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More New East Asia-related Faculty

In addition to the new hires of Heidi Ross (School of Education), Ethan Michaelson (COAS), Scott O'Bryan (History and EALC), and the one-year appointment of Marvin Sterling (Anthropology), EASC is pleased to announce four more new East Asia-related faculty-- Greg Waller (Communication and Culture), Gardner Bovington (Central Eurasian Studies), Rick Harbaugh (Economics), and Sara Friedman (Gender Studies). Watch for in-depth introductions of these new faculty in future editions of the newsletter!

 

Second Annual EASC-sponsored Study Tour Visits Japan

For the second summer in a row, teachers from the Midwest have had the opportunity to travel to East Asia to experience it firsthand. The study tours are a follow up to the 30-hour Teaching about Asia seminars teachers undertake to improve their knowledge of East Asia. Like the seminars, the study tours are generously funded by the Freeman Foundation.

Nine teachers - from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio- began their preparations for the trip in February by familiarizing themselves with Japan via a specially-created Website for the tour. After orientations in Bloomington and Chicago and a great deal of reading and planning, teachers spent three weeks traveling widely in Japan. Stops were made in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Himeji, Hiroshima, and Okinawa. Highlights of the trip were the peace museums in Hiroshima and Okinawa and homestays in Hiroshima. In addition to visiting many of the majorsites in Japan, teachers were given free time to pursue individual research interests. An important component of the study tour is researching, creating and implementing lesson plans on Japan.

Because traveling and absorbing so much new information can be overwhelming, scholars and staff led the tour and held periodic meetings to help teachers process what they were experiencing. One participant wrote about the trip, "I cannot wait to get back and start planning how many ways I can integrate my new knowledge into the curriculum." Enthusiastic responses like this leave us convinced that outreach does work! Teachers reconvened September 27th and 28th to share photos, reflect on their experiences, and discuss how they will be bringing to their schools and communities what they learned in Japan.

EASC/EALC staff/faculty accompanying the group were Michael Robinson (Professor,), Jacques Fuqua (EASC Associate Director), Mary Hayes (EASC Outreach Coordinator), Anne Prescott (EASC Outreach Coordinator), and Mayumi Nakano (EASC Database Coordinator and webmaster). A new addition to the staff was a curriculum coordinator, a position held this year by John Frank (US History, Center Grove High School).

 

Weclome New Staff

The beginning of the academic year always brings staff changes to the East Asian Studies Center. Mayumi Nakano, who has been the Database Coordinator since 1998, will be leaving Bloomington this fall. Melissa Gross, a graduate of the University of Northern Alabama with adegree in history and computer information systems, will be taking her place. Melissa enjoys reading and swimming and keeping up with her three children, Michael (7), John (5), and Catherine (1). Melissa's husband is a graduate student in the Theater Department.

Outreach Assistant/Public Affairs Coordinator, Susan Furukawa, began pursing her Ph.D. full-time in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures in September. Though she will continue to edit the EASC newsletter, several of her other duties will be handled by two new Outreach Assistants, Maryanne Kim, and Francis Tan. Patricia Winkler joins the outreach staff as Office Assistant.

Maryanne Kim recently moved to Bloomington from Oregon with her new husband, who is pursuing a doctorate in mathematics. She received her Bachelor's degree in Chinese Studies from Pacific Lutheran University. In her free time she enjoys languages, playing piano, and scrapbooking.

Francis Tan, a music major (tuba) who will soon matriculate into the artist's diploma program, is from Singapore and came to IU as an exchange student from the Australian National University. He already has a degree from Singapore Polytechnic.

Although this is only the beginning of her freshman year, Patricia Winkler is already starting to feel at home at IU, and is enjoying the transition to college life. Patricia attended North Central High School in Indianapolis, where she began studying Japanese and participated in the first exchange between North Central and Morioka Minami High School in Japan, which was arranged by EASC (funded by the Freeman Foundation). Patricia has yet to declare a major, but might major in East Asian Languages and Cultures or Political Science. At the Center, she will be assisting with programming related to the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA).

Michael Hansen, Stephen Kory, and Sarah Pedersen will also be joining the EASC part-time as Conference Assistant, Subscriptions Manager, and Grants Assistant, respectively.

 

2003-2004 East Asian Film Series Off and Running

EASC is proud to present the 2003 Fall East Asian Film Series schedule. The first film of the East Asian Film Series, Breaking the Silence (Paoliang Mama) was shown on September 13th to an enthusiastic audience. Following is a list of the other films that will be shown this fall.

