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2018 Yip So Man Wat Memorial Lecture
With Professor Helen F. Siu
October 3 | 6pm
As part of our annual celebration of Chinese literature and culture, we have invited Professor Helen F. Siu (Yale University) to give a talk on “the Worldly Engagement of the Greater Pearl River Delta Region.” The talk focuses on the rise of trading hubs with multi-ethnic identities and resources and tracks strategic footprints across the oceans from Canton to Zanzibar. It will comment on the region’s paths of development and conflict.
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Asian Library Closing at 5 p.m. to Accommodate Upgrades
The Asian Library will close at 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday beginning September 4 to accommodate upcoming upgrades and renovations. The renovations, scheduled to be completed in the Spring of 2019, will allow for improvements to student study areas, seminar space and programming. Any questions about the renovation can be directed to the Head of the Asian Library, Shirin Eshghi. The Department of Asian Studies’ main office will continue to operate from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.
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Featured 2018W Term 1 Courses |
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Featured Courses for Winter 2018
Not satisfied with your timetable? Explore our list of Asian Studies courses that you can sign up for right away.
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Winter 2018 Course Offerings in Buddhist Studies
Don’t miss out on our amazing selection of courses that cover the broad study of Buddhism and Asian religions.
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Check out our beginner language courses!
Seats are still available. |
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CNTO301, CNTO303, CNTO311 |
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CHIN131, CHIN133,
CHIN141, CHIN143 |
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JAPN100, JAPN101 |
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KORN100, KORN101, KORN102 |
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HINU102 |
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PERS100, PERS101,
PERS104 |
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PUNJ102 |
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SANS300 |
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TIBT100, TIBT101 |
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DEPARTMENT EVENTS |
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Reimagining East Asian Buddhism: Wuyue Foundations of Song Dynasty Buddhism and Beyond
With Dr. Albert Welter
September 20 | 3:30pm
This presentation focuses on one region of China, Wuyue, centered in Hangzhou, that forged an identity as a new Buddhist homeland based on new and unprecedented forms of Buddhist thought, practice and institutional structures.
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Ecumene, Landscape, and History: Korea, the Ming, and the Problem of Universal Empire
With Dr. Sixiang Wang
September 20 | 4pm
This event is part of the 2018 One Asia Forum Talk Series. The talk explores the rhetorical strategies of Korean diplomacy, in particular in its envoy poetry, to argue that Chosŏn Korea crafted with Ming envoys central aspects of Ming imperial ideology.
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How Big is “Local”? The Historically Global Nature of Hong Kong Culture and Society
With Dr. Helen F. Siu
October 4 | 7:30pm
Associated with our Annual Yip So Man Wat Memorial Lecture, this talk discusses the multi-layered historical experience shared by generations of immigrants and emigrants to Hong Kong. This event is open to the public but will be conducted in Cantonese.
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The Pleasures and Perils of Hong Kong Pulp Fiction
With Dr. Christopher Rea
October 11 | 4pm
From Blue Cover Detective Magazine and the "men’s magazine" Mini; to a “three-dime” paperback like Liu Yichang’s Lust Under the Coconut Palms and Du Ning’s Ten Years of Bitter Love, Associate Professor Christopher Rea discusses the lasting influence of these beloved and reviled mass culture products, from the 1950s to today.
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John Howes Lecture in Japanese Studies
With Dr. Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
November 22 | 6:30pm
Guest speaker Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney (William F. Vilas Professor at the University of Wisconsin) continues one of our greatest annual traditions in which we invite prominent scholars from around the world to speak to the university community and alumni on topics regarding Japanese culture. This year’s lecture is titled “the Social and Political Lives of Japanese Cherry Blossoms.”
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EVENT RECAPS |
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Asian Studies Welcome Back Lunch
Over 80 students, 20 faculty members, 10 volunteers, and 7 alumni participated in this year’s Welcome Back Lunch on Imagine Day, making for an engaging afternoon. As the event went on, it proved to be a wonderful space for reunions, new connections, and ultimately a shared sense of community in the Department. We’d like to thank our students, staff, faculty, and alumni for coming together to make the event a success.
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OPPORTUNITIES |
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Featured Elective: HIST 105 Pacific War in History & Film
Are you interested in how history is presented on film? Have you ever wondered whether film reflects or shapes society's views of historical events, or maybe if it does both? This course examines the interplay between cultural production and conventional memory, focusing on the medium of Japanese films to examine Japan's invovlement in the Pacific War.
UBC Chinese Program Seeking Volunteers
The UBC Chinese program is looking for volunteers who are native Chinese speakers. Volunteer responsibilities include assisting in oral practice with Chinese learners to improve their pronunciation, assisting in class activities and helping with the planning, organizing, and execution of annual events such as our Chinese Fun Night, the Chinese Bridge Singing Contest, and the Lunar New Year Celebration.
Volunteers Needed: Taekwondo Canada for the 2018 Canada Open
The exciting 2018 Canada Open tournament will be held on September 14-16 and is looking for volunteers! Positions available include Setup/Tear Down, Accreditation/Ticketing, Weigh-In, Awards Ceremony and Certification Preparation.
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ON & OFF-CAMPUS EVENTS |
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Fires in Shandong, Fires in BC: Flora and Firefighting in Mediterranean & Boreal Forests
September 12 | 3pm | Room 120, C.K. Choi Building, 6265 Crescent Road, Vancouver
VIFF: Perfect Blue
September 14 & 17 | various times available | Vancity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St, Vancouver
Ships Passing in the Night? The U.S., China, and the Future of the Asia Pacific
September 19 | 12:45pm | Room 120, C.K. Choi Building, 6265 Crescent Road, Vancouver
LiterAsian: A Festival of Asian Canadian Writing
September 14 & 17 | various times available | The Orpheum, 601 Smithe St, Vancouver
The Nonhuman in Japanese Culture and Society: Spirits, Animals, Technology
September 21-24 | 6pm | Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, University of Victoria, Oak Bay
Repeating and Rhyming after the Past: Textile Reconstructions in the Deccan
September 27 | 4pm | Room 213, Museum of Anthropology, 6393 NW Marine Dr, Vancouver
Asian Canadian Representation and Media: Public Q&A with Simu Liu
September 27 | various times available | Room 213, 6393 NW Marine Dr, Vancouver
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GO GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW |
This interview features Elliott Cheung, fourth-year Honours student majoring in Asian Language and Culture (Japan). For students interested in studying abroad, don't forget to stop by the UBC Life Building on October 3rd 2018 to catch the Global Experience Fair!
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Tell us about yourself and why you want to study Asian languages and culture?
My name is Elliott Cheung, and I’m a fourth-year Honours student in Asian Language and Culture (Japan), minoring in Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies. My family is from Hong Kong, and I lived there myself for about 5 years. My time living in Asia significantly impacted me and who I became, and I view my study of the history and culture of the region as a sort of reclamation of my own identity, heritage, and past.
What university and city did you go to on exchange to and why did you choose to go there?
I was in Tokyo, Japan at Keio University. I chose this university for its history as the first establishment of higher learning in Japan, and its strong academic reputation thereby. It was established in 1858 by Fukuzawa Yukichi, who, not coincidentally, is on the 10000 yen bill! Plus, the Mita campus, where you’ll likely study, is in a great location downtown, about 20 minutes’ walk from the Tokyo Tower. And I chose Tokyo, also, because of its history and culture as the capital of modern Japan and the main intersection point between Japan and the world.
How did going abroad help you achieve your goals (personal, academic, professional, etc)?
Studying in Japan had been a pipe dream of mine ever since I began studying Japanese at a young age. Aside from the experience – living in Tokyo, making friends from Japan – it also refined my language skills in terms of helping my brain become accustomed to using the language at a constant pace and in varying registers of usage. Additionally, studying alongside Japanese students and at a prestigious domestic university gives me an advantage when it comes to applying for Japanese companies.
Tell us about your favourite experience on exchange.
My family and I are huge Disney fans, and one thing we decided had to be done was to get an annual pass at the Tokyo Disney parks, even though I was only there for six months. Aside from begging every single one of my friends to go with me, several times at that, there was something so special about going to the parks after classes, like Disneyland was our regular hangout place. Everything about the parks is top-notch, and I’m so glad to have been able to share that experience with my schoolmates.
What course did you enjoy the most and why?
I deeply appreciated my course on the History of Japanese Vocabulary from Dr. Tanaka Makiro, who is an outstanding and detailed lecturer, and serves on the committee for the prestigious annual Buzzword Awards. This was a fairly self-motivated and rigorous course where students used linguistic corpus data to trace the evolution of a particular word or concept through centuries of Japanese literature. Dr. Tanaka was intensely supportive and gave wonderful feedback, especially to an exchange student like myself who at times struggled to keep up with the Japanese students.
What did you do to immerse yourself and improve your knowledge of the culture and language?
I spent a lot of time at bookstores - I’m an avid reader and I absolutely admire the book culture in Japan. Paperbacks are regularly published, outrageously cheap, and you’ll see many people on the subway with their noses shoved into one. As well, I joined an international church in Tokyo that ran bilingually in English and Japanese, and aside from making some of my closest friends, had the chance to do some simultaneous interpretation both ways!
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