Asian Studies Program, University at Buffalo

Asian Studies Past Events

Spring 2009

East Asia for Teachers

A 30-hour National Consortium for Teaching about Asia

Seminar Alternating Thursday Afternoons and Saturday

Mornings,beginning January 15 Buffalo Teacher Resource

Center,150 Lower Terrace, Buffalo. Organized by the Asian

Studies Program in collaboration with theUB/Buffalo Public

Schools Partnership. Administered by the Five College

Center for EastAsian Studies, with funding from the

Freeman Foundation

"Why Understanding Ming Autocracy Matters Now"
Sarah Schneewind, Univerity of California, San Diego

Presented by Asian Studies Program and the
Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy

Tuesday, January 20

11:30 am–1:00 pm
509 O’Brian

"Srishti Dances of India"

Saturday, February 28

6:30 pm

Student Union Theater

University at Buffalo, North Campus

Ji-li Jiang Presentation to Western New York Educators

Saturday, March 7

9:00 am

Buffalo Seminary High School

205 Bidwell Parkway, Buffalo

Autism and Education in the People’s Republic of China since 1982

Helen McCabe, Assistant Professor of Education
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Thursday, April 9, 7:00 pm

Unitarian Universalist Church of Amherst

6320 Main Street, Williamsville, across from ECC North Campus

Asian Cultural Bazaar

Hosted by Intercultural and Diversity Center

University at Buffalo

Tuesday, April 15, 2009

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Student Union

University Commencement

College of Arts and Sciences undergraduate ceremony

Sunday, May 10, 2009

10:00 am

Alumni Arena

Law, Society, and Culture in Asian History

A Spring 2009 Luncheon Seminar Series

Cosponsored by UB’s Asian Studies Program and

the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, UB Law School

With additional funding provided by Mentholatum

January 20

Why Understanding Ming Autocracy Matters Now
Sarah Schneewind, Associate Professor of History, University of California, San Diego.

Summary: The Ming dynasty is often seen as representing the height of Chinese autocracy. Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang has been portrayed as an all-powerful autocrat with a clear plan for China whose power was such that he could pound and shape the state and society like soft plastic. Professor Schneewind will reexamine this image of the Ming founder and of Chinese society as completely under the thumb of the state. She will examine tendencies of autocracy and democratization in China, and show that even subjects of the highly autocratic Ming regime challenged its policies and made political demands.

March 3

Modernization and Traditionalism in Buddhist Almsgiving in Taiwan

Charles Jones, Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, Catholic University of America

Summary: Professor Jones will discuss the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Association, which came into being in 20th century Taiwan at the end of a process of modernization that appears to have transpired both in China and the West whereby “almsgiving” became modern “scientific charity.”

Click here to view an article by Charles Jones that will be discussed at the luncheon.

March 17

Crime and Social Order in early 20th Century Chinese Cities

Zhao Ma, Assistant Professor of History, State University of New York-Fredonia

Summary: Professor Ma will examine the legal implications of customary wedding rituals in early 20th-century Beijing. The adjudication process brings to light legislative reforms and new administrative measures that sought to subject individual life-cycle events to government scrutiny. However, the experiences of lower-class women highlight the importance of customary nuptials and neighborhood networks in helping women engage in a rather fluid pattern of marriage. Bigamy trials offer a case study revealing the role of women in contesting and redefining the urban social order of the period.

Click here to view an article by Zhao Ma that will be discussed at the luncheon.

March 31

International Law in Shaping Asia’s 20th Century

Alexis Dudden, Associate Professor of History, University of Connecticut

Summary: Professor Dudden will explain how, by making the terminology of international law standard Japanese practice by the outset of the 20th century, Japanese state aggrandizers enabled Japanese officials to define legal and political power for Asia. The consequences of their actions hold sway to this day.

Click here to view an article by Alexis Dudden that will be discussed at the luncheon.