Manji. October 18, 2003. 7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Japan, 1964, Dir. Yasuzo Masumura, 92 min.

Ashes of Time. November 1, 2003. 7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Hong Kong, 1994, Dir. Wong Kar Wai, 95 min.

The Contact. November 15, 2003. 7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Korea, 1997, Dir. Jang Yun-Hyeon, 104 min.

Flowers of Shanghai. December 6, 2003. 7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Taiwan, 1998, Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 113 min.

Sprited Away. December 13, 2003. 7:30 pm, Woodburn 101
Japan, 2001, Dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 132 min.
MPAA Rated PG - suitable for a young audience with parental permission.

Except as noted, these films are generally not suitable for a young audience.
For more information about these films, please go to http://www.indiana.edu/ easc/filmseries/index.htm

 

Announcing the Fall 2003 Colloquium Lecture Series

The EASC colloquium lecture series got underway on September 19, 2003 with a fascinating talk entitled "The Hero of Liao-Yang (1904): Narrating the New Japan" by the new head of the Department of Communication and Culture, Dr. Greg Waller. More than 30 people crowded into Ballantine 004 to hear this talk about the representation of Japan in the U.S. during the Russo-Japanese War. There will be three more colloquium lectures this fall, so please mark your calendars. (Please note that lectures will be held on varying time, day of the week, and location):

 

2003 "Teaching East Asian Literature in the High School" Workshop a Success

Twenty-five high school teachers came to Bloomington in July to study the history and literature of China, Japan, and Korea. In everyone's eyes, the week was an enormous success.

On Monday, July 14, Professor Yingjin Zhang from the University of California-San Diego began two days of presentations on the literary traditions of China. The East Asian Studies Center's director, Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom, provided historical background on China. Following the two days of China presentations, Professor Rebecca Ruhlen from the University of Washington and Professor Mike Robinson from Indiana University-Bloomington presented on the literature, culture, and history of the Korean peninsula. The week ended with two days devoted to Japanese literature and history with Professors Andra Alvis and Thomas Keirstead, both of Indiana University-Bloomington, lending their expertise. Throughout the week, Cecilia Boyce of Hillsborough High School (Odessa, FL) and Judith DeWoskin of Community High School (Ann Arbor, MI) guided participants on how to creatively implement East Asian literature into the high school classroom.

In addition to the formal sessions, the 2003 Literature Workshop gave each participant the opportunity to gain familiarity with the three cultures of study. Cultural presentations on aikido, Chinese calligraphy, and East Asian dress plus East Asian films and cuisine provided other formats from which to learn about East Asia. Another highlight was a trip to the Indiana University Museum of Art's Asian collection.

With a final banquet on Friday, July 19, the 2003 presenters, participants, and East Asian Studies Center staff members celebrated the conclusion of a wonderful week and look forward to 2004!

 

Students Take Part in East Asian Experience

Four students participated in the second EASC-sponsored East Asian Experience Program. Last summer two I.U. Bloomington students had internships in East Asia-related businesses in the United States, but this summer, students were able to experience East Asian first-hand. Students, Andy Sobol (in EALC), Jennifer Allender , Anthony Leong, and Sherie Mitchell, (all from the School of Business) went to Japan for varying lengths of time this summer. Each student had a slightly different program, ranging from one to two months in length and combining a short work experience with education and cultural experiences. One student worked at the UN office in Tokyo, another in the mayor's office in Yotsukaido, and yet another in a municipal office in Tokyo. All of the students stayed with Japanese host families and participated in a weeklong excursion to Tochigi Precture (Utsunomiya), and attended classes at Hakuoh University, interacting with students and teachers there. Jacques Fuqua, Associate Director of EASC, describes his encounters with some of the students in Japan: "The most memorable thing for me was meeting with one of the students after she had just arrived. She was extremely homesick and not sure she wanted to be in Japan. When I got an e-mail from her two weeks later, she described the visit as a once in a lifetime opportunity and how much fun she was having. All of the students have described this as a life-changing event for them." Two of the students remained in Japan for semester or year-abroad programs.

 

Other News in Brief

EASC and the School of Journalism will sponsor the visit of journalist Philip Segal who will be here Monday through Wednesday of the week of Oct. 20 (Oct. 20, 21 and 22).

 

Due to the popularity of the spring High School Honor's Seminar, a second session was held on September 16, 2003. Sixty high school juniors and seniors and their teachers came to I.U. to learn about "Tradition in Manga and Anime." The Honors Seminar is normally held once every April, but more than 150 students showed interest in this year's topic, leading to a second session.