The Hong Kong Studies Initiative (HKSI) Newsletter

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November 16, 2020

Hosted by the Department of Asian Studies, the Hong Kong Studies Initiative (HKSI) at the University of British Columbia is devoted to promoting the teaching and research of this most-improbable metropolis, both as an extraordinary Chinese city and as a spectacular international and transnational hub.

Dear Friends of HKSI,

It’s been challenging, but I hope you and your family are keeping well.

As we are (sadly, in many ways) getting used to being online, I do look forward to the days when we can again safely meet in person. In the meantime, do check out the events and announcements below and join us if you are interested and able.

Thank you, as always, for your support and well wishes.

Sincerely,

Leo K. Shin 單國鉞
Associate Professor, History and Asian Studies
Convenor, Hong Kong Studies Initiative 共研香江

FEATURED NOVEMBER WEBINAR 　

Webinar
Friday, 27 November 2020, 17:00–18:30 PST
The Power of Media: Reimagining the Future
Mini Choi and Michael Lee
via Zoom

A City Archived event
Details: hksi.ubc.ca

A good way to “archive” a city—that is, to document the history of a city—is to follow its radio programs, and an excellent way to understand an archived city is to talk to disc jockeys (DJs) who produce radio programs. In the next public webinar for the “City Archived” series, the Hong Kong Studies Initiative is pleased to present former DJ Mini Choi and media artist Michael Lee, both of whom have deep roots in various media outlets in Hong Kong from 1997 to 2020.

Mini Choi is an interdisciplinary artist who has cast herself in roles as a broadcaster, author, lyricist, director, columnist, painter, and gallerist. Mini worked as DJ, Producer, Music Director, and Content Development Strategist at Commercial Radio Hong Kong, the most popular radio channel for the younger generation. She also worked for TVB, Now TV (HK), HK Cable TV, and RTHK. As an award-winning lyricist, Mini has published five books and over three hundred lyrics.

Michael Lee, a.k.a. michaelmichaelmichael, is a designer, a media artist, as well as a co-founder of "Mini and Michael Gallerists" and "PRESS MINI." Michael were Director of Multimedia Services and Creative Director at Commercial Radio Hong Kong, Chief Designer at PCCW, and Art Director at TVB. As an artist, michaelmichaelmichael's works have been shown in China, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, among many other countries.

This conversation is organized by the UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative and the School of Music as well as co-sponsored by: UBC Department of Asian Studies, Department of History, Centre for Chinese Research, Asian Library, and the Interdisciplinary Histories Research Cluster.

CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR IN HONG KONG STUDIES

The Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, invites applications for an appointment to a SSHRC Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Hong Kong Studies with a focus on literary, visual, and/or popular culture. Applicants should have a Ph.D. or have successfully defended the dissertation in a relevant field at the time of appointment, and they should possess a high degree of proficiency in Cantonese, written Chinese, and English. This position will be at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor and is expected to start on 1 July 2021.

Deadline: 7 December 2020

Details: asia.ubc.ca/careers

UPCOMING EVENTS

Still "Too Asian" 10 years later? A Retrospective panel on anti-Asian Racism and the University

18 November 2020, 12:00–1:00 PM PST
Details: https://fb.me/e/1zvOfx7Ra
RSVP: bit.ly/2GA6nJI

This panel examines how anti-Asian racism has shaped the contemporary Canadian university, as well as how scholars in and beyond critical race, Asian Canadian and Asian diaspora studies have responded through their research, teaching and community engagement. Taking place on the 10th year anniversary of Macleans’ infamous article on whether Canadian universities were “Too Asian?”, panelists look back at both the immediate and longer term academic and public dialogues, responses and organizing efforts that resulted from and exceeded this moment. They also consider what it means to be doing this work of retrospection in the context of resurgent eruptions of multiple forms of anti-Asian and broader racial violence during these pandemic times.

Free and open to the public. To receive the Zoom link, please register by 10:00 am on November 18.

