:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies, UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Australian National University College of Law, Harvard Asia Center, LAWASIA

The February 2021 military coup in Myanmar have caused questions about the country's legal profession and its fledgling reforms to emerge. The panel presents a range of perspectives to identify the issues facing Burma's lawyers, judges, law schools, and legal system.

Registration required 

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Arresting Silk: Textiles, Representation, and Narrative in Late Imperial China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | April 8 | 4-5:30 p.m. |  Zoom Webinar

Speaker:  Mei Mei Rado, Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Panelist/Discussant:  Jun Hu, Mr. and Mrs. Pai Ruchu Presidential Professor in the Arts and Humanities, Assistant Professor, Chinese Art and Architecture, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In late imperial Chinese art, except in limited genres, realistic representations of fabrics and dress were absent. Images of textiles belonged to an imaginary domain, operated in an autonomous system, and developed a series of visual languages. I will explore how these images manipulated the materiality and forms of textiles, how the pictorial stereotypes constructed narratives and meanings, and...   More >

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In Dialogue with the Han Histories: Old Problems and Recent Trends

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | April 13 | 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. |  Zoom Webinar

Speaker:  Michael Loewe, Emeritus Faculty in Chinese Studies, East Asian Studies, University of Cambridge

Panelist/Discussants:  Michael Nylan, Professor; Jane K. Sather History Chair, Department of History, UC Berkeley; Mark Csikszentmihalyi, Professor and Eliaser Chair of International Studies, EALC, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Today, at nearly 100 years of age, Michael Loewe is the foremost Han historian. In many ways, it is his numerous publications (which include such foundational reference works as The Biographical Dictionary of Qin and Western Han and Early Chinese Texts) that has allowed the fledgling field of Han history to establish itself firmly in the Anglo-American world. Coming from a distinguished...   More >

Registration required 

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[Hybrid] What is Experimental about Experimental Art in Korea?

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | April 14 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), IEAS Conference Room

Speaker/Performer:  Joan Kee, University of Michigan

Sponsor:  Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

How does “experiment” offer a heuristic for thinking about artistic responses to large-scale social, economic, and political questions? What was retroactively described as “experimental art” in Korea may be refracted through both the lenses of Yushin authoritarianism and accelerated development. If Korean experimental art embodied an aesthetics of provisionality, to what extent did this presume...   More >

Registration required 

Registration info:  Zoom Webinar Only.

Materiality is Uncertainty: Furniture, Hairpins and Fireworks in Jin Ping Mei

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | April 15 | 4-5:30 p.m. |  Zoom Webinar

Speaker:  Kaijun Chen, Assistant Professor of Late imperial Chinese Literature and Material Culture, Department of East Asian studies, Brown University

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

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

This project is in response to a candid question the speaker has while reading JPM. The novel is packed with luxurious things, but why do the characters have little attachment to them? The lack of attachment refers to both alienable quality of material possessions and the lack of emotional investment in the abundance of things. It is in contrast to metaphorized artifacts wrapped in layers of...   More >

Registration required 

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[In-Person] Literature as Commons: Re-reading Natsume Sōseki from the United States, circa 2022

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | April 15 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker:  Michael K. Bourdaghs, The University of Chicago

Panelist/Discussant:  Dan O'Neill, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Presenting ideas from his recent book, A Fictional Commons: Natsume Sōseki and the Properties of Modern Literature (Duke University Press, 2021), Michael Bourdaghs in this talk will explore the ways that the fictional and theoretical writings of Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916), often celebrated as Japan's greatest modern novelist, engage critically and playfully with modern ideas of...   More >

[Virtual] The Road to Dien Bien Phu: A History of the First Indochina War

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 20 | 4-5:30 p.m. |  Online - Zoom webinar

Speaker:  Christopher Goscha, Professor of International Relations and History, University of Quebec at Montreal

Moderator:  Peter Zinoman, Professor of History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Prof. Goscha will discuss his new book The Road to Dien Bien Phu: A History of the First War for Vietnam (Princeton University Press, 2022). This book uses the decisive battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 as a starting point to examine how Ho Chi Minh’s guerilla army became a modern fighting force able to defeat the French.

Registration required 

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San Francisco World History Reading Group: Sailors and Traders: A Maritime History of the Pacific Peoples

Meeting | April 20 | 5-7 p.m. |  via Zoom

Sponsor:  ORIAS (Office of Resources for International and Area Studies)

Teachers in ORIAS World History Reading Groups read one book each month within a global studies theme. Participants meet monthly to eat and spend two hours in collegial conversation. It is a relaxing, intellectually rich atmosphere for both new and experienced teachers.

See the event page to find out what we're reading this month!

Attendance restrictions:  This event is for k-14 teachers.

Registration required 

Registration info:  Registrants will receive Zoom link.

or or by emailing Shane Carter at orias@berkeley.edu

[Hybrid] The Cost of Belonging: An Ethnography of Solidarity and Mobility in Beijing’s Koreatown

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | April 21 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), IEAS Conference Room | Canceled

Speaker/Performer:  Sharon Yoon, University of Notre Dame

Sponsor:  Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

Due to the stressful circumstances that have occurred on campus throughout the day today this event has been cancelled and will be rescheduled as a virtual-only event at a later date. Please feel free to reach out to cks@berkeley.edu with any related questions. All those who RSVP'd will be updated and informed of the new date once it has been selected.

Registration info:  Zoom Webinar Only.

