August 25, 2011

East Asian Studies faculty update

update of faculty work over the summer 2011

Professor Bernstein  and Zach Holz, an Environmental Studies Major, worked on a collaborative research project called “Environmental History of the Portland Chinese Garden”. This semester Professor Bernstein will offer History 209, “Japan at War”. The course is an in-depth study of the causes, dynamics, and outcomes of the wars fought by Japan in Asia and the Pacific from the late 19th century to the end of World War II.

Professor Coe spent the first part of the summer in Hanoi, Vietnam, conducting research on the changing role of Vietnam’s National Assembly and observing the most recent round of National Assembly elections.  This spring she will teach two new courses: “Southeast Asian Politics” and an E&D section, “The Vietnam War through Popular Culture”. 

Marty Hart-Landsberg visited South Korea and Hong Kong where he spoke at a number of universities and labor centers about the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, the U.S. economy, and economic developments in East Asia.  He also has an article in the upcoming issue of the journal Critical Asian Studies entitled “Capitalism, The U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, and Resistance.”

Professor Dede and Susan Su, class of ’11, produced a manuscript titled, “The Ballad of the Huang River and Other Stories,” a translation collection of three novellas by the writer Jing Shi. The manuscript is at the publisher, and they hope to see it published by the end of the year.

Professor Hubbert spent the first part of the summer doing research on Confucius Institutes in the United States for a book she is co-authoring on Chinese models of development.  She will be on sabbatical during the 2011-2012 academic year, completing this book, and writing articles on the Beijing Olympics, the Shanghai Expo, historical memory and 1989, and contemporary theme parks.

Professor Glosser spent the summer working on a manuscript about daily life in Shanghai under Japanese occupation during World War Two. This fall she is teaching “Reform, Rebellion, and Revolution in Modern China”. The course begins with the Opium War, 1839-1842, an event that remains important and relevant in today’s China, and concludes with the economic reforms that began after Mao’s death in 1976.