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UM STUDENT ATTENDED 57th JASC:
This summer Ashley Neeley, a 2004 University of Maryland graduate with a B.A. in Chinese, attended the 57th Japan-American Student Conference as the head of the Student Executive Committee. The Conference was held over 30 days (July 23rd - August 23rd, 2005) in several Japanese cities. Photo: Ashley (far left) and other delegates experienced Okinawa culture hands-on during a reception hosted by Itoman City, Okinawa.
Penn's Japan Seminar — Summer 2006:
The University of Pennsylvania is offering a distance learning program that includes a three-week trip to Japan in the summer of 2006. The program is designed to assist three-person teams from US institutions to learn more about Japan and develop Japan-specific courses for their undergraduate curriculum. Application Deadline: Dec. 5, 2005
APPLICANTS WANTED — Open Rank Position in Japanese Art History and Archaeology:
The Department of Art History and Archaeology invites applications for a position teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in the arts and archaeology of Japan. Other responsibilities include surveying courses in Asian art history and directing theses and dissertations. PhD required. Application Deadline: Dec. 1, 2005
APPLICANTS WANTED — 2005-2006: CEAS Scholarships Now Available!!:
Scholarships are now available through the Center for East Asian Studies. Please review the Center for East Asian Studies' Scholarships & Internships page. Application Deadline: Nov. 20, 2005
APPLICANTS WANTED — The Twentieth Century Japan Research Awards (2005-06):
The Center for Historical Studies and McKeldin Library, University of Maryland, invite applications for two $1,200 grants to support research in the library's Prange Collection and East Asia Collection on topics related to the period of the Allied Occupation of Japan and its aftermath, 1945-1960. Application Deadline: Nov. 11, 2005
STUDYING ABROAD? Apply for The Freeman-ASIA Award Program!
The Freeman-ASIA Award Program is designed to support American undergraduates with demonstrated financial need who are planning on studying overseas in East or Southeast Asia. With the generous support of the Freeman Foundation, more American undergraduate students have obtained the means to study in Asia. Freeman-ASIA Award Program grantees are expected to share their experiences with their home campuses to encourage study abroad in Asia by others, and to spread greater understanding of Asian peoples and cultures within their home communities. Since the launch of the program in 2000, the Freeman-ASIA Award Program has supported over 2,000 U.S. undergraduates with their study abroad plans in East and Southeast Asia. Application Deadline: Oct. 21, 2005
Study Abroad Winter Term '06 — Sept. 30th DEADLINE!!!
 Japan: A View from the Performing Arts :
Traveling through the Japanese cities of Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Tokyo, students will observe Japanese performing arts and its community reflecting the individual, group, and social interaction of Japan's broader society. Through them, students will examine Japan's past in relation to the present. The class will attend actual performances and go backstage; visit historic sites that recur in many plays and songs; meet and talk with Japanese people at work, play, and during travel. Such experiences should illustrate how Japan's modern society is solidly based on the values and foundations conserved in its classical performing arts. Application Deadline: Sept. 30, 2005
Transformation of Korean Society: Gender, Culture and Political Economy:
This course examines the intersection of gender, culture and political economy in contemporary Korean society. The turbulent recent history of South Korea has produced a society that is engaged with a variety of local and global social forces in complex and contradictory ways. The sweeping social changes in South Korean society have engaged it in a struggle to redefine and re-examine itself, and its relation to such basic ideas as gender, class, tradition and nation. The course pays special attention to the industrialization that South Korea has experienced in recent decades and to the nature of political and social movements that appeared in this process. The main question that is explored is what kind of modern, industrial society South Korea is becoming as a consequence of all these rapid economic and social changes. Application Deadline: Sept. 30, 2005
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"China's Water: Conflicts, Problems, and Projects" — Dec. 13th, 2005:
The Institute for Global Chinese Affairs (IGCA) is offering a Noon Forum featuring Dr. Jennifer Turner of the China Environment Forum, Woodrow Wilson Center and Dr. William Rivera of the Institute of Applied Agriculture, University of Maryland. From the rivers to the reserves, what are China's greatest water challenges? What is being done to target some of these urgent problems? Our speakers will discuss current projects that are underway with regard to some of these issues, explore the role of research and extension, the response of environmental NGOs, and related agricultural concerns. Light buffet lunch: Students $3.00; Others: $5.00. RSVP to reserve lunch BY MONDAY, DEC. 12 with Rebecca McGinnis, 301-405-0213 or rmcginni@umd.edu, Time & Location: 12:00 p.m., St. Mary's Hall (Language House) 0105.
