2021-2022 YEAR-END REVIEW | |
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DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
Dear CEAS Community,
As the academic year draws to an end, I wanted to reach out with a brief note of thanks to all of you for your support during 2021-2022. It has been a year of transition for all of us as the pandemic waxed and waned, making a complete return to normalcy difficult. Amidst the uncertainty, CEAS was able to move forward with several new initiatives. In recognition of the anniversary of the 1972 reversion of Okinawa to Japan, the Japan Committee supported a series of events on Okinawan culture, including the Najita Lecture, several CEAS lectures, and a performance by the musicians and dancers of National Theater Okinawa. Also, prompted by the wave of anti-Asian violence that accompanied the pandemic, we sponsored several speakers whose work moves beyond the geographic boundaries of East Asia to explore the contributions of immigrant and diasporic communities in the US and beyond.
We look forward to seeing you next year when hopefully we can revive our CEAS lunches and other popular in-person events, but in the meantime, best wishes for a pleasant and productive summer!
Best wishes,
Susan Burns
Director, Center for East Asian Studies
University of Chicago
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The Center for East Asian Studies staff
congratulates the graduates of 2022!
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This year's CEAS Lecture Series featured six distinguished speakers during the 2021-2022 academic year.
After several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CEAS was pleased to welcome to campus Don J. Wyatt (Middlebury College) for its first, in-person lecture of the academic year where he spoke on the topic of "Who-or What-Were the First Blacks of China?"
During the month of April, Curator of Asian Ethnographic Collections at the American Museum of Natural History's Laurel Kendall talked about Korean shamans in "Comparing Gods and Things - Looking at and Beyond Korea," while Louis B. Agassiz Professor in Chinese, Andrew F. Jones (University of California, Berkeley), explored the peripatetic life and work of the 1930s modernist writer Hei Ying.
The month of May hosted the series' final three speakers including Professor of History and Asian Studies at Vanderbilt University, Gerald Figal, and Associate Professor of History at University of California, San Diego, Wendy Matsumura, who both spoke on topics related to Okinawa, as part of the 50th anniversary of the "reversion" of the prefecture to Japan.
In an effort to expand the series to examine East Asian diasporas, CEAS was pleased to welcome back to campus world-renown scholar in Asian-American immigrant history, Mae Ngai (Columbia University), to deliver the final lecture,
"The Chinese Question: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics."
This series is co-sponsored with the
University of Chicago Library.
Click here to read more about this year's speakers
and to view recordings!
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From current faculty, alumni, to special guests, CEAS offers this series with the aim of engaging the broader community in conversations regarding key scholarship on East Asia.
This year, Journalist and Author, Akemi Johnson, provided a vivid look at the enduring wounds of U.S.-Japanese history and the cultural and sexual politics of the American military empire in her book, Night in the American Village: Women in the Shadow of the U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa.
Scholar and Author, David J. Mozina, presented his book, Knotting the Banner: Ritual and Relationship in Daoist Practice, inviting the audience into the religious world of ritual masters in today's south China.
Click here to read more about the events that took place this year
and to view recordings!
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15th Annual Tetsuo Najita
Distinguished Lecture
in Japanese Studies
Launched in 2007 by the CEAS Committee on Japanese Studies to honor the legacy of Tetsuo Najita, Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, this year's lecture welcomed Ichirō Tomiyama, Professor of Global Studies at Doshisha University.
For more information on this event, click here.
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Photo Credit: Anthony Linh Nguyen
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May 15, 2022 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the “reversion” of Okinawa to Japan. To commemorate the occasion, the CEAS Committee on Japan Studies hosted a series of performances and talks to reflect on the legacies of Okinawa’s remarkable history, including the continuing presence of massive American military bases in what remains Japan’s poorest prefecture, the traumatic memories of the brutal 1945 Battle of Okinawa and the decades of U.S. military occupation that followed, and imperial Japan’s annexation of the islands in 1879.
These events, which took place throughout the 2021-2022 academic year, provided a glimpse into the unique history and cultures of Okinawa, from the traces of the once-independent Ryūkyū Kingdom to today’s fashionable tourist destination that is at the same time a hotbed of popular discontent.
Click here to read more about events in the series
and to view recordings!
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Photo Credit: Joe Carrotta, Villa Albertineʼs headquarters at the Payne Whitney Mansion in New York City | |
Reimagining the Ballet des Porcelaines: A Story of Magic, Desire, and Exotic Entanglement
The Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago (CEAS) partnered with UChicago Arts, the Committee on Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS), the Office of the Provost, and the Department of Music to bring "Reimagining the Ballet des Porcelaines: A Story of Magic, Desire, and Exotic Entanglement" to campus March 2-3, 2022.