April 7

Consent, Coercion, and Influence: Election Law and Democracy in 20th Century India

David Gilmartin, Professor of History, North Carolina State University

Summary: Professor Gilmartin will address the colonial roots of India’s election law and the importance of the legal concept of “undue influence,” and examine how legal structures since 1947 have shaped the meanings of elections and the concept of the people’s sovereignty in the Indian context.

Click here to view an article by David Gilmartin that will be discussed at the luncheon.

David Gilmartin's article, with commentaries, is also available in the Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 68, no. 1, at Cambridge Journals Online by clicking here. This link may only be available if you are associated with UB.

Questions: Contact Bruce Acker at 645-0763 or email backer@buffalo.edu

FALL 2008

Lectures, Films, and Other Events

"Just Say 'Noh' - The Art of Translation from a Performer's Perspective"

Presentation by Jubilith Moore of San Francisco's Theatre of Yugen

Thursday, October 2, 2008

11:00 am -12:20 pm

190 Alumni Arena

Free and open to the public

Please click on this link for more information: Yugen_Visiting_Artist_at_UB

"The Muslims I Know"

Film and Presentation by Mara Ahmed

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

5:00 pm-6.30 pm

120 Clemens

Free and open to the public

"Punches 'n Ponytails"

Documentary about Women Boxers in India

Followed by discussion with filmmaker Pankaj Kumar

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

4:00 - 6:00 pm

120 Clemens

Free and open to the public

Punches 'n Ponytails (2008, 74 min.) is a journey into the science of boxing as practiced by two Indian women. The film unfolds with them as they wrestle with their day-to-day existence as boxers and the conflicts that surround them. Using cinema verite style, the film articulates the boxers' concerns and shares their ideas about their futures.

Cosponsored by the Asian Studies Program, Department of Media Study, and the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender

Japanese Cultural Day

Monday, November 2, 2008

1:00 pm-5:00 pm

Buffalo Botanical Gardens

2655 South Park Avenue,

Buffalo NY

Panel Discussion

Friday, November 7, 2008

Asian-American authors panel

Location: Talbert 107

Time: 7:00 pm

Admission is free and open to the public

The Asian American Student Union (AASU) is offering an open discussion with a panel of Asian American authors on the evening of Nov.7th. The panel consists of Bino Realuyo, Ed Lin and David Yoo

Performance

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Rise Up: Lakas ng Bayan” by Filipino-American Student Association

Location: Student Union Theater

Time: 5:00 pm

Tickets are $8 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at the SBI Ticket Offic

Asian Night Competition

Hosted by Asian American Student Union (AASU)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

7:00 pm

Student Union Theater

Admission: $5 (Advance Ticket), $7 (At the door)

"In the Mood for Love"

Film by Wong Kar Wai, Buffalo Film Seminar Series

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

7:00 pm

Market Arcade Theater, 617 Main Street Buffalo

"Walking a Fine Line: Telling Our Life Stories in the Mao Years"

Lecture by Weili Ye, Professor of History and Women Studies,

University of Massassuchetts, Boston

Friday, November 21, 2008

3:00pm -5.00 pm

532 Park Hall

Free and open to the public

ASIA AT NOON. SPRING 2009

Friday, January 23 “Anti-Catholicism in the Philippines during the American
Period, 1898-1941”

Tino Rodao, Visiting Scholar, Weatherhead Center for

International Affairs, Harvard University

Friday, February 6 “Psychological Health of Elder Adults with Dementia: India,

Taiwan and the U.S.”