Hamid Ismailov: Readings with Strangers

Reading - Literary | April 21 | 4-6 p.m. | Faculty Club, Heyns Room

Speaker:  Hamid Ismailov

Moderators:  Edward Tyerman; Sabrina Jaszi

Sponsor:  Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Thursday April 21, 4-6pm
Heyns Room, Faculty Club, UC Berkeley

Join us for an evening with the Uzbek novelist, poet, and journalist Hamid Ismailov. Ismailov will read from some of his recent work as well as answer questions about his creative practice, the experience of writing "between the lines" in both linguistic and generic terms, and his understanding of contemporary Central Asian...   More >

[In-Person] Myth-making in Verse: Banquet Poetry and the Creation of a Japanese Origin Story

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | April 22 | 5-6:30 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker:  Matthieu Felt, University of Florida

Moderator:  Bonnie McClure, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

At the conclusion of court-sponsored readings of the historical chronicle Nihon shoki, Japanese aristocrats celebrated at banquets where they drank wine and composed poetry about the legendary gods and sovereigns from the text. However, their compositions often differed in tone and content from the original text. In this talk, I identify the thematic and rhetorical strategies of these variations...   More >

Javanese Shadow Play

Performing Arts - Music: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 22 | 7:30 p.m. |  Hertz Concert Hall

Sponsor:  Department of Music

Midiyanto & Ben Brinner, Directors
Wayang/Javanese shadow play, featuring Midiyanto as dhalang (puppet master)

Safety
The UC Berkeley Department of Music is committed to the health and safety of our students, staff, and patrons. Measures to protect concertgoers and musicians will be informed by state, local, and UC Berkeley Public Health policies and are subject to change....   More >

Tickets required: $16 general public, $15 Seniors, Faculty/Staff, Non-UCB Students, Groups 10+, $5 UCB Students, Children under 12 at door

Ticket info:  

Reservation not required

[VIRTUAL] A Conversation with Amitav Ghosh: With Dr. Kum Kum Bhavnani and Dr. Sugata Ray

Reading - Literary: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 23 | 3-4:30 p.m. |  Zoom

Featured Speaker:  Amitav Ghosh, Author

Panelist/Discussants:  Kum Kum Bhavnani, Associate Vice Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of Sociology, UC Santa Barbara; Sugata Ray, Associate Professor of History of Art and of South & Southeast Asian Studies; Interim Director, Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley

Sponsors:  Institute for South Asia Studies, Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India (SACHI), The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley

In conversation with Amitav Ghosh.

Tickets required: COMPLIMENTARY Free tickets for UC Berkeley members (Use discount code COMPLIMENTARY)

Ticket info:   Tickets go on sale March 30.

Children of the Mist

Film - Documentary: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 23 | 3 p.m. |  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor:  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Patiently filmed over three years, this bold and curious documentary is a rare window into a remote community on the cusp of global change and the life of an emotionally vulnerable girl on the precipice of her destiny.

Southeast Asian Culture Festival

Special Event: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 24 | 1-5 p.m. |  Alumni House

Sponsors:  Asian Pacific American Student Development Office, Southeast Asian Student Coalition

SEA Culture Festival will be a day full of fun, food, exhibitions, performances, and so much more to help our SEA communities on campus.

RSVP at tinyurl.com/SEACF22

[Virtual] New Shoots / Bamboophobia: A Poetry Reading and Conversation

Reading - Literary: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 27 | 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. |  Online - Zoom webinar

Speakers:  Kenneth Wong, Lecturer (Burmese), South and Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley; ko ko thett, poet; Maw Shein Win, poet; Mae Yway, poet

Moderator:  Penny Edwards, Associate Professor of South and Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies

A reading and conversation on Burmese poetry with Ko Ko Thett, Maw Shein Win, Kenneth Wong, and Mae Yway. Ko Ko Thett will read from his new collection Bamboophobia and all four poets will read from the new anthology Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring: Witness poems and essays from Burma/Myanmar (1988-2021). Readings will be in English and Burmese.

Registration required 

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Noon Concert: Javanese Gamelan

Performing Arts - Music: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 27 | 12 p.m. |  Hertz Concert Hall

Sponsor:  Department of Music

Midiyanto and Ben Brinner, Directors

Admission to all Noon Concerts is free. Registration is recommended at music.berkeley.edu/register.

Safety
The UC Berkeley Department of Music is committed to the health and safety of our students, staff, and patrons....   More >

Reservation recommended 

Reservation info: 

Masochists and Other Model Minorities

Panel Discussion: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | April 28 | 4-5:30 p.m. |  Online

Panelist/Discussants:  erin Khuê Ninh, UC Santa Barbara; Takeo Rivera, Boston University

Sponsor:  Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies

The Patrick Finelli Keynote Speaker Series and the Performance Studies Graduate Student Speaker Series present: erin Khuê Ninh and Takeo Rivera in conversation about their new monographs on model minority subjectivities.

[Virtual] Language and Truth in North Korea

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | April 28 | 4-5:30 p.m. |  Online via Zoom Webinar | Note change in location

Speaker/Performer:  Sonia Ryang, Rice University

Sponsor:  Center for Korean Studies (CKS)

In this talk, Sonia Ryang explores 1) what kind of relations exists between the form of life where certain things are deemed truthful and sites of linguistic practices prescribing different norms, and 2) how one could study North Korea long-distance, by using anthropological approach.

Sonia Ryang is T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Asian Studies at Rice University. She is the author of Language...   More >

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The Cemetery at Yihe-Nur, Inner Mongolia: And Its Connections with the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-535 CE) and with Central Asia

Lecture: Center for Chinese Studies | April 29 | 3:30-5:30 p.m. | Golden Bear Center, Fifth Floor

Location:  1995 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Speaker/Performer:  Judith A. Lerner, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (NYU)

Sponsor:  Tang Center for Silk Road Studies

A group of graves in remote northeastern Inner Mongolia, first known from recovered looters’ finds and later from archaeological excavation, has revealed a diverse range of objects from the Steppe Route trade, such as a Greco-Bactrian gilt silver bowl and a Bactrian blue glass bowl; jewelry and other objects that evoke nomadic affiliations (belts of exquisitely-carved carnelian plaques; gold...   More >

Roundtable: A Deep Focus on Global Chinese Cinephilia: Journal of Chinese Cinemas Special Issue Launch with Authors, Editors, and Contributors

Workshop: Center for Chinese Studies | April 29 | 5-6:30 p.m. |  Zoom Webinar

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

The special issue of the Journal of Chinese Cinemas, “A Deep Focus on Global Chinese Cinephilia,” partakes in ongoing scholarly trends that span the spectrum of historical and contemporary understandings of how people watch or experience films. Seeing cinephilia as a site of conflict and negotiation exemplified by cases in the Chinese-speaking world, the special issue is a collection of critical...   More >

RSVP required 

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Midwives

Film - Feature: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | May 1 | 2:30 p.m. |  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor:  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

With unparalleled access to their lives over five years, director Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing captures the heart of a war-weary nation through the strength of its most vulnerable citizens in her documentary feature debut.

