• EASC Forms New Tie with School of Journalism
• Japanese Rare Books in the Library of Congress

 

EASC Forms New Tie with School of Journalism

As part of the undergraduate initiative underwritten by the Freeman Foundation, EASC has developed a relationship with the School of Journalism. Specifically, EASC is funding new East Asia-related course development and sponsoring visits to the School of Journalism by scholars and established journalists.

Anthony Kuhn, LA Times Beijing correspondent and the first visiting journalist to come to campus, visited Indiana University September 30 to October 8, 2002. Mr. Kuhn has lived in China for the past decade and covered a wide range of stories, dealing with everything from Tibet to economic reform, the plight of Muslims in China to the growing influence of the Internet, Falun Gong to international summits. He has worked for several media outlets, with his reports appearing in publications such as U.S. News and World Report and the Far Eastern Economic Review. In addition to his work as a print journalist, he also regularly contributes stories to National Public Radio.

While at Indiana University, Mr. Kuhn visited classes in the Schools of Business and Journalism, guest-lectured in Professor Soek-fang Sim's course "Media, Nation and Identity in Asia and the West" and was the keynote speaker for a roundtable discussion, "Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press in Authoritarian States," which was presented by the Indiana University East Asian Studies Center, School of Journalism, School of Law, International Law Society, REEI, the Center for the Study of Global Change, and the Center for the Study Democracy.

Jeff Wasserstrom, the Director of the East Asian Studies Center, thought Kuhn's visit was a great success. "The collaboration between EASC and the School of Journalism has gotten off to a great start with Anthony Kuhn's visit," Wasserstrom explains. "His visit accomplished everything we had hoped that the program with the Journalism School would accomplish. Not only did his talks to journalism students go over extremely well, but he also made thoughtful and effective presentations to an array of other groups, ranging from retirees to grade school kids. No matter what the venue, his talks always combined -- as we hoped they would -- interesting insights on current events in China and anecdotes drawn from his own personal experiences."

This spring another journalist will spend time on the Bloomington campus. Because Kuhn has been involved mainly with print media and radio, coordinators would like the next visiting journalist in the series to be someone involved in television. Wasserstrom states, "We have invited a very fine CNN reporter to come in March, and she has tentatively agreed to do so, but there is always the chance that crises in the region will prevent her from being able to come at that time." Check the EASC website for more information about future visiting journalists.

The second part of the collaboration between EASC and the School of Journalism centers on development of courses that will have more East Asian content. With the support of EASC, journalism professor Steve Raymer is taking time to redesign his J414 "International News Gathering Systems" course to include 40 percent East Asia-related content. The course, which is taught every semester, will be offered in its new form in either the Spring or Fall of 2004. Raymer states, "J414 covers the organization, problems, issues, etc. of the global news media. Every instructor draws upon his or her background as a scholar -- or in my case as a journalist -- for a theme and case studies. I draw heavily upon Russia, where I worked as the National Geographic correspondent for five and a half years, and Asia, where I worked much of my professional life." Recently, he has felt the need to look more at East Asia when developing his thoughts for this course. He explains, "All three of the major media models are presented in Asia -- Western-democratic, authoritarian, and developmental. So Asia, especially East Asia, is fertile ground for case studies. Moreover, the Chinese news media is evolving rapidly from a Communist model, which we only teach today as a historic relic, into a hybrid that incorporates ideas from all three basic models -- Western-democratic, authoritarian, and developmental. So again, China illustrates many important points that I cover in the class. Beyond this, however, I think we have to deal with China's numbers, its growing influence -- political and economic -- and its potential to provide an alternative media model for other Asian nations."

Professor Raymer has extensive experience in Asia. Of the 30-plus stories he did as a National Geographic staff photographer between 1972 and 1995, at least half took him to Asia. Since leaving National Geographic to join the IU faculty, he has done books about Vietnam (Land of the Ascending Dragon: Rediscovering Vietnam, 1997) and Islam in SE Asia (Living Faith: Inside the Muslim World of Southeast Asia, 2001.) He has been a frequent lecturer at universities in SE Asia for the Rockefeller Foundation and the U.S. State Department, and he has done a number of freelance photo assignments in recent years in Asia for Time magazine, The Washington Post, GEO, and others. Because he has worked in every country of Asia except China, he is looking forward to using EASC support to make study in China a reality.

While Professor Raymer has included China in this course consistently in the past he is planning to focus more on China. "China already accounts for at least 25 percent of the course when you include case studies. In my case, what I know about the Chinese media I have learned from experts or books. I have no first-hand experience outside of dozens of working trips to Hong Kong. So the East Asian Studies Center is helping me obtain better first-hand knowledge of the Chinese news media while I am in China in the summer and fall on sabbatical.

J414 draws students from the School of Journalism, Russian and East European Institute, SPEA, and the Kelley School of Business. It is considered a "research elective," but there is an emphasis on studying how things are, how they got to be the way they are, and what we can expect in the future. "Since most I.U. students have a limited understanding of Asia, its history, various cultures, impact on the world economy, etc…, one of my goals is that students come to grips with how important Asia, especially China, will be during their careers in the mass media."

Both of these programs will contribute greatly to the understanding of East Asia and its import to world news media. Written by Susan Furukawa

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Japanese Rare Books in the Library of Congress

Sumie Jones, Professor of EALC, Comparative Literature, and Film Studies and Adjunct Professor of Communication and Culture announces the completion of a long-awaited catalogue, Japanese Rare Books in the Library of Congress, which will be published on February 28, 2003, by Yagi Book Store Co. Ltd. The catalogue is the result of a four-year, collaborative project by Jones, Kenji Watanabe (Rikkyo University), Osamu Kigoshi (Kanazawa University), Natsuo Ichiko (Ochanomizu University), Takashi Ibi (Seikei University), Kazuaki Komine (Rikkyo University), and Taizo Sawai (Aichi University). Over 4800 items were catalogued for this 600-page volume. A panel featuring this project, "Collecting Books, Accumulating Knowledge: Early Japanese Books and Manuscripts in the Library of Congress," will be presented at the upcoming meeting of the Association for Asian Studies which will be held in New York in March 2003. The panel will consist of papers on materials the team found in the Library of Congress. Written by Susan Furukawa

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