Current News
 State of the Field Seminar Series
The Center for East Asian Studies will showcase three "State of the Field" Seminars on February 17, March 10 and April 14 in PAR 306 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. This is an informal series consisting of brief presentations by faculty where they will display the theoretical and methodological trends in social sciences, history and humanities. The session will follow with a student-led QandA. In addition, we hope to generate some lively debates about balancing the demands for academic rigor with empirical area studies research, conflicting uses of the use of "culture," etc. etc.
 David Kang explores China's international relations within East Asia in the early modern period
summary by Hye Eun Choi
On April 6, Department of Government and the Center for East Asian Studies hosted a Korea seminar. Dr. David Kang of the University of Southern California spoke on "War and Peace in Early Modern East Asia: Hierarchy, Legitimacy, and Hegemony." Hye Eun Choi, a graduate student of Korean Studies, provided a summary of the talk.
 Margarita Estévez-Abe investigates gender inequality in Japan, Europe and North America
summary by Leeann Youn
On 24 April, Department of Government and the Center for East Asian Studies sponsored a Japan seminar. Dr. Margarita Estévez-Abe, Associate Professor of the Department of Political Science at Syracuse University, talked on "Explaining Gender Inequality in Japan, Europe and North America." This co-sponsored talk was generously funded by the James R. Roach fund. Leeann Youn, a graduate student at the Department of Government, provided a summary of the event.
 The 2009 Summer Korean Language Program at Seoul National University
The Language Education Institute at Seoul National University will be offering a 5-week Summer Korean Language Program from June 29, 2009 to July 31, 2009, especially for English-speaking students who wish to learn Korean language and culture during their summer vacation.
The program will provide students a great opportunity to learn Korean language and experience Korean culture with friends from all over the world.
To find out more information and sign up for the program visit the Seoul National University Summer Program website
 Professor Nancy Stalker featured in the January Asian Studies Newsletter
Professor Nancy Stalker is profiled in this year's Asian Studies newsletter, that looks at Asian Studies as a "far-flung department." We highlight activities by our faculty and students all over the world. In addition, the newsletter also contains all the other important happenings in the Department of Asian Studies over the past year.
Asian Studies Departmental Newsletter Spring 2009
 "Locating Taiwan: Space, Culture and Society" The 15th Annual North American Taiwan Studies Conference
June 26-28, 2009
In the past two decades, Taiwan has experienced major transformations in the remapping of space. This year's conference is defined under the rubric of "Locating Taiwan: Space, Culture and Society." While our attention is focused on Taiwan's physical localities, we also encourage scholars to explore the evolving definition of space. In particular, global capital flows interface and destabilize familiar territorial demarcations and as a consequence, "interstitial spaces" emerge to accommodate new social groupings, the bloggers and Otaku for instance.
 The 38th Southwest Conference on Asian Studies (SWCAS)
October 16-17, 2009
The 38th annual Southwest Conference on Asian Studies (SWCAS), the regional organization for the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), will be held at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas in October 2009. All fields of Asian Studies are invited to submit proposals for panels or individual papers
 Benjamin Elman, Princeton University, speaks on the cultural history of modern science in China
Benjamin Elman, Professor of East Asian Studies and History at Princeton University, will give a talk on September 1, 2009 entitled "Why was 'Mr. Science' called 'kexue/kagaku' in Chinese after 1900?"
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and features a diverse faculty from fields such as anthropology, history, literature, language pedagogy, and political science. Focusing primarily on contemporary East Asian cultures, societies, and languages, Center scholars have conducted research on issues relating to classical and modern literature, consumerism, demography, film, gender, language
instruction, poetry, popular culture, religion and ritual, social movements, and transnational migration.