This 18th-Century French ballet was reimagined by scholar Meredith Martin (NYU) and Phil Chan (Final Bow for Yellowface) in a way that centers Asian protagonists and confronts the Orientalist stereotypes that gave rise to the original piece. On each night, this one-act performance was followed by a panel discussion and Q&A that explored historical, cultural, artistic, and performative “entanglements.”
Concurrent events, including an exhibition at the
Smart Museum of Art entitled, "Porcelain: Material and Storytelling," was also showcased, featuring porcelain as an artistic medium as well as a material substance.
Click here to read more about the event.
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Waves Across Time:
Traditional Music and Dance
of Okinawa
In collaboration with UC Presents, CEAS was a proud co-sponsor of a March 27th program that featured a group of Okinawa islands' most exquisite dancers, specially selected by the young artistic director of the National Theatre Okinawa Michihiko Kakazu. The group performed a diverse repertoire of Okinawan traditional performing arts accompanied by live music. Following the performance, on March 28, a lunch program with a special demonstration with select artists from the group took place at the International House.
This program was supported by the Japan Society and
co-sponsored with the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago with support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The program was also presented in partnership with International House at the University of Chicago.
Click here to read more about the performance.
Click here to read more about the lunch program.
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Screening of Round and Around with Director Minseung Jang
From the protests in Pusan in 1979, Spring of Seoul, and Gwangju in May 1980 to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Round and Around, unravels scenes of development, demolition, and resistance from 1980s South Korea in non-linear time and space. This experimental, non-narrative documentary, is directed by Minseung Jang, with its music composed by Jaeil Jung, music director of Parasite (2019) and Squid Game (2021).
Screened at the Logan Center for the Arts on April 17th, the afternoon program featured conversations with the film's Director, Minseung Jang, Hieyoon Kim (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Paola Iovene (EALC, University of Chicago).
This event was co-sponsored by the Korean Film Archive (KOFA) under the auspices of Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, and the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago with generous support from a Title VI National Resource Center Grant from the United States Department of Education.
Click here to read more about the event.
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The Goddess with
Min Xiao-Fen and Rez Abbasi
The Silent Film Society of Chicago, the Film Studies Center, and the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Chicago presented The Goddess with Min Xiao-Fen and Rez Abbasi to audiences on April 24.
This program featured a special screening of The Goddess 神女 (Wu Yonggang, 1934, 85 minutes) with a live musical performance by world renowned musicians, Min Xiao-Fen (pipa, ruan, sanxian,and voice) and Rez Abbasi (acoustic and electric guitar).
The Goddess, a masterpiece of Chinese cinema’s silent era, is a heart-wrenching tale about a single mother who raises a young child while working as a prostitute. Wu Yonggang’s juxtaposition of Shanghai’s glitzy, Art Deco skyline with a portrait of wretched street-level existence highlights the disparities suffered by the masses during a time of foreign occupation and domestic unrest. Digital restoration courtesy of the China Film Archive.
Click here to read more about the event.
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Sensorium of the Early Modern Chinese Text:
A Symposium in Celebration of Judith Zeitlin
In celebration of Judith T. Zeitlin, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, this two-day program explored the early modern text as located at the critical juncture of three different approaches that have crucially informed the field of Chinese literature over the last twenty years: print culture, material culture, and media studies.
Bringing together scholars of art history, media, literature, and performance, this symposium suggested new directions in the field of early modern Chinese literature. In addition, it explored the ghostly re-appearance of voices and bodies from sixteenth-century Ming musical culture and eighteenth-century chinoiserie and also featured two video performances and a round table discussion.
Click here to read more about the event.
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Comprising over 7,000 titles from China, Japan, and Korea, the CEAS Film Library includes historical films, documentaries, television series, and contemporary cinema. Peruse through the online catalog to view the library's many NEW film acquisitions!
Films are imported from overseas and are difficult to find in the U.S. Films are available for check-out free of charge to any current University of Chicago student, staff, or faculty member. CEAS Associate Members, K-16 educators, and the general public may also borrow films for educational use.
To learn more, click here.
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The CEAS YouTube channel continues to serve as an invaluable resource, providing content to an expansive audience, that both educates and entertains.
Missed an event this year, or interested in re-watching one of our past CEAS events?
Visit us on YouTube and subscribe to the channel to stay updated on new videos that are uploaded!
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Check out the many photos taken at CEAS events that took place this year by perusing through the photo albums on the
CEAS Facebook page!
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Initiated in 2019, the Faculty Spotlight initiative provides readers with in-depth information on our faculty including a glimpse of their journey into academia, their professional and personal interests, as well as insight into their groundbreaking research.
Read NEW faculty profiles by clicking here!
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CEAS.UCHICAGO.EDU
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