FLAS Fellowship application deadline approaching on February 1

The fellowship applications for summer 2021 and academic year 2021-2022 under the U.S. Department of Education's Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship program are due Monday, February 1 at 4:30 p.m. EST. Fellowships are available for Ohio State graduate and professional school students pursuing a course of study requiring advanced foreign language and area studies training, as well as undergraduate students of junior or senior standing in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field who have successfully completed two years of East Asian language study at the college level. Applications are to be submitted online. Detailed application instructions can be found at https://easc.osu.edu/2021-2022flas. Any questions about the East Asian Studies Center FLAS Fellowship program should be directed to Amy Carey at easc@osu.edu.

EASC to present virtual huddle for Chinese language teachers

The East Asian Studies Center will present "Connections: Chinese Language Teacher Virtual Huddle" on the third Tuesday of each month through May, beginning on Tuesday, January 19 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Participants will meet online with other teachers of Chinese to brainstorm, network, and connect to share best practices and lessons learned during virtual, hybrid, and in-person learning. Teachers may attend as many meetings as they like. Registration required.

Yanagiya Tōzaburō to present rakugo performance on January 29

The Institute for Japanese Studies and the Japan America Society of Central Ohio will present "Rakugo by Yanagiya Tōzaburō" on Friday, January 29 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (online, registration required).

Abstract: Yanagiya Tōzaburō returns to Columbus for a virtual performance. Rakugo (落語) is a traditional Japanese form of solo storytelling in a style similar to “stand-up” comedy but performed entirely in a kneeling position seated on a zabuton cushion. With only a folding paper fan and a folded handkerchief as props, rakugo storytellers rely on eye movements, facial expressions, and body language to help convey their stories. Tōzaburo is a master rakugo performer with the shin’uchi title. His performance will include Japanese storytelling with English subtitles and English storytelling, followed by Q&A.

Marié Abe to present on chindon-ya on February 1

The Institute for Japanese Studies and the School of Music's Musicology program will present a lecture by Marié Abe, Boston University, on Monday, February 1 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (online, registration required). Professor Abe will present "Hired to be Overheard: Resonances of Chindon-ya on the Streets of Osaka."

Abstract: Chindon-ya, dating back to the 1840s, are ostentatiously costumed street musicians who publicize a business by parading through neighborhood streets in Japan. Against the background of long-term economic downturn, growing social precarity, and nuclear anxiety, Abe’s recently published book investigates how this seemingly outdated means of advertisement has recently gained traction as an aesthetic, economic, and political practice after decades of inactivity. Drawing on the book, this presentation will address the central analytic hibiki (resonance), which highlights the processes in which chindon-ya’s sound is designed to elicit an affective response from a listener who simply “overhears” chindon-ya in public spaces. By examining the distinct mode of listening and sounding cultivated by chindon-ya, Abe will explore how ethnographic attention to the locally grounded form of audition reveals the limits of Western conceptions of listening that have normalized the way we think about the relationship between sound, space, history, and listening subjects.

Robert Kelly to present on the Trump administration's nuclear negotiations with North Korea on February 3

The Institute for Korean Studies and the Mershon Center for International Security Studies will present a lecture by Robert Kelly, Pusan National University, on Wednesday, February 3 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (online, registration required). Professor Kelly will present "The Trump Administration’s Nuclear Negotiations with North Korea."

Abstract: The years 2017–2020 have been remarkable in the long stand-off with North Korea, as much for the drama of war-threats and then summits, as for the durability of the inter-Korean status quo. Indeed, given all the excitement of both hawkish and then dovish approaches to North Korea since 2017, the greatest surprise is how little both alternatives have accomplished ‘on the ground.’ Much of the failure to change anything is laid at the feet of US President Trump – his poor grasp of the issues, his curious personalism with dictator Kim Jong Un, his focus on media attention – but there are likely other reasons: weak domestic coalitions in both the US and South Korea for major policy change regarding the North, and the enormous structural utility of nuclear weapons to a small, loathed state like North Korea. This talk will cover North Korea’s acquisition of nuclear weapons, the course of the negotiations conducted by both Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-In, what the two sides seek from the negotiations, why these concessions were almost certainly too great for either side to make, and what a future course of smaller, more workable deals might look like.

"Contemporary Japanese Film" course to be offered with Ohio State Newark campus

The East Asian Studies Center has partnered with the Ohio State Newark campus to offer a course in Spring 2021, "Contemporary Japanese Film: Anime and J-Horror" (Arts and Sciences 1101, class number: 36413).

To be taught by Robert Hughes, associate professor of English, the course will be offered during the second session of Spring semester (March 5 - April 23) on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. This course, to be graded pass/fail, will be offered entirely online and is open to students on both the Newark and Columbus campuses.

Course Description: This 1-credit course (SP 2021, second session) looks at five classic films of Japanese anime: My Neighbor Totoro, Ghost in the Shell (1995), Perfect Blue, Spirited Away, and Your Name, and two classics of Japanese horror film: Ringu and Battle Royale. Our time period is concentrated in the 1995-2002 era, but with one film earlier and one later. The films themselves range from whimsical and moving to disturbing, but they are wonderfully curious, all of them, and students will find much to think about in their strangenesses and in their philosophical themes. Students will be expected to write a response paper on each film and turn it in prior to the start of our second-day discussion on that film; a final essay is also required.

CSEES to present panel discussion on politics of food and famine in Soviet Ukraine, Soviet Kazakhstan, and Maoist China on January 26

The Center for Slavic and East European Studies will present "The Politics of Food and Famine in the 20th Century: A Comparative Panel" on Tuesday, January 26 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (online). Professor Christopher Otter, The Ohio State University, will chair the panel. Speakers include: Daria Mattingly, Cambridge University; Sarah Cameron, University of Maryland; and Frank Dikötter, University of Hong Kong.

Abstract: This panel will explore the politics of food and famine in Soviet Ukraine, Soviet Kazakhstan, and Maoist China. Famine often has concrete causes: inadequate food distribution systems, economic disturbances due to war or other conflicts, and climate-related events such as droughts, violent storms, and more. In the 20th century, we can also trace famine events to specific political decisions, particularly in the authoritarian regimes of the Soviet Union and Communist China. Our panelists bring a comparative perspective to the social, cultural, economic, and human ramifications of specific state policies between the 1930s and the early 1960s.

OIA to host Spring 2021 International Student Experience Workshop Series

The Office of International Affairs will virtually host the spring semester International Student Experience Workshop Series for faculty and staff, a three-part sequence to educate participants about life as an international student and offer guidance on how to best work with this population. The workshops, held in February, will include presentations by staff from OIA and other offices, as well as a panel of international students who will answer questions and share their experiences. Those who complete the three-part series will receive a training certificate.

Central Eurasian Summer Studies Institute applications now open

Call for papers for NEKST 2021 Graduate Conference