UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND
Asian Studies Newsletter - Spring 2011
JAPAN WEEK Celebrations
Organized by the Japanese Language Program, Japan Week gives Puget Sound
students an opportunity to explore various aspects of Japanese culture.
In a show of solidarity, Puget Sound students and faculty are holding prayer
events and wearing PrayforJapan sticker and buttons. In collaboration with
the Japan Week coordinators, other members of the campus community have
also been getting together to support the Japan disaster relief. All donations
from campus-wide fundraising, including those during Japan Week, will be
given to the United Methodist Committee on Relief which will direct 100% of
all donations to relief efforts in Japan.
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世間を
何に譬へむ
朝開き
漕ぎ去にし船の
跡なきごとし
Yo no naka o
nani-ni tatoemu
asabiraki
kogiinishi fune no
ato naki gotoshi
Living in this world to what shall I compare it?
Its like a boat
rowing out at break of day,
leaving no trace behind.
Poem from the 8th century Manyoushu poetry collection
Sami Mansei, translator
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Atsui! Thoughts from a
2010 Study Abroad Student
(This article is dedicated to the people of Japan)
Thanks to funding from the Trimbles and the Asian Studies Program, Puget Sound student Roger Shiu had the opportunity to take an intensive language course at the Kyoto
Institute of Culture and Language for a month last summer. Here are some his
thoughts about his experience in the land of vending machines and bidets:
The Japanese people frequently start their conversations by commenting the weather.
It is almost a custom, so I will start with the weather.
Kyoto was HOT. Atsui. That‟s what the locals said of the humid weather. I heard the word every day, at
least fives times a day while on riding the bus to school, eating dinner with my host family, studying at the
library, or sightseeing around the ancient capital. My host family claims that Kyoto is the hottest place in Japan because the surrounding mountains in the north, east, and west block tradewinds from coming into the
city. Atsuiiiii.
Besides the constant sweating, I have other great memories of my adventures in Kyoto. It took a while for
my friends and I to master the art of dodging people while taking in the atmosphere as we walked down the
busy streets of Shijou and Kawaramachi. The smell of takoyaki (fried octopus dumplings) permeated the air
while big signs directed us to traditional izakaya restaurants. I have to say that the various foods I ate as well
as the dining experience with good friends were probably the best part of my trip.
In fast food restaurants serving local cuisine, we paid for our meal tickets through a vending machines and
never had to speak to the waiters. At kaiten sushi restaurants, dishes of nigiri, maki, and cone sushi circulated on conveyer belts and despite the small servings typical of Japanese food, we had filling lunches for a
mere $6-7!!! In the more classy restaurants, we had sushi decked out on wooden platforms that looked so
fancy that I almost didn‟t want to ruin the beauty of the dish by eating the sushi. I would have ordered more
if it didn‟t break my wallet.
Besides the eating, there was a lot sightseeing. In every corner of Kyoto, there was always something to do,
stepping into one of hundreds of temples and shrines, watching gamblers play in smoke-filled pachinko parlors
next to the temples, or walking through rice paddy fields flanked by Love hotels on one side and a subway
station on the other. Everywhere we went, as gaijin (foreigners) we risked making cultural faux paux, but despite the embarrassment, we managed to laugh at how we pulled a “gaijin” act and moved on to the next
atsui adventure.
In addition to his adventures in Japan, Roger also conducted research on Japan‟s hikikomori, social recluses
who refuse to come out of their rooms for months and sometimes years. Through interviewing a clinical psychologist and a sociologist, he explored the idea of hikikomori being a psychiatric culture-bound syndrome and
investigated the approaches Japanese society take for treating these individuals. A report on his research can
be accessed through the Psychology Department or through contacting him at rshiu@pugetsound.edu.
Faculty Abroad in Asia Summer 2011
(Canceled due to the emergency situation in Japan)
Japanese Instructor Mikiko Ludden had been planning to lead a group of three
students (Annin Ramsing, Nathan Pincus, Nina Ho) this summer in Japan to conduct research on Japanese tea. They were going to be investigating how tea is
cultivated, processed and marketed, regional differences in tea and tea ceremony, as well as how the role of tea has changed in Japanese people's lives.