Shamisen Workshop — Dec. 5th, 2005:
 Please join us for a special shamisen performance by the Japan Society, which is the country's leading showcase for Japan's celebrated traditional performing arts and its vibrant contemporary dance, music and theater. Used in the kabuki theater and bunraku puppet theater, the three-stringed shamisen is one of the most important and versatile instruments in Japanese traditional music. Developing over centuries, shamisen music came to full maturity in Japan at the time when J.S. Bach’s popularity was at its height in Europe. Time & Location: 1:00 p.m., Stamp Student Union, Juan Ramon Jimenez Room.
"Kabuki Power-Play: The Use of Parody, Slapstick,
and Word Games in Heroic (aragoto) Kabuki Plays" — Nov. 17th, 2005:
 Please join the Center for East Asian Studies for a lecture by Dr. Laurence Komintz, Professor of Japanese Language and Literature at Portland State University, on the Japanese artform of Kabuki theater. Dr. Kominz received his Ph.D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University and specializes his research in Japanese drama. Dr. Kominz studies and teaches the performance of no, kyogen, and kabuki theater, and his publications include The Stars Who Created Kabuki, Their Lives, Loves, and Legacy (Kodansha Intl., 1997) and Avatars of Vengeance: Japanese Drama and the Soga Literary Tradition (Univ. of Michigan Press, 1995). Time & Location: 4:00 p.m., Francis Scott Key Building, Room #0106.
"Northern Purgatives, Southern Restoratives:
Medical Regionalism and Regional Identity During the Ming Dynasty" — Nov. 16th, 2005:
Dr. Marta Hanson of Johns Hopkins University will offer a lecture based upon a chapter from her book manuscript "Chinese Climates and Constitutions," in which she addresses the issue of pluralism in China's medical history from the perspective of Ming physicians. For a pre-circulated copy of Dr. Hanson's paper, please contact Karen Oslund. Time & Location: 12:00 p.m., Francis Scott Key Building, Room #2120.
Celebration of the NEW  !! — Nov. 14, 2005:
Did you know that the University of Maryland has had Committee on East Asian Studies since 1969, but that it only just became a Center this year? Come help us celebrate with a special event featuring a lecture by Dr. Carol Gluck, the Sir George Sansom Professor of Japanese History, Columbia University, and a musical performancy by Dr. Miyuki Yoshikami and Carolyn Oh. Time & Location: 5:00 p.m., McKeldin Library, Special Events Room, #6137.
"Constitutional Poetics: Courts And Constitutional Development
In Present-Day China And Early Industrial England" — Nov. 14th, 2005:
Dr. Michael Dowdle will be visiting the University of Maryland from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he is an Associate Professor of Public Law. As a leading scholar of Constitutional Development in China, Professor Dowdle is the author of numerous law journal articles and has recently edited and contributed to Public Accountability: Designs, Dilemmas and Experiences, Cambridge, 2005. Time & Location: 2:00 p.m., Tydings Hall, 2nd Floor, 2141 Conference Room.
"Stones from Other Mountains":
Chinese Painting Studies in Postwar America — Nov. 13 & 14, 2005:
During this two day conference a variety of scholars will discuss aspects of Chinese painting and art history. Speakers include: James Cahill, UC Berkeley, James Elkins, Art Institute of Chicago; Richard Vinograd, Stanford University; and Zaixin Hong, University of Puget Sound (Takoma, WA). Time & Location: See Event Flyer for details.
Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Lecture Series:
"Educating Strangers: The Invisible Weight of Tradition" — Nov. 8, 2005:
 The The fourth presentation in this year's Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Lecture Series will be given by Dr. Barbara Finkelstein from the Department of Education Policy and Leadership. Dr. Finkelstein is also the faculty advisor to the Mid-Atlantic Region Japan in the Schools (MARJiS) program at the University of Maryland. Her lecture will discuss how the culture in which schools are placed influences curriculum and teaching, and will contrast Japanese and American educational systems as examples. Time & Location: 4:00 p.m., Prince George's Room, Stamp Student Union.
Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble — 8:00 pm, Oct. 28, 2005:
Celebrating 30 years of taiko (Japanese drum) drumming, consummate taiko artist Kenny Endo, one of the foremost names in taiko drumming today, combines members of his Tokyo, Honolulu, and continental USA ensembles for a special Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble "East Meets West" performance tour in Fall 2005. With tradition as his basis for innovation, Endo has paved new directions in the use of traditional taiko, bringing a refreshing and creative approach to music through his western, ethnic and traditional influences. The "East Meets West" performance tour features both Japanese and Western instruments in an eclectic collaboration of traditional and world rhythms and modern compositions. Instrumentation includes the large taiko drums, tsuzumi (Japanese hour-glass hand drum), bamboo flutes, 17-string bass koto, vibraphones, congas, as well as Latin, Japanese, and world percussion.
