Conference: AAS-in-Asia2020
Teaching Classical Chinese Literature Across a Globalized World: Challenges and Strategies
In today’s globalized world, how to teach classical Chinese literature has become increasingly challenging. For one thing, facing a new generation of students who grew up consuming fast entertainment and are accustomed to instant gratification afforded by technology, how to lead them to appreciate the beauty, subtlety, and profundity of classical Chinese literature? Secondly, with …
Mobilizing After the Fall of Empire: Decolonization Across Asia
At the end of the Second World War, newly sovereign states sprang up from the rubble of fallen empires throughout Asia. Their postcolonial trajectories were diverse. Many countries descended into violent civil wars and ideological battles for legitimacy, contended with new occupiers, or witnessed the mass movements of millions. In Japan, demilitarized by Allied Forces, …
Resistance to Dictatorship and the Future of Human Rights in Thailand
On 22 May 2014, a junta calling itself the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) carried out the thirteenth coup in Thailand since the end of the absolute monarchy in 1932. For nearly five years, the NCPO presided over a military dictatorship in which human rights violations became systematic and institutionalized. Despite severe restriction …
Tradition and Transformation of Legal Culture in the Mongol Empire
The Mongols brought the shock of transformation at the same time as destruction in Eurasia in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The huge integration and connection amid the diversities of races, languages and cultures was a new transition. The unification of the empire did not necessarily mean a transparent society. The Mongols were perhaps almost …
Rethinking Women in Asia Under the Aggression of the Japanese Empire, 1931-1945
Even though considerable research has documented the history of women’s oppression under Japanese nationalism and fascism, from the Mukden Incident in 1931 to the end of the Asia-Pacific War in 1945, the analysis has generally been from a Japanese standpoint. Focusing on areas outside the main islands of Japan, such as Manchuria, China proper, Taiwan, …
At the Crossroads – Verism & Artifice in Early Modern Japanese Art
This panel examines the function of, and/or relationships between, verism and artifice in art during Japan’s early modern period (1603-1868). While the focus of each of the four papers will be on specific works of art, the roles played by poetry, literature, popular storytelling, and encyclopedic compendia in their creation also will be explored. Under …
China’s Modernity at the Crossroads: Heritage and Society in Dialogue with the Past and With the World
Ever since the May Fourth Movement (1919) spread, China positioned itself in the process of developing its own modernity using binary categories traditional/modern, past/future, Chinese/Western, but at the same time constantly proved how misleading these oppositions often are. Closer examination of cultural practices, experiences and styles seems to prove that China’s ongoing struggle with modernity …
OpenGLAM and Redevelopment of Japanese Studies
This roundtable brings together researchers and librarians from university, high school, and public library to discuss the unique conditions in which OpenGLAM develops in Japan. To that end, the speakers will examine the current trends and issues on digitalization of Japanese resources from interdisciplinary perspective. The development and dissemination of digital archives and open data …
Family and Social Inequalities in Chinese Societies
This session foregrounds family, as a social institution, in the process of (re-)production of social inequalities in the Asian context. Family has long been recognized as a significant institution in perpetuating inequalities and in transferring wealth, social and cultural capitals across generations. It also intertwines with other social axes, such as gender and class, which …
Buddhist Images Across Borders: the Transmission of Dunhuang Mural Imagery in the 6th-13th Century
The spread of Buddhism and Buddhist art facilitated constant cultural exchanges among the Silk Routes. Dunhuang, situated at the conjunction in the Hexi corridor, is well-known for the enormous amount of image-caves and murals. Also, Dunhuang murals provide evidence of its artistic inspirations and adaptations from regions other than itself. Dunhuang, in turn, played a …