Amanda Respess to present on Middle Period shipwrecks in the South China, Java Seas on November 12

The Institute for Chinese Studies will present a lecture by Amanda Respess, The Ohio State University, on Friday, November 12 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. This lecture will be offered online and in person on the OSU campus (registration required). Professor Respess will present "Cargo as Archive: Shipwreck Case Studies in the Nanhai Trade." Stephen Murphy, SOAS University, and Derek Thiam Soon Heng, Northern Arizona University, will join as commentators.

Abstract: In recent decades, maritime archaeology has opened new doors to understanding the cosmopolitan nature of the Nanhai trade on China’s southern coast and in Southeast Asian ports. The archaeological record of premodern long-distance trade found in shipwrecks and port cities offers an alternative archive for historians to investigate the nature of networks of exchange and communities of foreign merchants. This talk will examine case studies of artifacts pulled from Middle Period shipwrecks in the South China and Java Seas that illuminate the possibilities of working with maritime material culture for historians of China and Southeast Asia. A discussion of herbal medicines, inscribed and calligraphy-decorated ceramics, ivory, and candlenuts recovered from the Intan, Belitung, and Java Sea shipwrecks offers new directions for research into transregional trade that look beyond simple inventories of commodities into the merchant communities who navigated inside and outside of Premodern China’s borders.

Jerome L. Packard to present on the cognitive processing of Chinese writing on November 15

The Institute for Chinese Studies will present a a lecture by Jerome L. Packard, University of Illinois, on Monday, November 15 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. online (registration required). Professor Packard will present "Cognitive Processing of Chinese Writing."

Abstract: This talk explores the cognitive processing of Chinese writing in the brain. We will see how each Chinese character gives a clue to both the meaning and the pronunciation of a character. We examine how reading Chinese activates the same brain pathways as reading English, and that the same types of reading—like whole word and phonetic reading—are used both in Chinese and in English. We will see how Chinese characters are activated in the brain automatically during Chinese speech processing, even when there are no characters present! We will see how the part of the brain used to recognize words in English—the Visual Word Form Area—is also used to recognize Chinese words. Finally, we see that the same reading disorders occur in Chinese as in English and that the part of the brain activated in Chinese morphological processing is the same as areas activated during morphological processing in alphabetic languages.

Kaoru Iokibe to present on collaboration between Japan, John A. Bingham on policy, infectious diseases on November 15

The Institute for Japanese Studies will present a lecture by Kaoru Iokibe, University of Tokyo, on Monday, November 15 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. This lecture will be offered online and in person on the OSU campus (registration required). Professor Iokibe will present "19th-century Cholera to COVID-19: Ohioan John A. Bingham and Japan's Diplomatic Responses to Infectious Diseases"

Abstract: This talk compares Japan’s experiences during the cholera outbreak of the 19th century and the current COVID-19 pandemic. Cholera was a challenge not only for Meiji Japan’s healthcare policies but also for its relationship to international society. Western residents repeatedly claimed immunity from the Japanese government-regulated quarantine under the “Unequal Treaties,” which were ratified at the reopening of Japan to western nations in the middle of the century.

Japan, however, found a staunch ally in John A. Bingham, a lawyer and congressman from Ohio who served as a minister to Japan from 1873 to 1885, the longest term ever for an American diplomatic representative in Japan. After his service to reunite the US after the Civil War, Bingham passionately supported Japan’s effort to restore sovereignty over the “Unequal Treaties.”

Prof. Iokibe will discuss how the collaboration between Japan and Bingham influenced Japan’s policy towards the world as well as towards infectious diseases from the 19th century to the present.

International alumni conversation with Gil Latz on October 26

Join Gil Latz, vice provost for global strategies and international affairs, and S. Alice Mong, ’86, executive director of the Asia Society, Hong Kong Center, and member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, for an hour-long conversation on Tuesday, October 26.

Vice Provost Latz will update alumni on Ohio State’s new leadership, initiatives and programs as well as discuss priorities identified by the university’s international strategic plan. International alumni are encouraged to submit questions when they register for the moderated zoom session led by Ms. Mong following Latz’s presentation.

This is the first in a series of future virtual and in-person sessions that will bring together university leadership and alumni to exchange thoughts on campus priorities, at home and abroad. Participation is encouraged from Ohio State’s eleven international alumni clubs and the over 40,000 alumni residing abroad.