Implementing Migration Policy: Excavating the Administrative and Bureaucratic Processes Behind Migrant Admissions and Deportation

Conference/Symposium | May 2 | 1-5 p.m. | Moses Hall, Institute of Governmental Studies Library

Sponsor:  Canadian Studies Program (CAN))

In a globalized world, one of the most difficult tasks facing governments is how to effectively manage cross-border migration. In recent years, popular media and academic publications have highlighted the ways in which elected officials and lobby groups influence the politics that drives immigration policy. However, less attention has been paid to those tasked with carrying out immigration policy...   More >

[Virtual] Amnesia: A History of Democratic Idealism in Modern Thailand

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | May 2 | 5:30-7 p.m. |  Online - Zoom webinar

Speaker:  Arjun Subrahmanyan, Senior Lecturer, Southeast Asian History, Murdoch University

Moderator:  Peter Zinoman, Professor of History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Dr. Subrahmanyan will discuss his new book, Amnesia: A History of Democratic Idealism in Modern Thailand (SUNY Press, 2021). The book describes the social and political beginnings of Thai democracy and explains how a bloodless revolution against the monarchy in 1932 that introduced a constitutional democracy ignited enduring hopes for a fairer society and a more representative government.

Registration required 

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Implementing Migration Policy: Excavating the Administrative and Bureaucratic Processes Behind Migrant Admissions and Deportation

Conference/Symposium | May 3 | 1-5 p.m. | Moses Hall, Institute of Governmental Studies Library

Sponsor:  Canadian Studies Program (CAN))

In a globalized world, one of the most difficult tasks facing governments is how to effectively manage cross-border migration. In recent years, popular media and academic publications have highlighted the ways in which elected officials and lobby groups influence the politics that drives immigration policy. However, less attention has been paid to those tasked with carrying out immigration policy...   More >

Noon Concert: Balinese Gamelan

Performing Arts - Music: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | May 4 | 12 p.m. |  Hertz Concert Hall

Sponsor:  Department of Music

Lisa Gold, Director

Admission to all Noon Concerts is free. Registration is recommended at music.berkeley.edu/register.

Safety
The UC Berkeley Department of Music is committed to the health and safety of our students, staff, and patrons. Measures to protect...   More >

Reservation recommended 

Reservation info: 

The Philippine Elections and the Ghost of Marcos

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | May 9 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker:  Patricio Abinales, Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Moderator:  Lisandro Claudio, Assistant Professor of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies

The Philippine elections take place on this day. This discussion will review what is at stake, focusing in particular on the Marcos legacy, following the consensus that Bongbong Marcos, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is likely to be elected as the country’s new president.

From Global Financial Crisis to Covid-19 Pandemic: Old and New Challenges for Nikkei Brazilians in Japan

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | May 10 | 5-6:30 p.m. |  Online - Zoom Webinar

Speaker:  Angelo Ishi, Professor, Musashi University

Panelist/Discussant:  Keiko Yamanaka, Lecturer, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

The reform of the Japanese Immigration law in 1990 enabled foreigners of Japanese descent (so-called “Nikkei”) to obtain a long-term visa and as a result, although it was not a working visa, they adapted it to become de-facto non-skilled foreign workers in Japan. Since then, the Nikkei of South American origin, mainly from Brazil, have become one of the most significant ethnic minorities in...   More >

Registration required 

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Indo-Pacific Geo-Economic Competition [hybrid]

Conference/Symposium: Institute of East Asian Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | May 13 – 14, 2022 every day | 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. | Golden Bear Center, IEAS 5th Floor Conference Room

Location:  1995 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors:  Berkeley APEC Study Center (BASC), Institute of East Asian Studies

This conference addresses geo-economic strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific, exploring both the theoretical and thematic contours of this concept and issue specific dynamics in the areas of finance, trade, energy, and technology competition.

RSVP required 

RSVP info: 

Indo-Pacific Geo-Economic Competition [hybrid]

Conference/Symposium: Institute of East Asian Studies: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | May 13 – 14, 2022 every day | 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. | Golden Bear Center, IEAS 5th Floor Conference Room

Location:  1995 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors:  Berkeley APEC Study Center (BASC), Institute of East Asian Studies

This conference addresses geo-economic strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific, exploring both the theoretical and thematic contours of this concept and issue specific dynamics in the areas of finance, trade, energy, and technology competition.

RSVP required 

RSVP info:  

Taste of Korea: Korean Temple Food

Special Event: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | June 16 | 5-8 p.m. |  Alumni House

Featured Speaker:  Ven. Sun Jae

Sponsors:  Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Cultural Corps of Korean Buddhism

The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in San Francisco is pleased to invite you to attend the upcoming event "Taste of Korea: Korean Temple Food" on Thursday, June 16th, 2022, at 5pm at the Alumni House at the University of California, Berkeley.

Registration required 

Registration info: 

Teaching the World: A two day Symposium for Teachers of World History

Workshop | June 27 – 28, 2022 every day | 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. |  via zoom

Sponsor:  UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project

The UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project is hosting a 2 day virtual symposium for teachers of world history. Each half day session will share a re-envisioning of a year instruction, a scholarly lecture, and teacher discussion and collaboration. All teachers are invited to attend the afternoon of Day 2.

Attendance restrictions:  This program is planned for K12 teachers of history.

Registration required: FREE

Registration info:  

The Future of the Philippines under a Marcos-Duterte Presidency

Panel Discussion: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | June 28 | 9-10:30 a.m. |  Online - Zoom webinar

Panelist/Discussants:  Vicente Rafael, University of Washington; Cleve Arguelles, De La Salle University; Lian Buan, Rappler; Cristina Palabay, Karapatan

Sponsors:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Institute for Policy Studies, New York Southeast Asian Network, Foreign Policy in Focus, Sulo: Philippines Studies Initiative at NYU, Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University

With Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the Philippines’ new leader, the elections also launched Sara Duterte, daughter of the incumbent president, to the second highest office in the land. What lies ahead for the country?