"Hiroshima Maiden" — Oct. 28-30, 2005:
When audiences see Dan Hurlin's Hiroshima Maiden they are staggered by its power. Sixty years after the bombing of Hiroshima, Hurlin's puppets convey in a way that people cannot, our deepest need for peace and release from hatred and fear. Hiroshima Maiden is performed in the visually beautiful Bunraku style of puppetry, with live music and narration. This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
WORKSHOPS: Tradition and Change in Japanese Performing Art: — Oct. 28 & 29, 2005:
Two workshops especially designed for teachers will take place at the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts, University of Maryland, at the end of October. These activities were organized by the MARJiS/International Center for Transcultural Education programs and were made possible through a generous grant from the Embassy of Japan. If interested, please review and fill out the Event Flier & Registration Sheet.
Reinventing Music: Tradition and Change — Oct. 28th (4-10 p.m.):
Join us for an exploration of traditional Japanese music and musical traditions, as they are emerging in contemporary music and performance. The Kenny Endo Taiko Ensemble combines Japanese instruments with world rhythms to create soundscapes reflective of our natural world. Instructional materials for integrating Japanese music and educational experiences into the classroom will be provided.
- Learn the fundamentals of Japanese music through demonstrations and participation
- Learn the history and sound of koto and drum music
- Obtain instructional materials for integrating Japanese music into the classroom
- Enjoy a performances of traditional and contemporary music
Reinventing Performance: Tradition and Change in Bunraku Puppetry — Oct. 29th (3-10 p.m.):
Come join us for an exploration of a Japanese traditional performing art, Bunraku puppetry, as it is emerging on the contemporary stage. Instructional materials for integrating Japanese educational experiences into the classroom will be provided.
- Learn the fundamentals of Bunraku puppetry through demonstrations and participation
- Discuss the impact of history, especially World War II, on Japanese education
- Obtain instructional materials for integrating Japanese puppetry and modern history into the classroom
- Enjoy a performance and post-performance discussion of the contemporary puppet play, Hiroshima Maiden
Seminar - Vermeer's Hat: The Making of our Unintended World — 4:00 pm, Oct. 17, 2005:
As the second seminar in The Center for Historical Studies' series, "Histories of Globalization," Vermeer's Hat: The Making of our Unintended World will be given by Professor Timothy Brook of the University of British Columbia. Timothy Brook is a distinguished scholar of Ming China (1368-1644) and has written extensively on the impact of new globalizing forces on Chinese politics, trade and culture during that era. The discussion will be based upon a paper written by Professory Brook, which participants are asked to read in advance. Copies will be available in the Department of History, 2115 Francis Scott Key Hall, or may be obtained electronically by contacting the Center for Historical Studies at 301 405-8739 or historycenter@umd.edu. Refreshments will be available in the Center for Historical Studies office (Taliaferro 2118) beginning at 3:30 pm.
2005 Washington Chinese Culture Festival at UM! — Oct. 4, 2005:
This is a special presentation at Tawes Theater in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (UMCD) at 7:30pm, October 4th. In celebration of the Chinese Cultural Festival local communities in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area are sponsoring a special dance, music, and acrobatics show at the University of Maryland. The performers are part of an outstanding group from China that will be featured during the China Festival at the Kennedy Center sponsored by the U.S. and Chinese governments. Participants have been selected from top national performance teams such as the China Eastern Song and Dance Ensemble, Beijing Song and Dance Ensemble, China National Peking Opera House, and China National Acrobatic Team. Many members of the company have been decorated in international competitions.
Open House at the Language House — Sept. 30, Oct. 10, and Nov. 11, 2005:
The Language House will hold open houses to give students the opportunity to tour open facilities and one apartment. The event is especially valuable for prospective students and their parents to receive information about the Language House Immersion Program, one of the many living-learning programs at the University of Maryland.
JET Programme Reps at UM — Sept. 28, 2005:
Representatives from the JET Programme (Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) will be at the University of Maryland campus to provide students with information on the program for graduated students to live and work in Japan. Location and Time: Language House, 3:45-5:15pm. Seniors and other students who are interested in future post-graduation opportunities are encouraged. Applications are usually available at the session, with a due date some time in early December.
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The World Heritage in Japan Exhibit — Oct. 17 – Dec. 9, 2005:
In 1972 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) adopted the World Heritage Convention, aimed at identifying, protecting, and preserving the world's cultural and natural treasures. Today there are 788 World Heritage Sites in 134 nations. Starting October 17th, 59 photographs of the 12 World Heritage Sites in Japan, on loan from the Japan Foundation, will be on display at the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC).