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Tibetan Medicine and Emotions
Rinchen Dhondrup, a doctor of Tibetan medicine and Associate Professor at the
Tibetan Medical College of Qinghai University, visited campus on Thursday, February 10th. He gave a guest lecture on the connections between Greek and Tibetan
medical systems in Professor Kristin Johnson‟s History of Medicine class and then
an evening lecture on Tibetan medicine and emotions for campus and community
members. The evening talk was well attended, with approximately 70 people in
the audience; in this talk Dr. Dhondrup explained some of the fundamental concepts in Tibetan medicine, with a focus on the connections between health, illness, and emotions.
Puget Sound student Abby Philips was fascinated with Dr. Dhondrup‟s lecture and
wished he had more time to talk. She describes what she learned about Tibetan
Medicine:
“Desire, hatred and ignorance are the 3 Nyepas, or causal roots of disease, as understood in Tibetan medicine. This perspective decomposes the body into 3 dimensions, the mental (semi conscious and consciousness), the energetic (the winds that pass through our bodies) and the physical (bodily constituents) all of
which have different effects on our emotional and physical wellness when they are unbalanced but can be rebalanced by following an appropriate regimen. For example, a phlegm disorder can be addressed by seeking
awareness to combat ignorance, by eating oily, cool, heavy foods or by clearing the corresponding energy
channel (which correspond to the meridians followed in acupuncture or the nadis studied in yoga).”
Another Puget Sound student, Erica Wong, was also captivated by the unique Tibetan approach to viewing
medicine. She shares some of the most intriguing information she learned about assessment and treatment in
Tibetan medicine:
“Tibetan Physicians assess these three states though questioning, fluid collection, tongue, and pulse readings.
The emotional state of an individual is important to assess for the „mind is a stream of consciousness or the
continuity of mind itself.‟ The mind creates nirvana/samsara and can cause internal suffering, which can perpetuate external physical suffering. Energy is another important assessment for it is a function or property of
the 5 natural elements, earth, water, fire, air, and space. It therefore carries the stream of consciousness and
is a continuity of the mind. This would mean assessing the function of the body including speech, movement,
respiration, and smooth flow of bodily constituents, sense organs, and delivery of waste products. The physical or body examination is needed to further assess the ones autonomic structure and functional ability.
Tibetan medicine is a holistic approach to achieving health on a mental, physical, and spiritual level to
which one can achieve equilibrium. Methods of treatment include herbs and diet, which combine the natural
elements with the gross external elements and target the areas of imbalance within the individual.”
Asian Studies Film Festival
Held from late January to early February, the annual film festival showcased the
“Tension, Terror, Trauma” of Asia. Films were from South Korea, India, Japan, and
Hong Kong.
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LUNAR NEW YEAR Celebrations
To welcome the new year starting Feb 3, 2011, the Chinese Language Program organized an evening filled with craft activities, food,
and cultural demonstrations. Puget Sound students decorated the
second floor study lounge in Wyatt with auspicious symbols. The 15foot long dragon kite was hung up by the lights. Bamboo plants and
fresh fruits were set up on an alter. And New Year prints nian hua
(see pictures above) embellished the surrounding walls. Students
also had opportunities to assemble rabbit lanterns, paint goldfishes,
write Chinese characters in calligraphy, and fold paper ingots.
The lunar new year is not only celebrated in China. Other countries that have adopted the lunar
calendar also follow the traditions of welcoming the rabbit to 2011 on Feb 3. To represent Korea,
Japan, Vietnam and China, Diversity Theme Year collaborated with Chinese language instructors
Lo Sun Perry and Elizabeth Chen to organize an evening of new year celebrations on Feb 28. In
the Rotunda, a pair of lions danced to the beat of drums, kids cheered as they beat taiko drums,
students snacked on various Vietnamese dried sweets, and the Chinese instructors gave out transliterations of students‟ names in Chinese. Overall, the event was well attended.
