UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND
Asian Studies Newsletter Fall 2010
Faculty Abroad in Asia Summer 2010
Professor Gareth Barkin, an anthropologist and Indonesia specialist, will be
teaching a new course, Peoples of Southeast Asia (CSOC312), in spring
2011 and has incorporated a two-and-a-half week trip to Indonesia as part of
the curriculum. The course, a survey of Southeast Asian cultural groups and
histories from an ethnographic perspective, will begin on campus, but finish in
Yogyakarta, Central Java -- a city often described as the cultural heart of Indonesia, and the country's center of higher education. The Indonesia portion of
the course will feature an immersive stay at a local university including language instruction, trips to cultural and historic sites, ethnographic projects, a
multi-night stay in a rural village, and potential trips to Bali or other neighboring islands.
Professor Barkin developed the idea for the course after leading a successful non-credit study abroad
program to Indonesia in 2009, and obtained a Trimble Professional Development grant this past summer to explore the possibility of moving the program to a university setting. He also conducted research on the government's use of radio programs to educate ―traditional‖ midwives, in an effort to promote a more biomedical approach to childbirth. While in the country, he spent time at two universities in Yogyakarta, discussing the program with local faculty and administrators, with the goal of creating a highly immersive program. Puget Sound
students will stay in dormitories with Indonesian students, some of whom will sit in on class sessions and help
introduce the visitors to their culture and lifestyle directly. Two faculty members, including Professor Barkin, will
accompany the group, and continue the course abroad, while taking advantage of the Indonesian setting with
ethnographic assignments, and by helping each student to develop his or her own research project.
The course will be limited to ten students, and will require an application and instructor permission to
participate. There will also be fees related to the trip, including transportation. The first interest meeting will be
held Monday, November 1st at 6pm in McIntyre 307.
Professor Jim McCullough from the School of Business and Leadership
led eight Puget Sound students to Cambodia and Vietnam in May and June
2010. This trip was part of an exchange program between National University
of Management and Phuthisastra University in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, National Economics University in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the University of Puget
Sound. In April, ten students and three faculty from the Cambodian universities spent two weeks hosted by students on the Puget Sound campus. The
Cambodian students participated in classes taught by Professor Nick Kontogeorgeopolous and Professor McCullough. In Cambodia, students visited the
temples at Angkor Wat, the beaches at Sihanoukville, and businesses in Phnom
Penh. The Puget Sound students were impressed with the efficiency and hard work highlighted in the Cambodian garment factories. After Cambodia, students traveled to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam where they
worked with students from the National Economics University. Puget Sound students were a featured attraction
at the NEU English Day, which highlighted the importance of English language in business education. New and
enduring friendships were made between the Cambodians, the Vietnamese, and the Loggers.
Art Professor Zaixin Hong conducted his ongoing research in China and Japan (2009, 2010) on
Cantonese poet, painter (painting from Chinese
University of Hong Kong pictured left), and collector Pan Feisheng (1858-1934), who taught Chinese at the Berlin Seminar for Oriental Studies
from 1887 to 1890. Professor Hong’s case-study
appeared in the Palace Museum Journal (Beijing)
this spring.
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Report from Hwa Nan Teaching Fellow
Marjorie Lodwick ‘10
Here I stand, six weeks into my new life teaching English in Fuzhou, China and it simultaneously feels like
I’ve been here a year and I arrived just yesterday. China seems both the same and completely different
than the first time I visited three years ago. This time I am not a tourist, but a bona-fide working woman
who has just thrown herself into living in China.
My residence, occupation, and community for this year-long experience is Hwa Nan Women’s College. Located on China’s southeast coast in the city of Fuzhou (the capital of Fujian province), the college became
China’s first higher-education institution for women when it was founded in 1908. Re-established in the
1980s after the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution, the three year college is now considered a vocational school in the Chinese higher education system, with a strong reputation for its foreign-taught English department. Puget Sound has a unique link to Hwa Nan through the Trimble family, and it is due to
their generous fellowship that every other year Hwa Nan receives a recent Puget Sound graduate to join
their foreign faculty. This past spring I was lucky enough to be selected for that position.
When I applied for the Hwa Nan fellowship I knew that my main reason for wanting to return to China was
that I wanted to do something that could repay all of the kindness and generosity I had been shown my first
time in China. I jumped off the plane full of enthusiasm, passion, and a thirst to prove that I could make a
difference. I was so wrapped up in the dream of teaching that one very important detail took me quite by
surprise: teaching is hard.
A week after arriving in Fuzhou I was scrambling to write lesson plans for three different classes in two departments. I was struggling to remember the names of 155 new students in seven different classes. I felt
lost amongst the different classrooms, textbooks and the ever-swimming sea of faces. Most of all, I couldn’t
get used to the schedule. In Chinese higher education, if you have three hours of class a week you have
them all in a row on the same day. And if the school cancels classes for a holiday (a very common occurrence during the first five weeks of school) those days are made up on the weekend. Each week I told myself ―just wait, this was the toughest week, next week you’ll get better,‖ only to discover new changes, challenges, and ways to make mistakes.
What have been some of the most challenging weeks of my life have also been my proudest. My students
run the gamut, from shy to confident, from loud to quiet, from serious to laughing, and from beginner to
advanced. What they have in common though is their desire to learn and their drive to improve themselves.
They push themselves as well as their friends to do better. For many of them, finding a good job after
graduation is their foremost concern, and the sense of responsibility and purpose that I can see in most of
my students is inspiring. When I get something right and I see that flash of recognition, it makes the hours
spent struggling to teach myself how on earth to teach well worth it. Plus, there are only a finite number of
mistakes that a new teacher can make, right?
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Walk for
Reconciliation
2010 Walk for Reconciliation
is a symbolic journey to celebrate Tacoma's multicultural
diversity, and to commemorate the 125th anniversary of
the expulsion of Tacoma’s Chinese community on November 3,
1885. Led by community leaders and civic officials including
President Ronald Thomas, the walk begins at 10:00 am Saturday, October 30 at the Tollefson Plaza and ends at the Tacoma
Chinese Garden and Reconciliation Park by 12:00 noon, followed by a celebration and performances on the park site.
Please register online at www.crpf.org for the walk.
The Expulsion. "The Chinese Must Go" campaign was not an official
act of the City government, but it was openly instigated and organized
by elected officials (including the mayor and members of the City
Council) and other leading citizens of civic influence. Soon after the
event, the expulsion became known as the "Tacoma Method" in a rising tide of anti-Chinese sentiment and acts of violence in the western
United States.
The economic crisis of the early 1880s fanned the flames of antiChinese hysteria all over the country, especially in the west. Even in
such an atmosphere, some white citizens of Tacoma, including one
very vocal pastor, made an effort to tone down the white anger and
stop the rhetoric of intolerance. On the day of the expulsion some
white citizens responded to the immediate needs of the expelled Chinese: They brought their carts and other conveyances and gave rides
to women, children, and old people headed for Lake View on that
windy and wet day and night and provided some food for the Chinese.
The legal system of the time understood that the mob action against the Chinese was wrong, even
if justice never really came in the end. Within days of the event the Federal Marshal in Tacoma issued warrants for the arrest of key leaders of the expulsion and started a sequence of indictments
and trials that included lawsuits brought by Lum May and a few other Chinese. Findings did not
lead to restitution or compensation, although within a few years the U.S. Congress made payments
of over $424,000 to the Chinese government to make amends for the incidents of anti-Chinese violence in Tacoma and other cities in the west. Because the payments went to the Chinese government, those who were the victims of the injustice likely never saw any of the money.
The anniversary event of remembrance and reconciliation. This year on October 30th, just four
days before the 125th anniversary of the expulsion, the Tacoma "2010 Group of 27" will lead Walk
for Reconciliation. Why a 2010 group of 27? Because the 1885 Federal indictments targeted the 27
key leaders of "The Chinese Must Go" campaign and the expulsion.
The 2010 Group of 27 is composed of people holding positions similar to those of the 1885 group of
27, but the sensibilities of today's group are very different, and the effort of the 125th anniversary
event is not exclusion but inclusion. The 2010 event aims not at expulsion but at reconciliation.
What became known as the "Tacoma Method" of well-organized expulsion is not to be forgotten
but to be succeeded by what could become known as the "Tacoma Model" of reconciliation via the
creation of a meaningful public space. The Chinese Garden and Reconciliation Park is located on
Ruston Way and close to the area where the waterfront Chinese houses and businesses were in the
1870s and 1880s before being burned after the city drove out the Chinese.
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Chinese Popular Music: New Music for a New World
Mandopop—pop music sung in Mandarin Chinese—brought more than a revolution in music to mainland China after it trickled out of Taiwan in the late-1970s and
swept to dominance in Chinese-speaking Asia by the mid-1990s. The rising young
stars, balladeers, and fusion artists also brought with them new and disruptive attitudes toward gender roles, individualism, and innovation.
This remarkable shift in youth culture and the new roads it created between the
island of Taiwan and Hong Kong, Singapore, and the People’s Republic of China is
captured by Marc Moskowitz in his book Cries of Joy, Songs of Sorrow: Chinese Popular Music and its Cultural Connotations, published earlier this year.
Moskowitz gave a lecture exploring the subject of his book at Puget
Sound on October 5. Puget Sound student Liz Whitaker remarked, ―An interesting point he made was how lyrics play a large role in Mandopop
songs, whereas songs in the US focus on melodies. The lecture ended with
three song clips from David Tao – who played a rock song, a lullaby, and a
parody all on the same album – to demonstrate the wide range of genres
one artist might exhibit.‖
Moskowitz also visited the Connections course Asia Pop! Taught by Professor Jennifer Neighbors. Puget Sound student Christina Wu said,
―Professor Moskowitz spent most of his lecture discussing the 2005 Hong Kong film Perhaps Love (如果愛 Ruguo
Ai). Although the film went completely unnoticed in the West, it took Chinese speaking Asia by storm - nominated for eleven Hong Kong Film Awards, winning six, and winning four awards at the 43rd Golden Horse
Awards. The film has been compared to Moulin Rouge by many critics and has been described as a film that
portrays a movie within a movie, utilizing musical numbers as a vehicle for expressing emotions while the nonmusical portions portray more serious issues. The film, which focuses on the story of a love triangle, is set in
three different time periods – the 1930s Shanghai Jazz Era, 1980s Beijing, and the present - each differentiated
by distinct moods set by contrasting color schemes. After giving background information on the movie, Professor
Moskowitz then spoke about the Buddhist influences in the film (and musical numbers), which can be seen in
how reincarnation saturates the film and how the concept of predestined relationships (緣分 yuanfen) is presented. Afterwards, he briefly touched on how ideas of cultural proximity and diasporic intimacy relate to the
film and lead a class discussion for the last half of class. His lecture proved to be a very interesting and beneficial addition to our exploration of the popular culture of 20th and 21st century East Asia, providing the class
with an example of modern East Asian popular culture, and showcasing how much popular culture has changed
within the span of a century.‖
When a Billion Chinese People Jump
Asian Studies welcomes author and journalist Jonathan Watts to the Puget
Sound campus as he leads a brown bag conversation about his new book, When a Billion
Chinese Jump: How China Will Save Mankind—Or Destroy It, on Friday, November 5
at 12 noon in the Murray Board Room. When a Billion Chinese People Jump is a
journey through an environment in crisis. Jonathan Watts travels from mountain paradises to industrial wastelands, via tiger farms, melting glaciers, cancer villages, science
parks, coal mines and eco-cities to examine the responses of those at the top of society
and the hopes of those below. Watts is consistently attentive to human detail, vividly
portraying individual lives in a country all too often viewed from outside as a faceless
state. Based on almost 300 interviews and close to 100,000 kilometers of journeys, this
is a book that no reader - no consumer in the world - can be unaffected by. The lecture
is free and open to the public and campus community.
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NEW Asian Studies Courses Offered in Spring 2011
Chin 307—Through Cinematic Lens: Old and New China
Chinese 307 explores traditional values and contemporary issues via films produced in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. From the martial-arts fantasy world of loyalty
and betrayal, to the 1939 story of a young bride in a feudal village, to the modern-day
tale of an adolescent substitute teacher in rural China, students will be exposed to different cinematic genres and scenes from recent Chinese history. This course includes a
grammar review and a multimedia component, and aims for development of oral and
written fluency at the advanced level with emphasis on reading, writing and group discussion. Students will screen a total of seven films, and read selected excerpts from the
movie scripts as well as film commentaries.
And be sure to mark your calendars for...
Asian Studies Film Festival Spring 2011!
The theme for this year’s Asian Studies Film Festival is ―Tension, Trauma, and Terror.‖ Be on
the lookout for posters showcasing film titles, dates and times.
CSOC 312 - Peoples of Southeast Asia
(with study abroad component; see front page)
This course provides an anthropological overview of history, culture and sociopolitical life
in Southeast Asia, the "crossroads of Asia" and one of the most diverse regions of the
world. The class begins with an investigation of the region's prehistory and initial migrations, then covers the origins of complex state societies, the influx and reinterpretation of
global religions, and the cultural impact of European colonialism. Attention is paid to case
studies of indigenous groups, and to contemporary issues related to globalization, such as
deforestation, persecution of minority groups, sex trafficking and other human rights issues. In all of these discussions, the cross-cutting themes that define Southeast Asia as a
culturally distinctive region are critically examined.
Summer 2011
ASIA 344 – Asia in Motion (required for the Asian Studies interdisciplinary designation and a Connections core) will be taught in the first session of Summer 2011.
————————————— Alumni News —————————————Ingrid Furniss, Asian Studies, '95 received her PhD in Chinese Art and Archeology at Princeton University. She now teaches at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and is very pleased to be at a liberal arts college. She recently published a book
based on her Princeton PhD dissertation. Called Music in Ancient China: an Archaeologi-
cal and Art Historical Study of Strings, Winds, and Drums during the Eastern Zhou and
Han Periods, Ingrid’s work earned the 2010 Nicolas Bessaraboff Prize from the American
Musical Instrument Society. The award recognizes her publication as a distinguished
book-length work in English that best furthers the Society’s goal ―to promote study of
the history, design, and use of musical instruments in all cultures and from all periods.‖
While the book deals with Chinese musical instruments in the Eastern Zhou and
Han periods, it grew out of Ingrid's work as an undergraduate at Puget Sound, when
she studied Chinese art history and did her Asian Studies 489 major project on tomb art
and ancient funerary musical instruments in the Han dynastic period. Ingrid was not
only a fine student, but also an accomplished player of the viola.
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Study Abroad in Asia
Summer Programs (Application deadline Feb 15, 2011)
Tunghai University
The Tunghai, Taiwan program offers an intensive eight weeks of language training in a native-speaking environment for students wishing to continue
their study of Mandarin Chinese during the summer. The program allows students to experience Taiwanese and Chinese cultures, and serves as a preparatory
session for those continuing their study abroad either in China or Taiwan during
the following school year.
Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language
The Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language program offers
an intensive summer four-week program, providing a stimulating environment in which students may increase their understanding of the Japanese
Language and culture. Students will have opportunities to improve their language skills and to develop confidence in intercultural communication inside
the classroom and outside school. This program offers a direct encounter
with Japan, its language and its people.
New Spring Program: CIEE South Korea Program
The CIEE Study Center at Yonsei University is designed to provide students
with cross-cultural training by way of offering a range of courses in various disciplines, a cocurricular program that will take students within the city of Seoul and internationally to
communities of the Korean Diaspora, and providing on-site staff to support the students
during their time in Seoul, Korea.
For more study abroad opportunities in Asia, please visit the Office of
International Programs website.
Meanwhile, closer to home…
The Japanese Languages and Cultures program kicked this academic
year off with a bang at the Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) in Seattle. The Aki Matsuri included a multitude of Japanese cultural events and sights, including a
Shinto shrine procession around the festival grounds, manned mostly by
Puget Sound students. During the parade, students lifted a large portable
shrine, called a mikoshi, above their heads while chanting and wearing special
festival coats.
Completing a very busy month, the program also organized a trip to
attend a Taiko performance from Okinawa at the Ryukyu Charm Charity Concert in Renton, WA. The concert
proceeds benefited the Japanese Cultural and Community Center and the Okinawa Kenjin Club of Washington
State. The Taiko performance, or Japanese drumming, had a very distinct Okinawan flair different from that
of mainland Japan. All of the performers were filled with exuberance and one of the highlights of the show
was the stunning performance of the lion dance.
On campus, students enjoyed a Japanese movie Miyori no mori sponsored by the Japanese Consulate
in Seattle. Also, during a weekly Japanese activity hour at the Language House, students enjoyed cooking
okonomiyaki, a mix of a pancake and an omelet with a variety of toppings (both vegetarian and nonvegetarian were served). The next activity is a trip to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America on November 6.
For information on the Japanese activity hours, contact Mikiko Ludden Sensei or stop by the Japanese House
anytime!
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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!
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 Program Director Karl Fields
(kfields@pugetsound.edu).
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.
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. The application deadline is April 1st for all
summer, fall or spring semesters, and full-year programs.
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 Asian Studies Director Karl Fields
(kfields@pugetsound.edu).
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Asian Studies Course
Offerings for Spring 2011
Look on Cascade for details.
ALC 320 - Self & Society in Modern Japanese Literature
Leuchtenberger, (HM)
ART 278 - Asian Art
Hong, (FA)
ART 369 - 20th Century Chinese Art
Hong
ART 371 - Asian Calligraphy
Hong
Important Dates
Oct 30, 2011—Walk for Reconciliation
ASIA 344 - Asia in Motion
Barkin, (CN)
Nov 5, 20111—Brown Bag Lecture by
Jonathan Watts
CHIN102 A/B - Elementary Chinese
Perry & Chen, (FL)
January, 2011—Asian Studies Film Festival
CHIN 202A - Intermediate Chinese
Perry & Chen, (FL)
CHIN 260 - Situational Oral Expression
Chen, (FL)
CHIN 307 - Through Cinematic Lens: Old and New China
Perry (NEW COURSE)
CSOC 312 - Peoples of Southeast Asia
Barkin (NEW COURSE)
February 15, 2011—Study Abroad applications are due
April 15, 2011—Scholarship and grant
deadlines
CSOC 380 - Islam and the Media
Konto
Asian Studies Program
University of Puget Sound
1500 North Warner St. #1054
Tacoma, WA 98416-1054
Phone: 253-879-2995
IPE 333 - IPE of Southeast Asia
Konto
JAPN 102 A/B/C - Elementary Japanese
Ludden, Tyson, Leuchtenberger, (FL)
JAPN 202 - Intermediate Japanese
Tyson, (FL)
JAPN 230 - Kanji in Context
Ludden,(FL)
JAPN 302 - Third Year Japanese
Tyson
JAPN 380 - Reading Modern Japanese Prose
Ludden
REL 233 - Japanese Religious Traditions
Stockdale, (HM)
REL 328 - Religion, the State, and Nationalism in Japan
Stockdale
REL 335 - Classical Hinduism
Bernard
Offerings for Summer 2011
ASIA 344 - Asia in Motion
Fields, (CN)
TO: