Penn Center For East Asian Studies Newsletter

1. University of Pennsylvania East Asia Events
   
2. Regional East Asia Events
   
3. Employment and Internship Opportunities
   
4. Fellowship and Award Opportunities
   
5. East Asia Study Opportunities and Queries
   
6. Conferences and Workshops

Featured Event

Saturday, December 8, 10:00 am  to 2:00 pm

Penn Museum Family Workshop : Chinese Paper Cutting: Craft and Culture

Paper cut creations—a fun and festive way to adorn homes, windows, and gates—have a long history in China . Artist and craft teacher Yu Yang introduces families to this handicraft tradition at this workshop where participants learn about and create decorations, including paper flowers, animals and fanciful ornaments, just in time for holiday gift giving! $10 per person ($5 per member) includes craft experience, recommended for ages 7 and above, and admission donation to the Museum.

Pre-registration recommended. Drop-ins welcome while supplies last. Information: 215/898-4016.

Please visit http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/events/calitem.php?which=1435 for more details and to register for this event.

Saturday, December 8, 10:00 am  to 2:00 pm

Penn Museum Family Workshop : Chinese Paper Cutting: Craft and Culture

Paper cut creations—a fun and festive way to adorn homes, windows, and gates—have a long history in China . Artist and craft teacher Yu Yang introduces families to this handicraft tradition at this workshop where participants learn about and create decorations, including paper flowers, animals and fanciful ornaments, just in time for holiday gift giving! $10 per person ($5 per member) includes craft experience, recommended for ages 7 and above, and admission donation to the Museum.

Pre-registration recommended. Drop-ins welcome while supplies last. Information: 215/898-4016.

Please visit http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/events/calitem.php?which=1435 for more details and to register for this event.

___________

A Harmonious Information Society? Social Stratification, ICT & Media in China

A one-day symposium to be held on January 25, 2008 generously supported and hosted by the Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. 
Economic development and ‘informatization' in China have gone hand in hand. While the growth of the economy over the years has been and still is at an incredible rate, the adoption rate of information technology, such as that of mobile phones and the internet, has been just as, if not even more impressive. However, with recent discussions about the construction of a ‘harmonious society' appearing on the political agenda, the focus has started to shift from economic growth to the problem of achieving more overall societal balance. This shift in official discourse acknowledges the need to address social problems, including the tensions between state and market forces, a growing gap between the rich and the poor and widening disparities between the urban and rural population. While there has been research on social stratification in China, little attention so far has been paid to the role information technologies and the media play in this process.
First, what are the social consequences of an increasing informatization of the Chinese society? Who are the main users of new technologies and what are they using them for? And what happens to those who are left out, who do not have the access, or the education to develop the skills and literacy necessary to work with digital media? A deeper underlying question perhaps is, where did these technologies come from and why were they so generously supported? What roles do economic and political considerations play in shaping the diffusion of technology that can be adopted for either repressive or emancipatory purposes?
Second, what is the role of the media in addressing social inequality? In the light of an increasing stratified society, how do the media, both the traditional and the new media, represent competing voices and interests and how do they communicate these disagreements to the public? How do members of the public make sense or fail to make sense of these media representations?

On Friday January 25, 2008, we will bring together an impressive group of scholars for a one-day symposium to address these contentious questions. Our panels include renowned scholars coming from a wide range of disciplines, such as, communication, political science, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies and China studies. Participation among all those attending will be enthusiastically encouraged.
For more information about the symposium, please contact Lokman Tsui <ltsui@asc.upenn.edu>

The Buddhist Studies Seminar cordially invites you to a public lecture on:

"The Yogacara and Hua-yen Infrastructure of Dogen's Shobogenzo"

by DAVID DILWORTH

WHEN:
Thursday, December 13th, 2007
5:30-7:30 pm

WHERE:
Rm. 201, 80 Claremont Avenue
Department of Religion, Columbia University

BIO:
David Dilworth is Professor of Philosophy at State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has a degree in philosophy from Fordham University (1963) and another from the department of EALAC, Columbia University (1970). He has specialized in modern Japanese philosophy while also ranging more widely in the history of ideas, East and West. He is the author of /Philosophy in World Perspective: A Comparative Hermeneutic of The Major Theories/ (Yale, 1989) and translator and co-editor of /Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents/ (Greenwood Press, 1998).