Registration required 

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Workshop on Tannishō Commentarial Materials

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 2 – 4, 2022 every day | Institute of East Asian Studies Conference Room, Suite 510 | Note change in location

Location:  1995 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

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

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…

Accounting History and Buddhism in Medieval Japan: Chronological analysis of accounting materials by Kōmyō-kō-kata in Toji Temple

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 2 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies Conference Room, Suite 510 | Note change in location

Location:  1995 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Speaker:  Yumiko Sankoji, Wakayama University

Moderator:  Mark Blum, UC Berkeley

Sponsors:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Jodo Shinshu Center

What is the Accounting History? How can we examine the relationship between Accounting History and Buddhism?

This study aims to consider the raison d'être for the Accounting history of Buddhism. This presentation is a case study of Accounting history in medieval Japanese Buddhist society. The specific objective is to analyze the accounting materials of...   More >

Workshop on Tannishō Commentarial Materials

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 2 – 4, 2022 every day | Institute of East Asian Studies Conference Room, Suite 510 | Note change in location

Location:  1995 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

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

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…

Workshop on Tannishō Commentarial Materials

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 2 – 4, 2022 every day | Institute of East Asian Studies Conference Room, Suite 510 | Note change in location

Location:  1995 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

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

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…

[Virtual] Confronting South Korea's Next Crisis: Rigidities, Polarization, and Fear of Japanification

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | September 8 | 4-6 p.m. |  Online via Zoom

Speaker:  Jaejoon Woo, DePaul University

Moderator:  Barry Eichengreen, UC Berkeley

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

South Korea’s economic miracle is a well-known story. However, today Korea is facing challenges on multiple fronts that are radically different from those seen in the early stages of industrialization. The Korean economy has been struggling with a faltering growth momentum and the rise of unprecedented socio-economic problems over the recent years...   More >

Registration required 

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The dispersal of rice in prehistoric Japan — tempo, mode, and consequences

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | September 12 | 2-4 p.m. | Anthropology and Art Practice building, Rm 221 | Note change in time

Speaker:  Enrico Crema, University of Cambridge

Moderator:  Junko Habu, UC Berkeley

Sponsors:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Research Facility

The 1st millennium BC is a major turning point in Japanese prehistory that lays much of the foundations of the cultural, linguistic, and genetic variation observed in present-day Japan. It is a period of transformation triggered by interactions between the incumbent populations of hunter-gatherers and migrant farmer communities from the Korean peninsula. In this talk, I will review old and new...   More >

Luminescent Visions: Transparency and Transformation in Medieval China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | September 12 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Anne N. Feng, Assistant Professor of Chinese Art, Boston University

Panelist/Discussant:  Jun Hu, Assistant Professor of Art History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

The import of exotic rock-crystal and glass objects in medieval China inspired a newfound interest in the experience of transparency. Feng argues that early seventh-century writers and painters saw “transparency” less as a stable material property, than as a “de-ontologizing force”: a phase wherein an object’s qualities unravel and new possibilities for transformation are opened up. This process...   More >

Rethinking Jomon Demography

Lecture: Center for Japanese Studies | September 13 | 3:30-5 p.m. | 101 2251 College (Archaeological Research Facility)

Speaker/Performer:  Enrico Crema, University of Cambridge

Sponsors:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS), Department of Anthropology, Archaeological Research Facility

The Jomon period of Japan refers to an extraordinary long temporal span covering a geographic region with a substantially diverse range of ecological settings. It thus comes as no surprise that the Jomon period was characterized by major demographic fluctuations and that these episodes of population booms and busts were not necessarily synchronous across the archipelago. Investigating these...   More >

Managing the Land, Forest and Water: Historical Ecology and Landscape Archaeology in Japan and Beyond

Lecture: Center for Japanese Studies | September 14 | 12:10-1 p.m. | 101 2251 College (Archaeological Research Facility)

Speakers:  Junko Habu; Emanuele Guglielmini; Anna Nielsen; Sandra Oseguera Sotomayor

Sponsor:  Archaeological Research Facility

In the summer of 2022, graduate students of the East Asian Archaeology Lab and I were able to visit Japan after 3-years of entry restrictions into the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goals were 1) to collect archaeological data to understand continuity and change in landscape practice in mountainous regions of Japan, 2) to resume paleoethnobotanical research...   More >

[In Person] Redefining Multicultural Families in South Korea

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies | September 15 | 4-6 p.m. | Sutardja Dai Hall, Room 250

Speaker/Performer:  Minjeong Kim, San Diego State University

Sponsors:  Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Institute for the Study of Societal Issues

From the inception, the South Korean government’s policies for marriage immigrants and “multicultural families” have received much criticism from scholars and activists. In this talk, Minjeong Kim extends this critical discourse by reexamining the meanings of “multiculturalism” and proposes new directions to reinvigorate contemporary discussions...   More >

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Towards a Social History of Tibetan Medical Manuscripts

Lecture | September 15 | 4-6 p.m. | UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center), Seminar Room, Fifth Floor

Speaker/Performer:  Stacey Van Vleet, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Tang Center for Silk Road Studies

From ninth-century instructions on moxibustion to twentieth-century incantations for preventing plague, manuscripts related to the knowledge and practice of healing (gso ba rig pa) hold a unique place within broader Tibetan-language manuscript culture. With their practical orientation, often provisional nature, and self-conscious reliance on a broad range of cultural sources, Tibetan medical...   More >

[Live Stream] An Elephant Capture: “War against Nature,” Multi-Ethnic Nationalism, and Animals in Socialist China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | September 16 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Dingru Huang, CCS Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Berkeley

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

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In 1971, a team of zookeepers, vets, and filmmakers from Shanghai embarked on an expedition to capture an elephant in Yunnan. This would be the first zoo elephant in China caught by a team of multi-ethnic collaborators using new anesthetic techniques. Out of the expedition came An Elephant Capture 捕象記 (1972), one of the few animal-themed documentaries made in socialist China....   More >

[Virtual] The Cost of Belonging: An Ethnography of Solidarity and Mobility in Beijing’s Koreatown

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Korean Studies | September 22 | 4-6 p.m. |  Online via Zoom

Speaker/Performer:  Sharon Yoon, University of Notre Dame

Sponsors:  Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In the past ten years, China has rapidly emerged as South Korea’s most important economic partner. With the surge of goods and resources between the two countries, large waves of Korean migrants have opened small ethnic firms in Beijing’s Koreatown, turning a once barren wasteland into one of the largest Korean enclaves in the world. The Cost of...   More >

Registration required 

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On Becoming a Commodity, Or the Making of “Modern History” in Maritime Southeast Asia

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | September 22 | 5-7 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker:  Anna Tsing, Professor of Anthropology, UC Santa Cruz

Sponsors:  Department of Rhetoric, Department of Anthropology, Department of Geography, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Program in Critical Theory, International Consortium of Critical Theory Programs

In the Spice Islands (today’s Maluku, Indonesia), European trade stimulated a great boom in slave raiding. Many enslaved people were shipped westward to work in plantations and mines as well as in personal service. This talk considers the emergence of the commodification of human beings within the interaction of Europeans, Maluku elites, and the “Papuan raiders” who procured most of the enslaved.

The Global Political Sociology of US-China Rivalry

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | September 23 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Ho-fung Hung, Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University

Panelist/Discussant:  Long Yan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

The recent rivalry between the US and China is more about the shifting balance of economic forces in global capitalism than about ideological differences. Since the 1990s, Wall Street and US TNCs have integrated Chinese firms into their global financial circuits and supply chains. Their lobbying fostered a US-China policy that advanced economic engagement despite the deep, post-1989 ideological...   More >

The Missing Picture

Film - Feature: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | September 24 | 7 p.m. |  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor:  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

A daunting task that continues to confront media makers is how to represent the unrepresentable—calamities and atrocities of unimaginable magnitude. The challenge is even greater when the media maker himself is a survivor. Such is the case for veteran filmmaker Panh, who has committed his life to probing and exposing the Cambodian genocide and its aftermath. Having toiled in labor camps as a boy...   More >

Irradiated

Film - Feature: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | September 25 | 3:30 p.m. |  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Sponsor:  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Winner of the 2020 Berlinale Documentary Award, Panh’s Irradiated continues his exploration of the inhumanity of war and ideologically motivated genocide beyond the borders of his native Cambodia. Drawing on the archives of twentieth-century atrocities, Panh literally expands the frame of his project using a cinemascope aspect ratio to present images in triplicate, reframing and juxtaposing...   More >

From Paternal to Fraternal Domination: Global “Big Brothers” and Infrastructural Imperialism

Lecture: Central Asia Working Group | September 30 | 12-2 p.m. |  Zoom

Speaker/Performer:  Rebecca Bryant, Utrecht University

Sponsor:  Central Asia Working Group

In early European imperialism, trade and resource exploitation financed lavish building projects in metropolitan centers and fueled further colonial expansion. Today, rising economic powers with global ambitions rely on building the infrastructure of other states to drive reconstruction in their own capitals and to create “soft power” empires. This lecture will turn an ethnographic lens on...   More

Authors Meet Critics: "Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley"

Panel Discussion: Center for Chinese Studies | September 30 | 12-1:30 p.m. | 820 Social Sciences Building

Sponsors:  Social Science Matrix, Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion, Berkeley Culture Center

In this September 30 “Author Meets Critics” panel, Carolyn Chen, Associate Professor in the UC Berkeley Department of Ethnic Studies, will present her book, Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley. Professor Chen will be joined in conversation by Arlie Hochschild and Morgan Ames.

Registration required 

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US-China Research Collaboration: A Roadmap for Reform

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | September 30 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Glenn Tiffert, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Panelist/Discussant:  Michael Nylan, Professor; Jane K. Sather History Chair, Department of History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

No two countries collaborate more closely or productively on fundamental research than the US and China. But in recent years that relationship has been rocked by controversy and alarm. What lessons can we draw from this experience? Has the storm passed or entered a new phase? How can we preserve what is best about US-China research collaboration without jeopardizing national security, economic...   More >

[In Person] Documentary Film Screening: CHOSEN

Film - Documentary: Center for Korean Studies | October 11 | 3-5 p.m. | Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Auditorium, Rm 310

Speaker/Performer:  Joseph Juhn, Documentary Filmmaker

Sponsors:  Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Asian American Research Center, Center for Race and Gender

In 2020, five Korean Americans of vastly diverse backgrounds with competing political views run for US Congress. David Kim is the only underdog with limited resources vying to be the first Korean American representative from Koreatown, Los Angeles.

RSVP required 

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A Sense of an Ending: Chinese Buddhist Eschatology Reconsidered

Colloquium | October 11 | 5 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker/Performer:  T.H. Barrett, Emeritus, SOAS, London

Sponsors:  Center for Buddhist Studies, Department of History, Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), Glorisun Global Network

In the 1970s the Cold War was still in full swing, and many had already confronted its possible conclusion in global nuclear annihilation after experiencing the Cuban missile crisis of 1961. Yet in the Anglophone study of Asia no awareness seemed to exist as to the possibility of reactions to that future that might not be identical to those of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. In 1976 however Dan...   More >

A Celebration of Buddhist Philology: A Conference in Honor of the Legacy of Yehan Numata and BDK’s Contributions to the Study of Buddhist Texts: Friday – Sunday, October 14-16, 2022

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies | October 14 – 16, 2022 every day |  Jodo Shinshu Center

Location:  2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors:  Center for Buddhist Studies, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai

Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata (1897-1994), founder of Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), is renowned for his efforts to advance the study and understanding of Buddhism around the world. To this end, he established the BDK English Tripitaka Project, with the goal of translating the massive East Asian Buddhist canon into English. He also began a program of endowed...   More >

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Free Fall and Levitation: Angela Su on her Exhibition at the Hong Kong Pavilion, 2022 Venice Biennale

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 14 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Angela Su, Hong Kong Artist

Panelist/Discussant:  Abby Chen, Head of Contemporary Art Department at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Sponsors:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Mellon New Strategies for the Humanities at Berkeley

We live in a changed world that is radically different from what it was 3 years ago. There is a global awareness that we are in a world of continuous crisis but there is no resolution and no reconciliation of all the conflicts at the moment. What can be done when our world is falling apart? How can an artist respond to the conditions of precarity? What is art’s role when we are at a crossroad...   More >

A Celebration of Buddhist Philology: A Conference in Honor of the Legacy of Yehan Numata and BDK’s Contributions to the Study of Buddhist Texts: Friday – Sunday, October 14-16, 2022

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies | October 14 – 16, 2022 every day |  Jodo Shinshu Center

Location:  2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors:  Center for Buddhist Studies, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai

Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata (1897-1994), founder of Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), is renowned for his efforts to advance the study and understanding of Buddhism around the world. To this end, he established the BDK English Tripitaka Project, with the goal of translating the massive East Asian Buddhist canon into English. He also began a program of endowed...   More >

RSVP required 

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On the Same Page x Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) present: San Francisco Chinatown Walking Tour

Tour/Open House | October 15 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m. |  SF Chinatown. Exact meeting location will be sent to registered and confirmed attendees.

Sponsor:  On the Same Page

We will learn the ways in which Chinatown has always been, and often still continues to be, its own independent, self-sufficient community. For example, we will learn about the rebuilding of Chinatown after the 1906 Earthquake, in which the Chinese community crowdsourced funding from overseas in order to reconstruct faster than the rest of SF. The city was trying to relocate Chinatown to the...   More >

Attendance restrictions:  Open only to current UC Berkeley undergraduates on a first come, first served basis. Space is limited. Sign up here: https://forms.gle/XRZympEF4pViEPys7

A Celebration of Buddhist Philology: A Conference in Honor of the Legacy of Yehan Numata and BDK’s Contributions to the Study of Buddhist Texts: Friday – Sunday, October 14-16, 2022

Conference/Symposium: Center for Buddhist Studies | October 14 – 16, 2022 every day |  Jodo Shinshu Center

Location:  2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704

Sponsors:  Center for Buddhist Studies, Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai

Rev. Dr. Yehan Numata (1897-1994), founder of Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), is renowned for his efforts to advance the study and understanding of Buddhism around the world. To this end, he established the BDK English Tripitaka Project, with the goal of translating the massive East Asian Buddhist canon into English. He also began a program of endowed...   More >

RSVP required 

RSVP info:  

A Boarding School [Pesantren] (2019, 109 mins.)

Film - Documentary: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 18 | 5:30-8 p.m. | 370 Dwinelle Hall

Panelist/Discussants:  Shalahuddin Siregar, filmmaker; Sylvia Tiwon, Associate Professor of South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley

Moderator:  Daniel Owen, Ph.D. student, South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley

Sponsors:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies

This documentary offers a rare look inside an Indonesian Islamic boarding school (pesantren), showing the practice and ideology of a traditional educational system based on religious teachings that have been practiced in Indonesia for centuries. The film is set in Pondok Kebun Jambu, one of the largest traditional Islamic boarding schools in West Java, and one of the very few in the...   More >

Book Talk: "Converging Empires: Citizens and Subjects in the North Pacific Borderlands, 1867–1945"

Lecture: Center for Japanese Studies | October 19 | 12:30-2 p.m. | 223 Moses Hall

Speaker:  Andrea Geiger, Professor Emerita of History, Simon Fraser University

Sponsors:  Canadian Studies Program (CAN)), Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, Center for Race and Gender, Department of History

Historian Andrea Geiger will discuss her new book, "Converging Empires: Citizens and Subjects in the North Pacific Borderlands, 1867–1945". The book highlights the role that the region played in the construction of race and citizenship in both the US and Canada from 1867, when the United States acquired Alaska, through the end of World War II.

RSVP recommended 

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 by October 19.

What does matter?: Beyond the cultural explanation of the immigrant society of Japan

Colloquium: Center for Japanese Studies | October 19 | 5-6:30 p.m. |  Online - Zoom Webinar

Speaker:  Yu Korekawa, Ph.D., Director, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research

Panelist/Discussant:  Kazuo Yamaguchi, Professor, The University of Chicago

Moderator:  Keiko Yamanaka, Lecturer, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Japan has experienced a rapid increase in its immigrant population since the 1990s. Although the size of the immigrant population is still small compared to other developed countries at around 2% of the total population, it has experienced a net influx of nearly 200,000 foreign nationals annually in recent years, which represents an annual increase of 3-5%. Moreover, approximately 1/10 of young...   More >

Registration required 

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San Francisco World History Reading Group: od's Chinese Son, by Jonathan Spence

Meeting: Center for Chinese Studies | October 19 | 5-7 p.m. |  via Zoom or in San Francisco - provided upon registration

Sponsor:  ORIAS (Office of Resources for International and Area Studies)

Teachers in ORIAS World History Reading Groups read one book each month within a global studies theme. Participants meet monthly to eat and spend two hours in collegial conversation. It is a relaxing, intellectually rich atmosphere for both new and experienced teachers.

See the event page to find out what we're reading this month!

Attendance restrictions:  This event is for k-14 teachers.

Registration required 

Registration info:  Registrants will receive Zoom link and physical location information.

or or by emailing Shane Carter at orias@berkeley.edu

Archipelagos and Specters: Refugee Settlers and Climate Refugees (CRG Forum Series)

Panel Discussion: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 20 | 4-5 p.m. |  VIRTUAL - Zoom Webinar

Sponsors:  Center for Race and Gender, CRG's Native/Immigrant/Refugee - Crossings Research Initiative, Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative, Department of Ethnic Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Asian American Studies, Native American Studies

A conversation with Neel Ahuja (University of California, Santa Cruz, and University of Maryland), and Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi (University of California, Los Angeles).

Registration required 

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Colonial Taiwan and the Nature of Japan’s Pharmaceutical Industry

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Japanese Studies | October 21 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Timothy Yang, Associate Professor in History; Interim Director of the Center for Asian Studies, University of Georgia

Panelist/Discussant:  Stacey Van Vleet, Assistant Professor in History, UC Berkeley

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

This talk explores the relationship between Japan’s early twentieth-century pharmaceutical industry and its colonial regime in Taiwan. It does so by examining the activities of Hoshi Pharmaceuticals, one of the most influential drug companies in Asia of its time. Like its competitors, Hoshi depended on colonies like Taiwan as reservoirs for medicinal resources and markets for consumer goods....   More >

Upland Geopolitics: Postwar Laos and the Global Land Rush

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 24 | 4:30-6 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker:  Michael Dwyer, Assistant Professor of Geography, Indiana University Bloomington

Sponsor:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies

Drawing from the author’s new book Upland Geopolitics: Postwar Laos and the Global Land Rush (University of Washington Press, 2022), this talk uses the boom in Chinese rubber plantations in Laos’s so-called Northern Economic Corridor to examine and theorize the uneven geography of the new global land rush.

