In 2015, CAS offered 39 public events. We helped to educate well over 1,600 people on Asia-related topics. We continued the theme of “Mediating Asia” throughout the spring semester of 2015 and began “Transcultural Asia” in the fall. We would like to thank our many co-sponsors, including the CU departments of Asian Languages and Civilizations, CMCI, Geography, and International Affairs; and community organizations such as the National Unification Advisory Council Denver Chapter, the Japan Foundation, and the Korea Foundation. Here are some highlights from the year.
2/12/15 – Film screenings: The Land of Many Palaces and Mountain Town
In The Land of Many Palaces, co-directors Adam Smith and Song Ting chronicle the transformation of urbanization in the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos. Smith also offered a special preview screening of his new film, Mountain Town, about the replica Wyoming town of Jackson Hole in Hebei, China.
2/18/15 – Traditional Korean Dance and Music
This special dramatic event featured traditional Korean music and dance by the Lee Mi Sook Dance Company of South Korea. The beautiful dances were performed in honor of American veterans of the Korean War.
4/14/15 – Film screening: People’s Park
People's Park, directed by Libbie D. Cohn and J.P. Sniadecki, is a 78-minute single-shot documentary that immerses viewers in an unbroken journey through a famous urban park in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. People's Park offered a fresh gaze at public interaction, leisure, and self-expression in China. A roundtable discussion with CU faculty members Daniel Boord, Christian S. Hammons and Tim Oakes followed the screening.
4/17/15 – 2015 CAS Annual Symposium: Mediating Asia
Our 4th annual spring symposium was a daylong inquiry into "Mediating Asia." We were pleased to host Endy Bayuni of The Jakarta Post and Melissa Chan of Al Jazeera America to give keynote addresses. There were also four panels featuring scholars and journalists who presented their views on "Mediating Asia," with additional panel presentations scholars from all over the United States, followed by closing remarks from CU faculty Tim Oakes, Stewart Hoover, and Nabil Echchaibi. It was an engaging and insightful conference. Click on the links below to see a video of each talk.
Keynote Addresses
"Mediating Indonesia: The Slow Emergence of a Young Nation" - Endy Bayuni, The Jakarta Post
"Reporting from China: Media, Human Rights, and the Authoritarian State" - Melissa Chan, Al Jazeera America
Panels
Media and Environmental Politics in Asia
Isabel Hilton, China Dialogue
Tom Yulsman, CU-Boulder
Authoritarian States, Nationalism, and the Unruly Media
Rianne Subijanto, CU-Boulder
Timothy Weston, CU-Boulder
Michael Curtin, University of California Santa Barbara
Identity, Culture, and Branding
Hiromu Nagahara, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hun Shik Kim, CU-Boulder
Mark Bender, Ohio State University
Mediating Asia: Concluding Observations
Tim Oakes, CU-Boulder
Stewart Hoover, CU-Boulder
Nabil Echchaibi, CU-Boulder
9/17/15 – A Jaipur Sampler
For more than a decade the Jaipur Literature Festival in India has attracted authors, poets, scholars and creative thinkers from around the world. Boulder became the first overseas host for this prestigious event, and CAS was one of many sponsors who supported it. In conjunction with the festival, CAS also hosted two back-to-back panel discussions on campus. The first consisted of a panel from Colorado College discussing the challenges of cosmopolitan society. The panelists were moderator Rashna B. Singh, Claire Oberon Garcia, Ammar Naji, Michael Sawyer, and Peter Wright. The second panel focused on translation of Buddhist literature from Tibetan into English. Translators Anne Carolyn Klein and Jules B. Levinson discussed the complexities of expressing the inexplicable.
10/5/15 – China Town Hall: Local Connections, National Reflections
This annual event highlights the importance of US-China relations. Sheldon Day, Stephen Orlins, Daniel Rosen, and Robert Rubin discussed Chinese foreign direct investments via live video stream, followed by an in-person presentation by William Hurst of Northwestern University on “Consultative Authoritarianism Versus Political Decay: Politics at the Grassroots in China Today.”
11/9/15 – Walk in U.S., Talk on Japan
CAS was chosen to host a delegation of five community members, including a former Japanese Ambassador, who were hand-picked by the Japanese Prime Minster’s office to represent Japan on an official tour of the U.S. Approximately 80 members of the CU campus community enjoyed hearing their perspectives on Japanese culture and economy, followed by small group discussions. The visit was featured in the Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine. For the full article, please click here.
11/11/15 – ISIS from Multiple Perspectives
A guest panel of four CU experts presented at this roundtable on ISIS: Aun Hasan Ali, "Is ISIS Islamic?"; Jeanne M. Nijhowne, "ISIS's War on the Past"; Najeeb Jan, "The Spectacle of ISIS: Islam and Biopolitics"; and Haytham Bahoora, "Histories of ISIS: The Politics of Fundamentalism and Sectarianism.” We had a packed house with over 170 guests in attendance, representing both the campus and Boulder communities. An interesting and thoughtful discussion followed.
12/6/15 – Japanese Language Proficiency Test
For the second year, CAS hosted the JLPT, an international language exam. Over 100 examinees in Boulder joined more than 600,000 people worldwide to test their Japanese skills. A good score on this exam can open doors in business, education and politics abroad for participants. The next JLPT will be offered in December 2016, with registration in September.
Upcoming Events in Spring 2016:
3/2/16 – Trans Pacific Partnership: What it Means for Asia and the Americas, 5:00 p.m., Hale 270
3/4/16 – Cyberspace, Music, and Participation in the Japanese Antinuclear Movement, 4:00 p.m., Hale 230
3/9/16 – 5th Annual CAS Symposium: Transcultural Asia, 1:00 p.m., UMC Aspen Rooms
4/5/16 – Campus Visit of Contemporary Tibetan Artist Gonkar Gyatso, 6:00 p.m., Hale 270
4/14/16 – Struggle, Disillusionment, and Rebellion among Chinese Youth, 5:30 p.m., Eaton Humanities 150
4/22/16 – Business and Belief among Han Chinese Practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism in the People’s Republic of China, 3:30 p.m., Guggenheim 250
Please confirm details about all upcoming events by visiting http://www.colorado.edu/cas/event-list.