Machiko Tomita, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of

Rehabilitation Science , University at Buffalo; Amsita Sarang

and Kuo-Feng Lee, Graduate Students, Occupational

Therapy, University at Buffalo

Friday, February 13 “ A Street with No Name”

Margo Kren, Professor, Art Department, Kansas State University

Friday, February 20 “A Study of Individual Investors in China: How Behavioral

Biases Affect Their Trading Performance”

Kenneth Kim, Associate Professor of Finance, Jacobs

School of Management, University at Buffalo

Friday, February 27 "Everything You Want to Know About Tibet"

Craig Preston, Adjunct Instructor, Asian Studies Program,

University at Buffalo

Friday, April 10 Recent Developments in Autism in the People's

Republic of China

Helen McCabe, Assistant Professor of Education,

Hobart and William Smith College

ASIA AT NOON. FALL, 2008

Friday, September 5 “Evaluating the Beijing Olympics”

UB Faculty and special guest Jerry Sullivan, Buffalo News

Senior Sportswriter, who covered the Beijing Olympics for the

News

Friday, September 19 “Poverty, Child Trafficking, and Structural Change: Participant’s

Report on NGO Work with Children and Families In the Mekong

Delta, Vietnam”

Michael Frisch, Professor of American Studies and History,

Senior Research Scholar, UB

Friday, October 3 “The Next President's Strategies for Engagement'”

Asia Policy Debate for Students, Professionals, and Scholars

Friday, October 10 “Feeding the Olympians: Breakfast (and Lunch and Dinner)

of Champions”

William O'Brien, President, Greater China Beijing HAVI Food Co.

Friday, October 17 “Publishing Outstanding Scholarly Works”

Toni Tan, Director, Cambria Press, Amherst, NY

Friday, October 31 “Sustainable Development, Water Resources Management and

Women’s Empowerment: The Wanaraniya Water Project in

Sri Lanka”

Seela Aladuwaka and Ram Alagan, Professors of Geography,

University of Peradeniya

UB visiting scholars in Asian Studies and Global Gender Studies

Friday, November 14 “Tibetan Pop Music”

International Education Week Amalia Rubin, UB Asian Studies senior

Friday, November 21 “From a Hierarchy in Time to a Hierarchy in Space:

Early 20th Century Chinese Perception of Global Order”

Tze-ki Hon, Professor of History, SUNY Geneseo

SPRING 2008

Friday, February 1.
Kristen Schultz Lee (kslee4 AT buffalo.edu), Asst. Professor, Sociology
"Sibling Structure, Gender, and Caregiving in Japan"

Friday, February 15.
Rajiv Kishore (rkishore AT buffalo.edu), Assoc. Professor, School of Management
Roundtable discussion: “Outsourcing and Offshoring to Asia-Pacific: Issues, Trends, and Management"

The confirmed panelists are:
Shamistha Bagchi-Sen, Professor, Department of Geography
Winston Chang, Professor, Department of Economics
Rajiv Kishore, Associate Professor, School of Management
Jessie Poon, Professor, Department of Geography
John Thomas, Dean, School of Management
Niraj Verma, Professor and Chair, Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Friday, April 4.
Geoffrey Shugen Arnold, Sensei, Vice Abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt. Tremper, NY
"Buddhist Compassion in a Troubled World"

Friday, April 11.
Zhao Ma (zhao.ma AT fredonia.edu), Asst. Professor of Chinese & East Asian History, SUNY Fredonia
"Transgressing the Boundaries: The Story of a Female Abductor in Early Twentieth-Century Beijing."

Friday, April 25.
Heather Fried (mhfried AT buffalo.edu), Graduate Student, Anthropology
"Takers Anyone?: Tu Thangka and the Tibetanizing Effects of Tourism in Tongren County, China."

FALL 2007

Asia@Noon, Brown Bag Symposia

Friday, September 7. Elaine Howard Ecklund, Asst. Professor of Sociology

“Korean American Evangelicals: New Models for

Civic Life”

Friday, September 21. Michael Lazich, Assoc. Professor of History, Buffalo State

“American Missionaries and the Opium Trade in Nineteenth-Century China”

Friday, October 5. Jennifer Gaynor, Asst. Professor of History

“Narrative transformation in Sama social memory” (Maritime peoples of Southeast

Asia)

Friday, October 19. Craig Preston, Visiting Assistant Professor of Asian Studies

“The Nirvana Track: Becoming a Top Scholar in Tibet”

Friday, November 2. Tae-Hyung Kim, Asst. Professor of Political Science, Daemen College

“North Korea’s Nuclear Ambition: Choice or Necessity?”