Speakers:

Dr. Davina Bhandar is Assistant Professor in Political Science at Athabasca University.
Dr. Roland Sintos Coloma is Professor in the College of Education at Wayne State University.
Dr. Christine Kim is Associate Professor in English Language and Literatures at the University of British Columbia and editor of the journal Canadian Literature.
Dr. Henry Yu is Associate Professor in History and Principal of St. John’s College at the University of British Columbia.

How do you understand "Cancel Culture" ? Does it exist in the Chinese communities?

Sunday, November 22, 2020, 5:45–9:00 pm PST
Via Zoom

“What do JK Rowling, the author, Jimmy Fallon, the talk show star, BTS, the K-pop idol group and some numerous ordinary people have in common? The answer is, they've all recently been boycotted for some perceived "wrong" remarks, with reputation destroyed and even work deprived. How do you understand this "Cancel Culture" and political correctness ? Does it exist in the Chinese communities?”

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/127528173199

Source: Wikicommon

Webinar
23 November 2020, 17:00–18:30 GMT
Xi Jinping’s Counter-Reformation: The Reassertion of Ideological Governance in Contemporary China
Prof. Timothy Cheek (University of British Columbia)
via Zoom (to be live-streamed on the SOAS Facebook page)

Registration: https://bit.ly/3nU1nR8

"Xi Jinping is the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao. The media is full of his “mass line campaigns,” the anti-corruption campaign, his much-touted “Chinese Dream,” and China’s assertive actions in the region, as well as conflicting news about his Belt and Road policy across Asia and into Africa. How can we make sense of what Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party are doing? This talk offers perspectives from the history of the Party and its notable style of governance: Rectification. The traditions of Party “statecraft” dating back to the Yan’an in the 1940s and across the Mao period draw on long-standing Chinese political norms and help us see how the Party leadership today interprets the challenges it faces today. This is a form of ideological governance in which only the Party can save China, and only rectification under one supreme leader can save the Party. This is a reaction to the reformation of politics and society in China in the two decades after Tiananmen in 1989. It is Xi Jinping’s Counter-Reformation."

PUBLICATIONS

Source: Canadian International Council

An Assessment of 50 Years of Canada-China Relations

“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Canada and China. Now that the relationship is at its lowest ebb since 1970, Canada can neither decouple from this relationship nor take a ‘business-as-usual’ approach that ignores the new realities of China’s international behavior and domestic practices. The CIC has offered to host an article series commissioned by the China Policy Centre, in cooperation with the University of Alberta’s China Institute, and the support of Global Affairs Canada.”

HKSI Associates Diana Lary, Pitman Potter, and Leo Shin are among the contributors to this series hosted by the Canadian International Council.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Society for Hong kong Studies Annual meeting 2021

25–26 June 2021
in Hong Kong or virtually on Zoom

"This year’s theme is 'Hong Kong in the Age of Global Crisis,' which we hope will stimulate collective and multi-disciplinary reflections on Hong Kong’s experiences with public health crisis, economic turmoil, social unrest and political ruptures in the global context, past and present. This means we particularly welcome papers that compare, contextualize or connect Hong Kong with other societies and cultures. We will select papers addressing this conference theme to form a plenary session, with the potential of submitting them for publication as a special issue in academic journals.”

Details: https://hkstudies.org/cfp-society-for-hong-kong-studies-annual-meeting-2021/

PAST EVENTS

Archiving Memory: Neon Lights in Hong Kong

Oct 23: As part of the City Archived series, Professor Brian Kwok of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong presented a fascinating talk on the Hong Kong Neon Archive. (photos | webcast)

Nov. 6: The UBC Cantonese Language program kicked off its fifth-anniversary celebration with a webinar, “Shortcuts to Learning and Teaching Cantonese,” by authors Cream Lee and Shin Kataoka (stay tuned for the recording).

Please kindly consider a tax-deductible donation to HKSI (hksi.ubc.ca/support-us). Thank you, as always, for your support of the UBC Hong Kong Studies Initiative.

Hong Kong Studies Initiative (HKSI)
UBC Department of Asian Studies
1871 West Mall, Unit 607
Vancouver British Columbia V6T 1Z2
Canada
hksi.ubc@ubc.ca
hksi.ubc.ca

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