News and Events

Fall 2009 News and Events

Casey Brienza ’03 Receives Top Student-Paper Award for 2009

Casey Brienza ’03, Asian Studies and English double major, is awarded the Top Student Paper Award for 2009 by theJapan-U.S. Communication Association (JUCA) unit of the National Communication Association (NCA). The title of Casey’s paper's is: 'Chix Comix' to 'Shoujo Manga': Ideology and Lexical Shift in the U.S. Manga Industry.  Her paper looks at how the demographic shift in manga readership has changed labelling practices of the U.S. manga industry to target females.

Orientation Meeting for Studying and Interning in China and Taiwan

This meeting will take place on Thursday November 12 in Kendade Hall 305. The meeting will be from 4:30-6:00 pm.

Want to go to Japan?

Come to the informational meeting on Wednesday November 11 in Ciruti 111.  The meeting will be from 6-7pm.

Japanese Martial Art Expert at MHC October 30

The Mount Holyoke College Kachimushi Naginata Club will host a lecture by
Ban Ebisawa, a world-renowned expert in Naginata, a Japanese martial art
that was originally for women. Read more...

Casey Brienza ’03 Earns Cambridge Scholarship

Casey Brienza ’03, an Asian studies and English major, has received an External Research Studentship, a prestigious scholarship that will fully fund her doctoral studies at Trinity College, Cambridge University. She will be researching the transnational publishing of Japanese comics.
Read more...

歴女の夜会　華のお江戸を観る
Nights Gatherings of the History Ladies: Gazing at the Brilliance of Edo-Period Japan

A Film Series on Tokugawa Japan in association with History 331
All films will be shown at 7:30 p.m. in Skinner 216.

October 26
忠臣蔵
“Storehouse of Loyal Retainers” (Chûshingura), 1962
Inagaki Hiroshi, 207 minutes

November 9
大奥
“The Women of the Inner Palace” (Ô-oku), 2006
Hayashi Tôru, 126 minutes

November 23
たそがれ清兵衛
“Twilight Samurai” (Tasogare Seibei), 2002
Yamada Yôji, 129 minutes

December 7
えいじゃないか！
“What the hell!” (Eijanaika!), 1981
Imamura Shôhei, 151 minutes

 

Shanghai Yue Opera star Hui Huang to perform

In her first U.S. appearance, Shanghai Yue Opera star Hui Huang will perform leading man roles from five Yue operas. Her solo recital will take place Monday, Oct. 19 from 7:30-9 pm in Chapin Hall. Read more...

Spring 2009 News and Events

Award Recipients

Meet our 2008-2009 award recipients...

Congratulations to the 2009 Asian Studies Graduates!!

December Graduates:
  • Stephanie Berg
  • Emi Shinohara
  • Tia Brueggeman
Spring Graduates:
  • Laura Carlson
  • Caitlin Collins
  • Michelle Dean
  • Lara Drake
  • Debra Geary
  • Larissa Jesanis
  • Elana Kobak
  • Sara Lam
  • Amy Ruan
  • Marian Smith
  • Cory Wong
  • Angela Wu

Japanese Studies Scholarship

The Japanese Government’s Monbukagakusho (MEXT) offers scholarships to students who wish to pursue Japanese studies in Japan. This program provides students with an intensive course in the Japanese language and an introduction to various aspects of Japanese studies.

MEXT Japanese Studies Scholarship applicants must be US citizens who were born between April 2, 1979 and April 1, 1991 and must be undergraduate students majoring in fields related to Japanese language or culture at a university outside of Japan. Applicants should have good Japanese language ability and be in good health.

The award includes round trip airfare, exemption from all school fees, and a stipend of approximately 134,000 yen/month (the amount for 2009 is not yet definite). The term of stay is approximately one academic year effective from fall 2009.

Potential candidates currently residing in New England may contact the Consulate General of Japan in Boston with any questions (617-972-9772). Links to the application documents are below.