Friday, November 16. Chris Johnston, Ph.D. Candidate in Geography; President, World Trade Center Buffalo/Niagara

“Chinese Direct Investment in North America: Geographies, Industries, and Strategies”

(International Education Week)

SPRING 2007

Asia@Noon, Brown Bag Symposia

FEB. 2
Niharika Banerjea, Ph.D. candidate in Sociology
“Poor Women’s Mobilization and Participatory Practices in Kolkata, India: A Critical Review”

FEB. 16
Robert Dentan, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus
“From Savages to Serfs: How Malaysia Schools its Aborigines”

MAR. 1 [Thursday]
Takashi Nishiyama, Assistant Professor of History, SUNY/Brockport
“The Kamikazation of War, 1944-45: What Engineers Did and Why They Did It”

MAR. 23
Ryushin Marchaj, teacher, Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt. Tremper NY
“Enlightenment Comes from Within”

APR. 6
Robert G. Kane, Assistant Professor of History, Niagara University
“The Twenty-One Demands (1915) as Politics and History”

APR. 20
Panel of UB Sinologist faculty

Lectures, Films, and Other Events

Friday, February 29, 3:00-5:00pm. Professor Sherman Cochran, Cornell University. "Chinese Business Dynasty: Family Survival Strategies in War and Revolution". 532 Park Hall.

Abstract: How did a Chinese business family, the Lius of Shanghai, survive the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-45 and the Communist Revolution of 1949? Its strategies are revealed in more than 2,000 letters exchanged by its members: father, mother, nine sons and three daughters. Their intimate correspondence provides a window on their their decision making within their own family and business and in relation to the wider world of national and international affairs.

Sponsored by: History Department and Asian Studies Program, with support from the School of Management

Saturday, March 8, 6:00pm. Geeta Desai. "Modern India: Sacred Cows and High Tech Business." Samuel's Grande Manor in Clarence.

Geeta Desai, an organizational development consultant and women's advocate, will speak at the 7th Annual International Women's Day Celebration and Discussion sponsored by the American Association of University Women. Tickets for the dinner and talk are $35. For more information, contact Judy Weidemann at 655-3649 or JWeide7170 AT aol.com.

Monday, March 24, 3:00-5:00pm. Professor Bill Tsutsui, University of Kansas. "War and the Environment: The Case of Japan during World War II". Park 280.

Saturday, March 29, 8:00pm. HT Chen and Dancers. Center for the Arts Mainstage.

HT Chen & Dancers is an innovative modern dance company which has created a uniquely Asian-American expression by embodying its cultural heritage. Admission is $10 for students and $18 for general admission.

Tuesday, April 15, 7:30-9:00pm., Main Stage Theater, CFA

“Explosive Beats: Japanese Taiko Drumming’”

Come and experience the thunderous beats and dynamic movement brought to you by master musicians Takumi Kato and Ryo Shiobara. Notably, Ryo Shiobara won the grand prix at an international Taiko contest in Tokyo last October.

This event is hosted by the Asian Studies program and sponsored by The Office of Student Life and The Office of the Provost of International Education.

Thursday, April 17

China Town Hall Webcast

Lectures, Films, and Other Events

NEW COURSE - Tibet: Myth and Reality

The Tibet course, Wednesday evenings at 7:00-9:40, is in a large lecture hall, Knox 20 on North Campus. We still have space for students to register for credit. Please click here to download the Tibet course speaker list, as well as the Tibet course speaker bios [both in Microsoft Word format]. We can also accommodate registered auditors as well as visitors who want to attend and or all of the lectures. Some of the finest Tibet specialists in North America will be speaking in this exciting course, presented as a lead-up to the visit to UB of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, September 18-19, 2006.