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Swarthmore College Hosts Asian Studies Conference

Swarthmore College Hosts Asian Studies Conference

by Anita Pace
02/28/2008

The Seventh International Junior Scholars Conference on Sinology will take place at Swarthmore College Fri., Mar. 7, to Mar. 9. This is the first time the conference will be held in the U.S. Among the presenters are more than 30 students representing 22 institutions from China, Taiwan, and Europe. The conference is free and open to the public.

The program, "Self and Society: Perspectives on Chinese Cultural Studies," includes opening remarks by Swarthmore College President Alfred Bloom and a keynote address by Victor Mair, a noted scholar of Chinese literature. Topics to be addressed include Chinese landscape painting, Beijing's migrant workers, Chinese literature, Beijing tattoo culture, Chinese copyright law, and Chinese popular music. A complete schedule follows.

Fri., Mar. 7
8:00 a.m. Breakfast (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall)
9:00 a.m. Welcome Remarks by Prof. Alfred Bloom, President, Swarthmore College
9:30 a.m. Keynote Speech by Professor Victor Mair (University of Pennsylvania) "From Sinology to China Watching to Chinese Studies and Beyond"

10:25 a.m. Break

10:35-12:00 p.m. Panel #1 (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall):
Chair and Discussant-Professor Xiaorong Li (Swarthmore College)

  • Efan Chu (Taiwan University, Taiwan): "On Literary Creation and the Underlying Worldview - Approaching from Shen Si and Wu Se and a Comparison with Imagination"
  • Christine Carey (Colorado College): "Tung Ch'i-ch'ang: A Ground-Breaking Approach to Chinese Landscape Painting"
  • Adam Scharfman (Yale University): "Small Defect in the White Jade: 'Stilling the Passions' and its Niche in the Works of Tao Yuanming"
  • Yifan Zuo (Fudan University, China): "Folk Narration in Female Perspective"

12:00-1:15 p.m. Lunch (Sharples Dining Hall)

1:20-3:00 p.m. Panel #2: (Science Center 101)
Chair and Discussant-Professor Alan Berkowitz (Swarthmore College)

  • Marshall Craig (University of London, UK): "The Chinese Community in Sanguo yanyi"
  • Brian Borse (University of Florida): "The Significance of Principles and Ideals in Outlaws of the Marsh"
  • Fengzhi Chen (College of Wooster): "The Bond of Society - Ideas and Idols of 'Ren'"
  • David Machek (Charles University Prague, Czech): "Losing, Forgetting and Craft in Zhuangzi: Between Conceptuality and Spontaneity"


3:10-4:50 p.m. Panel #3: (Science Center 101)
Chair and Discussant-Professor Xiaojue Wang (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Jackie Slater (University of Pennsylvania): "The Symbolism of Sickness: Disease as a Social Marker and Critique in Lu Xun and Ding Ling's Writings"
  •  Louise Beamont (University of London): "What Does the Humour Explosion From 1930s Shanghai Reveal About the Society That Created It?"
  • Oda Fiskum (University of London): "Erasing The Artist: A comparative study of Hu Shi's translation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House"
  • Cara Healey (Princeton University): "Portrayal of Female Suicide and Female Chastity in Zhang Xian's "Bei aiqing yiwang de jiaoluo"


4:50-5:05 p.m. Break

5:10-6:50 p.m. Panel #4: (Science Center 101)
Chair and Discussant- Professor Lillian M. Li (Swarthmore College)

  • Christopher Green (Swarthmore College): "Beijing's Migrant Workers and Globalization"
  • Simiao Amy Li (Pomona College): "Lesbianism in Beijing: An Ethnographic Study Reflected in Film"
  • Fletcher Coleman (Swarthmore College): "Beijing Tattoo Culture: Conflicting Currents of History, Modernity, Individuality, and Society"
  • Amanda Robb (Colorado College): "Someday My Prince Will Come: The Scholar's Role in the Chinese Cinderella Tale"
  • Tedmund Leung (University of Hawaii at Manoa): "Olympic Sponsors and the Chinese Government"

7:00-8:00 p.m. Dinner (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall)

Sat., Mar. 8
8:30 a.m. Breakfast (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall)

9:00-10:50 a.m. Panel #5: (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall)
Chair and Discussant-Professor Weijie Song (Purdue University)

  • Amber Woodward (University of Pennsylvania): "The Mad World of Li Yang and His Crazy English"
  • Mollie Kirk (Harvard University): "Patriotism for Sale: Communist Apologetics in the Red Tourism Program"
  • Zheng Lin (Peking University): "De-feminization as seen in the Revolutionary Model Dramas"
  • Phoebe Hau Man Leung (Grinnell College): "The Copyright Law Versus the 'Free Flow' of Information - The Chinese Copyright Law and Cultural Industries in China"
  • Tedde Tsang (Columbia University): "The 'Choosy' Sex - The Ideal Mate Selection Criteria of Urban Chinese Youth and the Female Penchant for Rationality"

10:50-11:05 a.m. Break

11:05-12:35 p.m. Panel #6: (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall)
Chair and discussant- Professor Hailin Zhou (Bryn Mawr College)

  • Alison Flamm (Swarthmore College): "Personal Identity and Social Change: The Use of Parallelism in Chu T'ien-Hsin's The Old Capital"
  • Ho-ming Chang (National Taiwan University): "The Dialogue Between Two Urban Flaneurs: From Tien-Hsin chu's The Old Capital to Yijun Luo's A Place Far and Away"
  • Alice Xiang (Swarthmore College): "Killing the "Angel" in the House-Defying Societal Expectations of Chinese Women's Writing through Explicit Artistry in Li Ang's Butcher's Wife"
  • Po-Chun Chuang (Purdue University): "The Divided Selves in Bai Xianyong's Winter Nights"

12:40-2:00 p.m. Lunch (Science Center Lobby)

2:10-3:50 p.m. Panel #7: (Science Center 101)
Chair and Discussant-Professor Steven Day (Swarthmore College)

  • Julie Wang (Swarthmore College): "Through the Eyes of the Frog: Nature and Individual Thought in Soul Mountain"
  • Christopher Klaniecki (Swarthmore College): "Split-Self Narration Reflects Gao Xingjian's Existentialist Philosophy in Soul Mountain"
  • I-Hsiao Chen (Wesleyan University): "National Consciousness in Chinese Popular Music"
  • Li Fong Chen (Gettysburg College): "Racial ideology in Mass Media: Content Analysis of Asian American portrayals in U.S. magazine advertisements"
  • Vanessa Hongsathavi (University of Southern California): "The Politics of Censorship and Cultural Expression: Zhang Yimou's Films in Translation"

3:50-4:15 p.m. Break

4:10-5:50 p.m. Panel #8: (Science Center 101)
Chair and Discussant-Professor Jianmei Liu (University of Maryland)

  • John Rudd (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill): "Negotiating Change: Contextualizing Butterfly Literature"
  • Ping-chung Wang (National Taiwan University): "Modern Urban Literature: With Mu Shi-ying, Shi Zhi-cun, and Eileen Chang's Fictions as Examples"
  • Elizabeth Carter (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill): "Shanghai Baby: Postmodern Literature for the Post-Revolutionary Generation"
  • Christina Lieu (Emory University): "Hong Kong Visual Culture: Urban Spaces of Global/Local Contention"
  • Kelly Rux (University of Wisconsin, Madison): "Imaging Power: Media Representations of Contemporary Chinese Businesswomen"

6:00 p.m. Closing Remarks by Professor David Wang, Harvard University (Scheuer
Room, Kohlberg Hall)

6:30 p.m. Dinner (Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall)

Sun., Mar. 9
9:30 a.m. Feedback and Evaluations

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