Dungan Folktales and Legends: The Folkloric Narrative Tradition of the Sino-Muslims in Central Asia

Lecture: Central Asia Working Group | October 26 | 2-4 p.m. |  Zoom

Speaker/Performer:  Kenneth J. Yin, City University of New York

Sponsor:  Central Asia Working Group

First migrating from northwest China to the Russian Empire after the suppression of the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877) under the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, the Dungan people boast a rich oral tradition, which served as an important breeding ground for the development of Dungan written literature in the Soviet period. This presentation discusses the findings of an in-depth structural and comparative...   More >

An ‘Unmoved Heart’ Revisited: Further Reflections on Mengzi 2A2

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 26 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Jeffrey Riegel, Professor Emeritus in Chinese Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley, and The University of Sydney

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Mengzi 2A2 consists of Master Meng’s answers to questions put to him by a follower named Gongsun Chou. The first few of these replies relate to bu dong xin, “unmoved heart,”—i.e., mental quietude and equanimity in the face of humiliation or disappointment as well as excitement or promise—and to yang yong, “nurturing fortitude,” the first of several methods Mengzi identifies for achieving an...   More >

Book discussion: William Kirby, Empires of Ideas: Creating the Modern University from Germany to America to China

Lecture | October 27 | 3:30-5 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Featured Speaker:  William C. Kirby, T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies, Harvard University

Panelist/Discussants:  Cathryn Carson, Professor, History Department, UC Berkeley; John Connelly, Professor, History Department, UC Berkeley; Christine Philliou, Professor, History Department, UC Berkeley

Moderator:  Jonathan Sheehan, Professor, History Department, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Department of History

William C. Kirby is the Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration and T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University, as well as Chair of the Harvard China Fund and Faculty Chair of the Harvard Center Shanghai.

[Hybrid] Talismans for Rebirth in the Pure Land: Korean Buddhist Talismans in Global Perspective

Colloquium: Center for Korean Studies: Center for Buddhist Studies | October 27 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor), Conference Room

Speaker/Performer:  Youn-mi Kim, Ewha Womans University

Sponsors:  Center for Korean Studies (CKS), Center for Buddhist Studies, Department of History of Art

Talismans are often thought of as characteristics of Daoism in East Asia. However, as the materials excavated from Korean tombs and inner spaces of Buddhist statues show, “Buddhist talismans” also have a long history. Although a growing number of scholars began to pay more attention to talismans used in Buddhist contexts in recent years, Buddhist talismans from medieval Korea...   More >

Registration required 

Registration info:  Zoom Webinar Only.

Elvera Kwang Siam Lim Memorial Lecture: Shaping the Tang Literary Past: Transformations of Tang Dynasty Literature in the Five Dynasties and Northern Song

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | October 28 | 4-5:30 p.m. | Faculty Club, Heyns Room

Speaker:  Anna M. Shields, Gordon Wu ’58 Professor of Chinese Studies, Dept. of East Asian Studies, Princeton University

Panelist/Discussant:  Robert Ashmore, Associate Professor; Chair, East Asian Languages and Cultures, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

After the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907, tens of thousands of Tang literary texts survived, scattered throughout the former empire in the tenth century, to be slowly reassembled, recategorized, printed, and reproduced in thousands of new print and manuscript versions over the course of the Northern Song. The interventions of Five Dynasties and Northern Song scholars into the Tang textual...   More >

Unmasking Myanmar: Ancestries, Legacies, and Mysteries Uncovered in UC Berkeley’s South and Southeast Asian Collection

Panel Discussion: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | October 28 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 120 Doe Library

Panelist/Discussants:  Kenneth Wong, Lecturer, South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley; Christian Gilberti, Ph.D. student, South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley; Kirt Mausert, Ph.D. student, Anthropology, UC Berkeley; Qiao Dai, Ph.D. student, South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley

Moderator:  Thomas Kingston, Ph.D. student, South & Southeast Asian Studies, UC Berkeley

Sponsors:  Department of South & Southeast Asian Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, South/Southeast Asian Library

This panel presents stories of Burma's past and links to the country's present crisis found in UC Berkeley's collections of the South & Southeast Asia Library.

hursday, November 3, 2022

RSVP required 

RSVP info:  In-Person Only.

Friday, November 4, 2022

Transforming the Yangzi River into a Hydroelectric Engine for China and the World

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | November 4 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Covell F. Meyskens, Associate Professor of East Asian Studies, Naval Postgraduate School

Panelist/Discussant:  Puck Engman, Assistant Professor of History, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

In 1919, the father of modern China Sun Yat-sen first proposed building a dam in the Three Gorges region that would discipline the Yangzi River’s unruly waters and transform its flows into a hydroelectric engine of national development. Over the course of the twentieth century, Chinese state elites strived to achieve this technoscientific dream and construct a massive hydropower station that...   More >

Talking About The Tale of Genji

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | November 4 | 4-6 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speakers:  Dennis Washburn, Dartmouth College; Marjorie Burge, University of Colorado Boulder; Brian Hurley, The University of Texas at Austin; Keith Vincent, Boston University

Moderator:  Alan Tansman, UC Berkeley

Sponsor:  Center for Japanese Studies (CJS)

Talking About The Tale of Genji

The eleventh-century Tale of Genji—sometimes (controversially) called the world’s first novel, always (uncontroversially) called a world masterpiece--will be the focus of a conversation joined by its most recent translator, Dennis Washburn (Dartmouth), and three scholars of Japanese and Comparative literature: Marjorie Burge (CU...   More >

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Monday, November 7, 2022

The Cock and the Hen: Lost Poems and the End of Chapter 9 and 10 of the Analects

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | November 7 | 4:30-6 p.m. | 3335 Dwinelle Hall

Speaker:  Hans van Ess, President of the Max-Weber-Foundation; Vice-President for Research, LMU Munich