Boston Consulate Deadline:

  • Completed applications must be received in our office by the close of business on Friday, March 6, 2009
  • Interviews and Japanese language testing are tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, 2009

MHC 2009 Summer Language Program in Chinese

  • Please stop by the Asian Studies Office, Ciruti 112, to pick up the latest information about 2009 summer's intensive Chinese language program in Beijing, China.
  • This information is also available at the McCullock Center for Global Initiatives.

Japanese Tea Ceremony

  • Wa~Shin~An Garden & Tea House
  • Every Tuesday: 7:30-8:30 pm ( except 11/25, 12/2)
  • R.S.V.P. required; please use the sign-up sheet on Kagi's desk, Eliot House, first floor
  • Contact: Nobue Yamashita, Tea Mistress or call 538-3534
  • Open to Five College students

The Awaji Puppet Theater

  • Saturday Feb. 28 at 8:00 pm
  • Location: Bowker Auditorium, UMASS Amherst
  • Sponsored by: The Asian Arts & Culture Program, The Awaji Puppet Theater presents a rare performance of three, well-known dramatic works. These pieces feature complex puppet-manipulation and live shamisen music.
  • Student tickets cost $15.
  • To purchase in advance, call 413-545-2511 or visit the Fine Arts Center on the Web.

Fall 2008 News and Events

The Arab Cinema Panorama

Location: Flavin Auditorium Room 137, School of Management, UMASS
Time: Wednesdays at 7 pm
  • November 12:  My Simple Story
    Palestine 2008, 33 minutes
  • November 13: Keif al Hal
    Saudi Arabia 2006, 95 minutes
  • November 19: Bled Number One
    Algeria, 2006, 100 minutes
  • November 19: Bled Number One
    Algeria, 2006, 100 minutes
  • December 3: VHS Kahloucha
    Tunisia, 2006, 80 minutes

Five College Faculty Talk

All talks are held on Mondays begin at 4:00 pm and on Thursdays at 5:00 pm  at the Five College Women' Studies Research Center, Mount Holyoke College, 83 College Street, South Hadley.

  • Thursday, November 20: Possibilities and Restrictions on the Right of Work: Women in Turkey
    Speaker: Gulay Toksoz, Ankara University (Political Science)
  • Monday, December 1: Research on the Desire and Behavior of Childbearing Urban Women from One-Child Families in Beijing
    Speaker: Yafei Hou, Beijing Administrative College (Sociology)

Pooja: The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir

The pooja, a South Asian prayer service, is held at the Elliot House Lounge, Thursdays at 5:00 pm

  • Monday, Dec. 1, 7:00 pm at the Odyssey Bookshop.
  • The Asian Studies Program is co-sponsoring with the Odyssey Bookshop a reading and book-signing with author KAO KALIA YANG.
  • The Hmong are an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of southern China as well as parts of Vietnam, Laos, Thailand.
  • In Laos, the Hmong fought against the communist-nationalist Pathet Lao during the Secret War. When the Pathet Lao took over the government in 1975, the Hmong were singled out for retribution, and many fled to Thailand for political asylum and/or resettled in the United States, Australia, France, French Guiana, and Canada.
  • Publisher's Weekly says...
    " By the end of this moving, unforgettable book, when Yang describes the death of her beloved grandmother, readers will delight at how intimately they have become part of this formerly strange culture."
  • This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome!

Why Yin and Yang" Early Chinese Cosmology and Its Significance

  • Nov. 14, Friday at 12:00 noon
  • Public Lecture by Prof. Wen Xing, Professor of Chinese, Trinity University and Visiting Porfessor, Dartmouth College
  • Skinner Hall Room 216

Display of Japanese Style Chrysanthemums

  • Saturday Nov. 1 - Sunday Nov. 16
  • 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
  • Lyman Plant House

Japanese-style Bamboo Baskets for Tea

  • Tuesday Nov. 11 - 7:00 pm
  • Demonstration by Nancy Moore Bess, internationally known textile and bamboo artist
  • Lyman Plant House