The present paper will review some of the historical background to Dogen's /Shobogenzo/, but it will chiefly feature a reading the text itself as exemplifying the theme of the momentary presentness of the dharmas (“the eyeballs are now, the nostrils are now”) that is suffused with the language of the Yogacara and Hua-yen metaphysics of universal permeation (“the total exertion of a single dharma,” “the triple world is mind only'). Dogen's famous phrase-making ability and poetic sensibility will be appreciated as expressions of his concentrated philosophical intelligence as manifested in the theoretical infrastructure of this classic of world literature.


DIRECTIONS:
Click link below, or copy the entire link and paste into a browser:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=80+Claremont+Ave,+New+York,+NY+10027

* All are welcome to attend dinner afterward with the speaker.
Dinner guests are responsible for the cost of their own meals.
If you plan on attending dinner, please send an email RSVP
to Gregory Scott ( gas2122@columbia.edu) before Dec. 11, 2007.

__________

Princeton University Buddhist Studies Workshop 2007-2008

Imaginary Geographies: Buddhism and the Japanese World Map

Monday, February 4, 2008, 4:30 pm, 1879 Hall, Room 137

Max Moerman ( Barnard College)

Art History, Buddhist Studies, Tibet: New Perspectives from the Tibet Site Seminar

March 7-9, 2008, Friday-Sunday, McCormick 101

Friday, 4:30 pm: Keynote address by Deborah Klimburg-Salter (University of Vienna).

Saturday and Sunday: Papers by graduate-student participants in the 2007 Tibet Site Seminar, with responses from Janet Gyatso (Harvard Divinity School), Marylin Rhie (Smith College), and Gene E. Smith (Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center).

Co-sponsored by the Tang Center for East Asian Art and the Center for the Study of Religion.

The conference is free but registration is required: http://www.princeton.edu/TibetSem/program-conference.htm .

Bringing Together Intuition and Law:

Linguistic Relevance and Moral Creativity in Theravada Buddhist Ethics

Tuesday, March 25, 2008, 4:30 pm, 1879 Hall, Room 137

Charles Hallisey ( Harvard University)

War Magic in Tibetan Buddhism

Thursday, April 17, 2008, 4:30 pm, 1879 Hall, Room 137

Bryan Cuevas, ( Florida State University and the Institute for Advanced Study)

Questions? Please send e-mail to bbermel@princeton.edu.

The Buddhist Studies Workshop is generously supported by the Provost, the Center for the Study of Religion, and the Department of Religion.

Additional co-sponsors include:
The Program in East Asian Studies
The P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art
The Princeton University Library
The Council on the Humanities

__________

The Fall 2007 schedule of Oriental Club of Philadelphia is as follows:

October 18, Frank J. Hoffman, "Process Concepts of Text, Practice, and No Self in Buddhism"
November 8, Paula Sabloff, "Mongolian Herders Talk about Democracy"
December 6, Annette Yoshiko Reed, "Beyond the Land of Nod: Images of India and China in Syriac Literature"
All meetings are on Thursdays at 6 p.m. Dinners follow at area restaurants as announced. The dinner meeting
of the October 18 event will be in Han-Wool Restaurant. The Spring schedule
will be announced when available. The annual banquet speaker for 2008 will be Gernot Bohme.
Members should RSVP to fhoffman@sas.upenn.edu about dinner before next week
Tuesday at noon.

Those with a career interest in Asia, including faculty, staff, and graduate students, are welcome as guests. First time visitors without a member to introduce them may be guests of the club president.

Sincerely,
Frank Hoffman
OC President (2007-08)

*The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture in Hanford , CA is seeking a qualified applicant for the position of Curator.