Puget Sound student Jessica Hua, who is currently enrolled in Chinese 102, volunteered to wear a
traditional Chinese New Year dress at the celebration event. Clad in a long silk dress (qipao), she
welcomed people to the festivity. After the event, she shares her experience:
“It was really nice to hold a Chinese New Year celebration at school because being away from
home, I missed it..It made me happy to see all the people attend and learn about the culture that
so many of us have grown up in. I've grown up in a Vietnamese family and the New Year's celebration was a little different, so I learned a lot about the Chinese culture and I got to try many
new things such as calligraphy and making paper lanterns. It was a lot of fun.”
Graduating?
The Asian Studies reception for Interdisciplinary Emphasis in Asian studies
designates and Asian Languages and Cultures majors and minors will be held
during Commencement Weekend, Saturday, May 14th, from 12 - 1 pm in
Wyatt 109. Asian Studies faculty, students, family members and friends are
warmly invited.
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Scholarship Opportunities in Asian Studies
Calling all current sophomores! Interested in a scholarship? Apply for the IEAS Designation or declare an Asian
Languages or Cultures major or minor to qualify for consideration for the Junior-Senior Trimble Scholarship!
Financial Support for the Studying Abroad in Asia
Grants are available to students for study abroad programs in Asia.
Funds are made possible through the Charles Garnet Trimble Endowment in Chinese Studies.
All Application materials for scholarships and other opportunities may be
found on the Asian Studies website.
Junior-Senior Trimble Scholarships
All rising juniors who have declared the IEAS designation or Asian Languages and Cultures major or minor are
automatically eligible for consideration for the Junior— Senior Trimble Scholarship.
Senior Thesis Trimble Research Grants
Each year the Asian Studies Program funds up to two $3000 research grants for Asian Studies designates to
support thesis research in Asia for students who will be seniors pursuing the Trimble Distinguished Asia Scholar
designation (whether participating in Asian Studies 489 or an approved seminar within the major). These
funds may also be used for a semester-break research project between fall and spring semesters. Funds are
made available from the Charles Garnet Trimble Endowment in Chinese Studies. The deadline for the 2011
research awards is April 15, 2011. For more information, contact interim director Sunil Kukreja.
The Asian Studies Program provides a broad range of courses on Asian cultures, civilizations, and societies as electives for all students. The program also offers a curricular concentration on Asia as a designation
on the transcript upon graduation for students who choose this concentration. This designation of Interdisciplinary Emphasis in Asian Studies (IEAS) reflects the program‟s multidisciplinary content and interdisciplinary effect. The designation is not a major or a minor, but functions as an enhancement of, or a complement
to, any major of a student‟s choice. Fundamental to the program is its invitation to a student who chooses the
designation to cultivate her or his intellectual autonomy by exercising flexible choice of courses and participating in co-curricular events. Students who demonstrate academic excellence and complete a one-semester senior thesis will achieve the added designation Robert Trimble Distinguished Asia Scholar.
The Interdisciplinary Emphasis in Asian Studies designation is included on the transcript, indicating the student‟s proficiency in Asian Studies. It is a one-click option on your Cascade profile and it will open a world of
opportunities to you (including eligibility for scholarships, research grants, study abroad financial assistance,
and much more). If you have questions about the Asian Studies interdisciplinary designation, any of our
courses, or opportunities to study abroad or intern in Asia, see interim director Sunil Kukreja.
The Asian Languages and Cultures (ALC) Program, a component of the Asian Studies Program, offers
majors, minors and courses of interest to all undergraduates at Puget Sound. Grounded in a strong foundation
of languages and cultures, the program draws on the broad expertise of the Asian Studies faculty and complements the Asian Studies Program's Interdisciplinary Emphasis in Asian Studies and Trimble Distinguished Asia
Scholar designations in offering students a focused and comprehensive understanding of the languages, cultures, and literatures of East Asia. The program offers three majors (Chinese, Japanese, East Asian Languages), two minors, courses in the core curriculum, and Chinese and Japanese language courses that meet
the university's foreign language requirement.