Pictures of the Floating World: Japanese Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints — Oct. 5 – Nov. 9, 2005: York College Galleries (York, PA) will exhibit 70 prints produced between 1847 and 1861 depicting scenes from kabuki theater by Kunisada Toyokuni III (1786-1865). In his time Toyokuni III was as successful as his friend and sometime-collaborator Hiroshige. Toyokuni III skills were so highly esteemed that later in his career he led the well-known which first popularized and perfected the ukiyo-e print. The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public. For more information, call (717) 815-1402.
Despotism, Markets, and Confucianism
In the Age of Wang Yang-ming
(1572-1528) — Nov. 3, 2005:
Professor Emeritus Ying-Shih Yu, a senior distinguished scholar in the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, will give a public lecture on the three major historical forces simultaneously at work in sixteenth-century China: Despotism, markets, and Confucianism. Taking Wang Yang-ming (1472-1528), the leading Confucian thinker of the Ming dynasty, and his new Confucian project as the main focus, this lecture will examine how the interplay of the political, socio-economic, and cultural forces eventually led to some fundamental changes in social structure on the one hand and reorientation of ideas on the other. The relevance of the Ming historical experience to what has been going on in China since the 1990s also will be noted in this talk. Location: Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Room LJ119, Washington, DC. A reception will follow the event.
The Festival of China — October 2005:
Welcoming nearly 900 performers from various regions throughout China as well as Hong Kong and the United States, this unprecedented celebration brings together East and West in a vibrant spectacle of the finest arts. Performances will include: Peking opera, orchestral music, folk music, and drumming; Ballet, modern dance, theater, puppetry, and acrobatics; Contemporary film, photography, fashion, and visual arts; Free events for the entire family, including a Beijing market and kite flying.
Korean Film Festival DC 2005 — Sept. 9 – Oct. 20, 2005:
The Freer and Sackler Galleries (Washington, DC) and the AFI Silver Theatre (Silver Spring, MD) are currently celebrating "the creative energy of one of the world's cinematic hotbeds." This film festival includes everything from big budget comedies to challenging independent productions.
The 6th Annual DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival — Oct. 6 - 16, 2005:
This year, in venues across the metropolitan DC area, APA Film is presenting over 80 films, including several outstanding feature films, documentaries, short programs, and music programs. Opening Night starts off with The Motel, an engaging coming of age story which screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. We proudly feature the North American premiere of the highest-grossing Asian film of 2005, Initial D, which stars Jay Chou, a major Asian pop idol, in a film about drifting and underground street racing. Several exceptional documentaries are on display, such as The Grace Lee Project which details the lives of several amazing women named Grace Lee and No Sleep Til Shanghai which follows Jin, the first signed Asian American rapper, as he tours Asia. Closing night brings Cavite, a daring independent thriller that touches upon terrorism, religion, and the Filipino way of life. Film Festival Schedule.
Library of Congress Tribute to Toru Takemitsu — Sept. 26 - Oct. 8, 2005:
The Library of Congress will present a special autumn minifestival, in tribute to the eminent Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, between September 26 and October 8. Masatoshi Mitsumoto is the conductor and artistic director for the project, Mirror of Tree, Mirror of Field: the Life and Music of Toru Takemitsu. The Library's celebration marks the 75th anniversary of Toru Takemitsu's birth with a chamber music concert, screenings of ten films with scores by the composer, and a roundtable discussion of his music with scholars, composers, and film experts. Also see Events Calendar for dates and show times.
Takemitsu Film Festival — Sept. 26 - Oct. 7, 2005: The Library's Music Division and Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division will present screenings of 11 films in the 90-seat Mary Pickford Theater between September 26 and October 8. From his first film in 1956 to his death in 1996, Takemitsu was closely linked to a generation of directors who have forcefully challenged both the established norms of Japanese society and the traditional modes of filmmaking. Showcasing some of the composer's best film work, this series is made possible through the generous support of the Japan Foundation, Janus Films, Kino International, and the American Cinematheque.
Chamber Music of Toru Takemitsu — Oct. 8, 2005: Masatoshi Mitsumoto, artistic director and conductor. An evening of works by a seminal figure in 20th century music, championed by Stravinsky and Copland, who bridged Eastern and Western traditions. The program includes his string quartet A way a Lone, Stanza II for harp and tape, Air for flute, and other pieces, featuring flutist Paula Robison, violinist Shoko Aki, violist Maria Lambros, harpist Naoko Yoshino, the Potomac String Quartet, cellist Evelyn Elsing, pianist Audrey Andrist, and others. Tickets available September 7. Roundtable discussion preceding the concert, 5:00 p.m. (no tickets required).
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