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Chinese tradition says that the Confucian Analects consist of more or less unconnected sayings of Confucius that were written down by his disciples from memory and compiled two or three generations after his death. Western sinology has challenged this traditional narrative. Today many specialists think that the Lunyu is a text that has grown over many centuries to receive its final form only in...   More >

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Thursday, November 10, 2022

[Hybrid Event] Collective Resilience: How to Deter Chinese Economic Coercion and Predatory Liberalism

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies: Center for Korean Studies: Institute of East Asian Studies | November 10 | 4-5 p.m. | 223 Moses Hall

Speaker:  Victor Cha, D.S. Song-KF Endowed Chair in Government and International Affairs, Georgetown University

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

The U.S.-led efforts at fostering supply chain resilience through reshoring and friend-shoring have insulated countries only partially from future Chinese acts of economic coercion. Moreover, these measures do not directly address the weaponization of interdependence. Using newly created data, Dr. Cha will present draft findings on a peer competition strategy of "collective resilience" among U.S....   More >

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Friday, November 11, 2022

Saturday, November 12, 2022

Sunday, November 13, 2022

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Concrete Plateau: Urban Tibetans and the Chinese Civilizing Machine

Lecture: Central Asia Working Group | November 17 | 4-6 p.m. | UC Berkeley Extension (Golden Bear Center), Conference Room, 5th Floor

Speaker/Performer:  Andrew Grant, Boston College

Sponsor:  Central Asia Working Group

— In person and via Zoom —

Looking beyond the “usual suspects” of urban studies in China, this talk provides an in-depth exploration of Tibetans’ experiences with urban life in the growing city of Xining, the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau. Andrew Grant shows how Tibetans’ actions to sustain their community challenge China’s civilizing machine: a product of state-led urbanization that...   More >

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Friday, November 18, 2022

Accidental Holy Land: The Communist Revolution in Northwest China

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | November 18 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Speaker:  Joseph W. Esherick, Emeritus Professor of History, University of California, San Diego

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

Yan’an is now revered as China’s “revolutionary holy land.” From 1937 to 1947, including the entire War of Resistance to Japan, it was the refuge for Mao Zedong and the Communist Center at the end of the Long March, and also for Xi Zhongzun, the father of Xi Jinping, the current president of China and the first “princeling” to hold that post. Mao arrived there only by accident: learning of the...   More >

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Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

[POSTPONED] The Ice Cream Sellers: Movie Screening and Q&A with film director Sohel Rahman

Film - Documentary: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | November 30 | 9-11 a.m. |  On Zoom | Canceled

Speaker:  Sohel Rahman, Director

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

A screening of a documentary on the Rohingya.

[Virtual] Schools, Blood, Guns, and Bombs: Education in Myanmar’s Pro-Democracy Struggle

Lecture: Center for Southeast Asia Studies | November 30 | 4-5:30 p.m. |  Online - Zoom webinar

Speakers:  Ka Lok Yip, Assistant Professor, College of Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University; Su Yin Htun, Civil Disobedience Movement Professor, International Affairs Department, Ministry of Education, National Unity Government (Myanmar); Yamin (pseudonym), former professor, Myanmar

Moderator:  Jonathan Liljeblad, Associate Professor, College of Law, Australian National University

Sponsors:  Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, UCLA, Harvard University Asia Center, ANU College of Law

Following the military coup of February 2021, Myanmar’s education system became a host for civil disobedience protests, with teachers and students protesting the country’s state-run schools. The military responded by occupying campuses and prosecuting teachers and students. The webinar will present first-person accounts of experiences in the education system amidst Myanmar’s pro-democracy...   More >

Registration required

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Friday, December 2, 2022

[Live Stream] The US, China, and Taiwan Triangle

Colloquium: Center for Chinese Studies | December 2 | 4-5:30 p.m. | 510 Institute of East Asian Studies (Golden Bear Center, 1995 University Ave., 5th floor)

Panelist/Discussants:  William C. Kirby, T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School; John Pomfret, Writer and Former Foreign Correspondent and Editor at the Washington Post; Orville Schell, Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society

Sponsor:  Center for Chinese Studies (CCS)

William C. Kirby is T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University and Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. He is a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor. He serves as Chairman of the Harvard China Fund, the University's academic venture fund for China, and Faculty Chair of the Harvard Center Shanghai, Harvard's first...   More >

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Monday, December 5, 2022

[Online] FLAS Info Session

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 5 | 10-11 a.m. |  Online - Zoom webinar

Sponsors:  Institute of East Asian Studies (IEAS), Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Institute of European Studies, Center for Latin American Studies, Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ISEEES), Institute for South Asia Studies, Center for African Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies

The info session will review the application process for Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships for Summer 2023 and Academic Year 2023-24. This session is for continuing UC Berkeley graduate and undergraduate students.

Attendance restrictions:  This info session is for current and continuing UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students.

Registration required 

Registration info:  

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Monday, December 12, 2022

International Symposium on Transnational Professional Caregiving for Older Adults and Care Workers’ Wellness in the U. S., Mexico, Taiwan, and Japan

Conference/Symposium: Center for Japanese Studies | December 12 | 3-5 p.m. |  Virtually via Zoom (https://berkeley.zoom.us/j/98698454632)

Location:  Map

Featured Speakers:  Winston Tseng, Research Professor, University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health Health Research for Action; Marlon Maus, Adjunct Professor, University of California, Berkeley Health Research for Action; Lih-Rong Wang, Professor, National Taiwan University Department of Social Work; Takaya Hayashi, Assistant Professor, Osaka University; Gyo Miyabara, Professor, Osaka University School of Humanities; Kazumi Hoshino, Visiting Researcher / Visiting Professional Researcher, Osaka University / University of California, Berkeley

Moderator:  Linda Neuhauser, Clinical Profesor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health Health Research for Action

Opening Remarks:  Michael C. Lu, Dean, University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health

Opening Remarks:  Genta Kawahara, Executive Vice President, Osaka University

Sponsors:  Public Health, School of, Osaka University Center for International Education and Exchange

The 2022 UC Berkeley International Symposium will focus on transnational professional caregiving in the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, and Japan. The 2022 Symposium will identify associations between transnational professional caregiving for older adults and transnational professional care workers’ wellness among Asian American care workers and Mexican American care workers in the United States,...   More >

Attendance restrictions:  None