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PacRim Prepares for Departure in August 2011
By PacRim Director Elizabeth Bernard
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. (St. Augustine)
As most of us are reading many books for our courses, 25 Puget Sound University students will begin
reading the vastest book of their lives. In late August 2011 they will embark on the Pacific Rim/Asia Study
Travel program (PRASTP) for the next academic year. The students will travel to Cambodia, China, Hong
Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia and South Korea. The PRAST students, fondly known as Pacrimmers, have prepared in many different ways to be able to “read” the new cultures that they will encounter.
If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might
better stay home. (James Michener)
For the past year, the Pacrimmers have met for two hours every two weeks to prepare for the program.
Our first outing was in early autumn, when we participated in a community service day by cleaning the
trash in Wapato Park. It was a great team effort. As a bonus, many ate their fill of delicious blackberries.
The Pacrimmers were divided into small groups who had to do research about a country that they will
visit. Each group presented information in creative ways—the Jeopardy method and showing Youtube videos were the most popular. Some memorable videos were of Mongolian wrestling, Asian pop stars and
people eating unrecognizable food. Though it was a competition—everyone was a winner. Also each group
with only a budget of less than $4/person had to cook a meal from a selected country. We have some excellent cooks who served delicious curries, pot stickers, sweet sticky rice, miso soup and other wonderful
dishes. We all enjoyed eating together. This is something that we will do often in Asia.
I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us,
it goes an equal distance into the world within. (Lillian Smith)
In five months the Pacrimmers will begin to experience living, traveling, coping, helping and sharing their
lives with each other. They will learn much about themselves. We begin the inner journey this spring with
a Challenge course and a weekend retreat at Smoke Farm. This inner discovery may be their most important book—their own lives. Happy Reading!
Videos and photos of previous PacRim trips can be viewed on the Asian Studies
website. Be sure to check it out!
Summer 2011 Course Offering (first session)
Asia 344 - Asia in Motion
(Fulfills Connections core & Asian Studies designation requirements)
Professor Karl Fields
MTThF, 8—10 am
This course explores the interactions of Asian peoples - the commodities, social practices, and ideas which
they produce - across borders, both political and imagined. The course crosses disciplinary borders, as well,
drawing upon divergent materials from the humanities and social sciences in an attempt to do justice to a
contemporary context that could be called "Asia in motion". An underlying thesis holds that, since nineteenth-century colonialism, nations in the "West" and "Asia" participate in a global, dialectical movement in
which notions of identity (national, cultural, ethnic, religious, territorial, linguistic) share moments of fluidity
and fixity.
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Course Offerings for Fall 2012
Check Cascade for details.
ALC 310 - Death and Desire in Pre-modern Japanese Literature
Leuchtenberger (HM)
ART 278 - Asian Art
Hong (FA)
ART 367 - Chinese Art
Hong
CHIN101 A/B - Elementary Chinese
Perry & Chen (FL)
CHIN 201A - Intermediate Chinese
Perry & Chen (FL)
CHIN 250 - Culture and Communication
Chen (FL)
CHIN 303 Commerce and Media
Perry (FL)
CSOC 323 - Tourism & the Global Order
Kontogeorgopolous
CSOC 416 - Modern India
Kukreja
HIST 245 - Chinese Civilization
Neighbors (HM)
HIST 349 - Women of East Asia
Neighbors
IPE 323 - Tourism & the Global Order
Kontogeorgopolous
Asian Studies Program
University of Puget Sound
1500 North Warner St. #1054
Tacoma, WA 98416-1054
JAPN 101 A/B/C - Elementary Japanese
Ludden, Tyson & Leuchtenberger (FL)
JAPN 201 - Intermediate Japanese
Tyson (FL)
JAPN 260 - Oral Expression
Ludden (FL)
JAPN 301 - Third Year Japanese
Leuchtenberger
JAPN 360 - Japanese through Fiction and Film
Ludden
PG 378 - Chinese Political Economy
Fields
REL 332 - Buddhism
Smithers
——————————————————————————————Offering for Summer 2011 (May 16 - June 24)
ASIA 344 - Asia in Motion
Fields (CN)
TO: