Asia at Noon is a series of brown-bag lunch gatherings held in 280 Park Hall at the University at Buffalo, sponsored by the Asian Studies program. They are usually scheduled on Fridays at 12:00 pm, and dismiss promptly at 1:00. The presenter usually takes about 20 minutes, and the rest of the time is devoted to question and answer and discussion. The audience is comprised of undergraduates, graduate students, interested faculty, and people from the Buffalo community.

Fall 2009 Speakers

Friday, September 11              Deborah Reed-Danahay

                                                 Professor, Department of Anthropology

                                                 University at Buffalo

Abstract: The Tet Festival: Communities of Practice and Citizenship among Vietnamese Americans

This talk will draw upon the concept of ‘community of practice’ developed by Lave and Wenger and apply it to practices of social and cultural citizenship in the lives of former Vietnamese refugees and their children in Tarrant County, Texas.  The example of the Tet  (New Year) festival, seen as a site of memory and “cultural spectacle,” will provide the major focus. 

Friday, September 25              Anne Hardgrove

                                                 Associate Professor of History

                                                 University of Texas, San Antonio

Abstract: Translation and Sexuality in South Asia

The text known as Kama Sutra often brings to mind the ancient treatise on Indian sexuality
brought to the attention of the West via notorious Victorian colonial wanderlust. The explorer
Richard F. Burton is frequently credited with translating the book into English, although numerous
and varied interpretations followed. This presentation examines the efforts and effects of the Kama
Sutra by K. Rangaswami Iyengar, Pundit of the Mysore Palace, as the first Indian to translate the
Kama Sutra into English. His rendition of the Sanskrit masterpiece is a far cry from Burton’s
voyeuristic edition. Iyengar uses the text to reinforce what he sees as the essential purity of Indian
sexuality, bound within the conventions of early nationalist ideas of the family and prescribed
genderroles. Iyengar positions Kama Sutra as a marriage manual for keeping the Indian
conjugal couplestrong, and suggests that the ‘unsavory’ parts were meant as a warning of what
to avoid when temptation strikes.

Special Asia at Noon presentation (Time and location for this event only)

Art and the Sichuan Earthquake: The Experience of Aba Teachers’ College

Date: Friday, October 2,
Time:11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: 708 Clemens

Please join Asian Studies for this special presentation by a delegation of faculty from Aba Teachers’ College in western Sichuan Province. The delegates will discuss their experiences at the epicenter of the earthquake, and how students and faculty have responded to the tragedy through artistic creation

Friday, October 16                    Jianqiang Wang          

                                                  Assistant Professor, Department of Library and

                                                  Information Studies

                                                  University at Buffalo

Abstract: Serving Users with Information in Different Languages

Advances in computer and communication technology continue to drive the explosive growth of the Internet and the electronic information available in a variety of languages. While English remains the most popular language on the Web, information in several other languages has increased dramatically. How to develop systems and technology that can facilitate users' access to information beyond the language barrier has attracted a great deal of interest in both academia and industry. In his talk, Dr. Wang will present his research in cross-language information retrieval, a problem generally known as finding information in one language with search keywords written in a different language. He will show how statistical translation knowledge can be extracted from large sets of bilingual documents and how that knowledge can be used for improving the retrieval of information in foreign languages. In addition, Dr. Wang will also introduce an ongoing research project that attempts to study various issues of information retrieval in the legal e-discovery domain. A live demo of an experimental system developed through this project for searching Enron emails, will be presented.

Friday, October 23                    Ram Alagan                 

                                                  Visiting Professor, UB, Department of Geography,
                                                  University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.

Abstract:  "Sri Lanka" the Island of the Indian Ocean: The Aftermath of the Civil War

Thirty years of civil war in Sri Lanka ended on May 19th 2009 though post war challenges are proving to be enormous. The Island in the Indian Ocean is hoping to shift from a time of civil-war that took 100,000 lives and billions of dollars in property loss to peace time. However, the transition of how to create sustainable peace with justice and democracy are still largely uncertain. The failing of previous peace agreements which led to the civil war hit its peak last year. The Sri Lankan government launched a military offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) who fought nearly 30 years for a separate state within the Island. Many Sri Lankans celebrated the defeat of the LTTE as it marked the eradication of terrorism and also a chance to rebuild democracy and social equality. The biggest and immediate challenges for the country however are problems faced by displaced communities due to the war in the North. The upcoming monsoon weather conditions, uncertain plans of resettlement, clearance of landmines, housing, rebuilding livelihoods, media autonomy, environmental management, rebuilding the lives of women and children impacted by the war, democratization of politics and resource utilizations and very notably building the state of mind of “Sri Lankans” among minorities are considered major post war challenges to the present and future governments in Sri Lanka. This paper explores the aftermath of the civil war including the rebuilding, reconstruction and reconciliation challenges in the country.

Friday, October 30                   Ji Young Park

                                                 Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and

                                                 Regional Planning

                                                 University at Buffalo

Abstract: Empirical Investigation on Korean immigrants to the U.S.

It is not hard to observe eating Korean foods and other Korean culture in the major U.S. cities nowadays. More and more Korean cultures are getting introduced internationally. As Cho (2005) noticed, Korean Wave seems to spread rapidly over other countries, different from some critics that the wave would be temporal. However, many topics relating to Korean Wave seem to focus more on the Korean characteristics in the South Korea spreading over to other countries; the approach seems to understand South Korea as the cultural exporters of Korean cultures relying on Drama, Film, Music, and so on. This study focuses on the case of ‘South Korea to the U.S.’ migrations which help to investigate the plausibility of the Korean Wave as well as a representative example of the Asian-Pacific context. Because this study will scrutinize the migration of ten-years term of 1990 to 2000, the findings can explain whether or not the expected income differences consistently affect to the Korean immigrants to the U.S. The findings also contribute to depicting the future of Korean immigration to the U.S

Friday, November 13               Jeffrey Chow                  

                                                 Ph.D Student, Department of Geography

.                                                University at Buffalo

Abstract: Islamic Finance: A Panacea to the Current Global Financial Problems ?

The Western or traditional style of financing has been the mainstay of raising capital for many centuries. From equity, debt and mortgage financing, Western style finance has no doubt contributed to world economic growth and prosperity. However, many have questioned it’s effectiveness especially with the recent global financial crisis. Critics argue that too much emphasis is placed on profits in the expense of corporate social responsibilities. As an alternative, Islamic finance has been suggested as a possible panacea in balancing profits and social responsibilities. Jeffrey Chow will provide an overview of Islamic finance and discuss the key developments in its recent growth and use of Islamic financial instruments. He will also address the current issues surrounding world financial markets and how Islamic finance may provide remedies to issues often associated with profit maximization motives of financial institutions.