As part of the Tucson Humanities Festival, Dr. Albert Welter will present a talk titled "Buddhist Escapes: Caught Between Two Worlds." It is to be held on October 13 at 4:30pm, in the UA Poetry Center's Dorothy Rubel Room (Helen S. Schaefer Building, 1508 E. Helen St.).

Dr. Kenneth Lieberthal of the Brookings Institution will be presenting a talk called "Where are the United States and China Headed?" as part of the China Town Hall series. It will be held on Tuesday, October 18, 5:00-6:00pm, in 101 Saguaro Hall.

Kenneth Lieberthal is Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Brookings Institution, where from 2009 to 2016, he was a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Global Economy and Development programs. Lieberthal served as director of Brookings’ John L. Thornton China Center for 2009 to 2012. Lieberthal is also Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, where until 2009 he was the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Political Science. Dr. Lieberthal was Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Asia on the National Security Council for 1998 through 2000. Lieberthal has authored, coauthored, and/or edited 24 books and monographs, and authored about 75 articles and chapters in books. He has consulted widely on Chinese and Asian affairs and has advised the U.S. Departments of State, Defense and Commerce, the World Bank, the Kettering Foundation, the Aspen Institute, the United Nations Association and other NGOs and corporations in the private sector. Dr. Lieberthal earned his BA from Dartmouth College and his MA and Ph.D. degrees in political science from Columbia University.

Hsuan-ying Liu, our most recent PhD awardee, has accepted a Chinese teaching position at the University of North Dakota. She will be responsible for the entire Chinese program at UND. Hsuan-ying completed her dissertation entitled Coming of Age Learning Mandarin: Chinese L2 learners’ investment during their transition from high school to university in the early summer of 2016. Her dissertation was directed by Professor Wenhao Diao.

Congratulations!

Photo: Farewell Party for Hsuan-ying, Aug. 5, 2016

(from left) Xia Zhang, Feng-hsi Liu, Chia-lin Pao-Tao, Hsuan-ying Liu, Eva Chen (Hsuan-ying’s daughter), Xin He, Patrick Mao (Xia Zhang’s son), Hongyi Jia, Dongchen Hou, Yi Wang, Yu Tian. 

Dr. David Pietz was recently awarded the 2016 Cecil B. Currey Book Award from the Association of Global South Studies for his book The Yellow River: The Problem of Water in Modern China. The Association of Global South Studies is the largest professional organization of its kind in the world, with a global membership and chapters in South Asia and Africa. Members include academics, practitioners in the area of Third World development, employees of government agencies, and diplomats who reside in the U.S. and 21 other countries around the globe.

The Yellow River is an exploration into the sources of China’s contemporary water crisis, mapping the confluence of historical forces that have shaped China’s current water challenges. The book shows how Maoist water practices from 1949 to 1976 cast a long shadow over the reform period, beginning in 1978. Rapid urban growth, industrial expansion, and agricultural intensification over the past three decades of China’s economic boom have been realized on a water resource base that was already acutely compromised, with effects that have been more difficult and costly to overcome with each passing decade.

Congratulations, Dr. Pietz!

Please join us in congratulating Brandon Barnett, the recipient of our 2016 Hucker Founders Award! Brandon became interested in East Asian Studies through his great-great grandmother, who identified as Japanese but lived in Mexico. Along with his family heritage, his enjoyment in his Chinese courses both in high school and college encouraged him to major in East Asian Studies, focusing on Chinese. Brandon has applied to teach at BASIS schools around Arizona and plans to become a 3rd/4th grade Mandarin Chinese language teacher. He eventually wants to attend graduate school here at The University of Arizona and research East Asian Hip Hop Culture. Next year he is planning to take a two week trip to Taiwan and Japan. Congratulations, Brandon!

Please join us in congratulating Amber Hunt, who is the recipient of the 2016 Blair Prize in Japanese Studies.

Amber is graduating from the University of Arizona with a triple major in East Asian Studies, Political Science, and Linguistics, and a minor in Spanish. Amber has also served as one of our College of Humanities Ambassadors, representing our department and advocating for Humanities both on and off campus. Her interest in East Asia began with her Japanese language courses at the University of Arizona, prompting her to study other East Asian Studies courses. Her overall decision to major in East Asian Studies was the result of her Japanese language instructors and her advisor Dr. Camp, all of whom encouraged her throughout her time in the program.  Immediately following graduation Amber will move to Himeji, Japan and begin teaching English as a participant of the Phoenix Sister City's Teach Abroad program. She's already proven that she is a great representative of both the Department of East Asian Studies and the University of Arizona. Congratulations, Amber!

This past December, M.A. student Christianne Ono travelled to Ikema Island in southern Okinawa to participate in Dr. Tsuyoshi Ono (University of Alberta) and Dr. Toshihide Nakayama’s (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies) Second Miyako Language Documentation Training Workshop. During the intensive week-long workshop, Christianne and the other participants learned about and utilized various techniques to practice documenting Ikema, an endangered Ryukyuan language. In addition to linguistic research experience, they also spent time connecting with and giving back to the community by participating in local events and assisting with the after school care program.

The Department of East Asian Studies is proud to announce the publication of Spreading Buddha's Word in East Asia: The Formation and Transformation of the Chinese Buddhist Canon, edited by our own Professor Jiang Wu in conjunction with Lucille Chia of the University of California Riverside. The volume follows the making of the Chinese Buddhist canon from the fourth century to the digital era, bringing together investigations of the religious, social, and textual practices of canon formation in the development of East Asian Buddhist culture. The book is published by Columbia University Press.