The Curator will oversee the general operations of the Center and serve as the primary liaison to the Board of Directors and Art Advisory Committee. Primary responsibilities will include:

• Organizing and mounting exhibitions, including targeting funding to support exhibitions

• Maintaining and expanding gallery and collections records, including seeking funding for collections maintenance projects

• Researching and publishing on the collection and representing the institution within the academic and museum community

• Supervising curatorial interns

• Supervising cultural and educational programming, including seeking funding for such programming

• Overseeing research library staff and volunteers

• Accompanying the Center's founder on at least one trip a year to Japan for purposes of promoting the Center and acquiring art

The Clark Center is a small, active museum focused on the arts and culture of Japan in a rural California setting. Established in 1995 around the collection of Willard and Elizabeth Clark, featuring Edo period paintings and Kamakura period Buddhist sculpture, the collection has expanded through major gifts and on-going acquisitions to include contemporary ceramics, modern shin-hanga prints, and a significant combination of paintings and research materials related to the literati tradition of the Edo and Meiji periods. For more information, please see our website at http://www.ccjac.org.

Applicants with a graduate degree with specialization in the area of Japanese art or a related degree and equivalent prior curatorial experience are preferred. The successful applicant will have near-native level fluency in Japanese and English with strong English writing skills. Familiarity with Microsoft Access or comparable database management systems, Japanese-language word processing and email required. Working within a highly multi-task environment, strong organizational skills and prior experience as a supervisor an asset.

Salary dependent on experience. This position receives full benefits and moving costs. For a highly qualified and interested candidate, the position of curator may be combined with directorship of the museum, at an appropriately enhanced level of salary and benefits.

Applications, accepted until the position is filled, should include a cover letter, a current curriculum vitae, and three letters of reference (including at least one professional) to be sent preferably via email to Barbara McCasland, Administrative Supervisor, at mccasland@ccjac.org. Hard-copy materials may be sent directly to: The Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, 15770 Tenth Avenue , Hanford , CA 93230 ; Attn: Curator Search.

University of Pennsylvania
Center for East Asian Studies
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships
Academic Year 2008-09

Applications are due February 1, 2008, to the Applicant's Department

The Center for East Asian Studies will award seven FLAS Fellowships for AY 2008-09 to graduate students planning to pursue modern East Asian language study at the intermediate or higher level. The FLAS Fellowship pays tuition and general fees and provides an annual stipend of $15,000.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, be admitted to or enrolled in a graduate program at Penn, and have research or career plans that require the use of an East Asian language. The languages most commonly studied are Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, but other languages of the region may be approved. Awards are made by the Executive Committee of the Center for East Asian Studies.

Successful applicants must then enroll both semesters of the Fellowship year in an intermediate or higher modern East Asian language and in full-time study in either East Asian Studies or professional studies related to East Asia .

Application should be made directly to the Graduate Chair of the Department in which the applicant is enrolled. (Incoming graduate students should indicate to the departments to which they have applied that they would like to be considered for the FLAS.) The application form, which lists the materials required for submission, is attached to the electronic version of this message, and it appears on the reverse side of the printed version. The form can be obtained at the Center for East Asian Studies, by writing to ceas@ccat.sas.upenn.edu , or on our webpage at www.ceas.sas.upenn.edu .

The competition will be conducted strictly in accordance with University policies and the selection guidelines of the U.S. Department of Education. The Center for East Asian Studies seeks to support students in as wide a variety of disciplines and professions, and from as wide a variety of backgrounds, as possible.

*The Columbia East Asia Review is seeking submissions of original research in East Asia from students of undergraduate institutions worldwide. Research
articles in any academic discipline are eligible for submission. Accepted
articles will be published in the Spring 2008 Review. The author of the
article deemed best by the Editorial Board will be awarded a $200 prize upon publication.

*The submission deadline is Saturday, January 27, 2008.*

The Columbia East Asia Review (CEAR) is an annual, online, peer-review
academic journal dedicated to furthering knowledge of East Asia through the
promotion of research and interdisciplinary dialogue. CEAR has three primary

goals: First, to publish superior undergraduate research of East Asia;
Second, to educate undergraduate contributors and CEAR members about the
academic publication process; and third, to foster interest and idea
exchange in the field of East Asian Studies. CEAR is sponsored by the
Weatherhead East Asian Institute and the Columbia University Department of
East Asian Languages and Culture.
More information regarding submissions can be found online at
www.eastasiareview.org

__________

Come to an information session about a new Japan study and travel project -

Phila-Nipponica 2008: Japan in the 21 st Century
Preparing to Teach about Japan in the Greater Philadelphia Area

The University of Pennsylvania Center for East Asian Studies and the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia are pleased to announce that they will offer the ninth year in a series that has helped over a hundred Philadelphia-area teachers enhance their classroom teaching about Japan through seminars, summer study-tours, and curriculum development workshops.

Middle and High school teachers are invited to an information session in which they'll see a slide show highlighting earlier years' activities, learn what the project will offer, meet with project organizers and teacher alumni, and see what is needed to apply successfully.

Where: World Affairs Council Conference Room, One South Broad St., 2M, Philadelphia

When: Thursday, December 13th

4:00 pm Registration, refreshments, and spectacular slide show of Japan

4:30-5:30 Learn about Japan in the 21 st Century

Speakers include:

University of Pennsylvania Professor Cameron Hurst, Phila-Nipponica Director, will speak on the project's focus on 21 st Century Japan.

Center for East Asian Studies Associate Director Frank Chance will talk about the three sections of the Phila-Nipponica project: seminar, study-tour, and curriculum Development.

World Affairs Council Vice President Margaret Lonzetta will talk about teacher requirements and applications to the program.

Please reserve your place by calling or e-mailing Amy Schlosberg, aschlosberg@wacphila.org or 215-561-4700 ext 207.

__________

World Affairs Council- An Opportunity to learn about China, Japan, Korea, and more!


China and international trade issues, Cool, Creative Japan in the 21 st century, “rapprochement”  with North Korea – these are all issues that will impact our students today – and into the future.  The underpinnings for these topics can be found in the East Asia Seminar Series for Teachers, a professional development program offered by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia in cooperation with the National Consortium for Teaching About Asia. 

Participants have access to the latest scholarship on these and many other issues, receive a wealth of materials for themselves and for their schools, have special programs designed exclusively for them at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the University of Pennsylvania Museum and have opportunities to be part of study tours to locations in East Asia.  Personal and professional stipends of up to $500 are included in this highly regarded program.  This year, as part of the materials we are offering through the East Asia Seminar, each participant will receive a copy of Spirited Away from one of the most acclaimed filmmakers in the history of animated cinema.

For more information visit: www.wacphila.org

(LAST-MINUTE) CALL FOR PAPERS

11th Annual HEAS Graduate Student Conference
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Friday, February 29  to Sunday, March 2, 2008

The Harvard East Asia Society (HEAS) invites graduate students from all fields to present at the 11th Annual HEAS Graduate Student Conference.

The HEAS Graduate Student Conference aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of ideas and the discussion of current graduate student research on East Asia. The conference is an opportunity for young scholars to present their research to both their peers and eminent scholars in the East Asian Studies. All panels will be moderated by Harvard University faculty. Submissions from all disciplines are welcome.

Application Guidelines:

1. Your paper or research must be related to the East Asia region (including Inner Asia)
2. Abstract limit: 500 words
3. Abstract submission deadline: December 2, 2007
4. Submit your abstract and application at http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~heas/conference/

For more information about the conference, visit http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~heas/conference/

Please direct any questions to the HEAS Conference Committee at heasconference@gmail.com

Center for East Asian Studies
University of Pennsylvania
642 Williams Hall
255 S. 36th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305
Tel: 215-573-4203; Fax: 215-573-2561
E-mail: ceas@ccat.sas.upenn.edu