Thursday, October 6th, 6 PM, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University

Two Unforgivens: Clint Eastwood, Lee Sang-Il, and the Transpacific Western
Takashi Fujitani (Dr. David Chu Professor and Director in Asia Pacific Studies, Professor of History, University of Toronto)
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Please join us tomorrow for Professor Takashi Fujitani’s presentation entitled “Two Unforgivens: Clint Eastwood, Lee Sang-Il, and the Transpacific Western.”

Two Unforgivens: Clint Eastwood, Lee Sang-Il, and the Transpacific Western
Thursday 6 October, 6 PM
Kent Hall, Room 403, Columbia University
No registration required.

In this presentation Prof. Fujitani reads Clint Eastwood’s critically acclaimed Unforgiven (1992) against Lee Sang-il’s “remake” (Yurusarezaru mono, 2013) of the original. While the few Anglophone critics who have reviewed Lee’s version have generally treated it as a competent but fairly unremarkable copy of the original, Fujitani argues that the film, set in Hokkaidō, is in many ways a far more radical and challenging exploration of key themes taken up by Eastwood. These include violence, law, the outlaw, sovereign power, the right to kill, the heteronormative family, and historical accountability. At the same time, Lee takes up several issues that Eastwood simply leaves as background to his story — in particular race, indigeneity, and settler colonialism. While the Western has been a staple genre in Eastwood’s long career leading up to Unforgiven, it is the first and so far only Western made by the much younger Lee. Lee’s first film, Chong (1998, 2001), is in part based upon his own life growing up as an ethnic Korean in Japan. His more well-known films include Hula Girl (2006) andThe Villain (Akunin, 2010).

Takashi Fujitani is Professor of History at the University of Toronto where he is also the Dr. David Chu Professor in Asia-Pacific Studies. His major works include:  Splendid Monarchy (UC Press, 1996);Race for Empire: Koreans as Japanese and Japanese as Americans in WWII (UC Press, 2011) and Perilous Memories: The Asia Pacific War(s) (co-edited, Duke U. Press, 2001). He is also editor of the series Asia Pacific Modern (UC Press). He has held numerous grants and fellowships, including from the John S. Guggenheim Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, Stanford Humanities Center, and Social Science Research Council. He is currently working on three major projects with the tentative titles:  Cold War Clint: Asia and the World of an American Icon; Whose ‘Good War’?: The Asia Pacific War(s); The Sovereign Remains: Essays on the Japanese Monarchy and Questions of Sovereignty.
All events are free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Orient Finance Co. Endowment for the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University.

Please visit our website, www.keenecenter.org, for the latest information on our events.

Upcoming Events for Fall 2016
[All events take place at Columbia University. The following information is subject to change.]

October

TOMORROW!
Takashi Fujitani (Dr. David Chu Professor and Director in Asia Pacific Studies, Professor of History, University of Toronto)
Two Unforgivens: Clint Eastwood, Lee Sang-Il, and the Transpacific Western
Thursday 6 October, 6 PM, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University

Japanese-Language Proficiency Test: Taking the JLPT in the United States

TOMORROW: Thursday, September 22nd, 6 PM, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University

Disembodiment of an Everyday Object and Changing Regional Identity: Pushing against the Center in Southern Okinawa
Amanda Mayer Stinchecum (Independent scholar)
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Tomorrow evening, Dr. Amanda Mayer Stinchecum will give her presentation entitled “Disembodiment of an Everyday Object and Changing Regional Identity: Pushing against the Center in Southern Okinawa.” Dr. Stinchecum specializes in the history and material culture of Okinawa Prefecture’s Yaeyama islands. Please join us and help kick off another exciting season at the Donald Keene Center.

Disembodiment of an Everyday Object and Changing Regional Identity: Pushing against the Center in Southern Okinawa
Thursday 22 September, 6 PM
Kent Hall, Room 403, Columbia University
No registration required.

A narrow, indigo-dyed cotton sash is decorated with clusters of four and five white rectangles. Its production has been unique to five islands in Yaeyama, at the southern end of Okinawa Prefecture. Transcending boundaries of usage, class and meaning over the course of 140 years, the sash became a legend. But as it disappeared from everyday use, it became the exclusive province of islanders representing themselves in local performances.

What were once sharper distinctions among the islands have blurred, giving rise to a new, Yaeyama-wide identity, now symbolized by the sash’s abstract motif. Beyond the appeal of its bold design, its significant role as the marker of a new Yaeyama does not adequately explain its ubiquitous presence. I suggest that it also functions as a protective talisman, rooted in a belief, widespread in the Ryukyus, Japan, and elsewhere in Asia, in the spiritual power of cloth. As the Yaeyama islands struggle to affirm their separateness from the prefecture’s political center on Okinawa Island, the sash’s motif has begun to appear on Okinawa as well. The prefecture, too, is struggling to assert itself against Japan’s political pressure and homogenizing influence.

Amanda Mayer Stinchecum is an independent scholar specializing in the history and material culture of the Ryukyu Islands, particularly Okinawa Prefecture’s southernmost island group, Yaeyama. Topics of current research include textiles, clothing and regional museums in the converging contexts of heritage preservation, tourism development, performing arts and shifting identities. She received her PhD in Classical Japanese and Comparative Literature from Columbia, and is a Research Associate at the Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies, Harvard, and at the Institute for Okinawan Studies, Hōsei University.
All events are free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the Orient Finance Co. Endowment for the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University.

Please visit our website, www.keenecenter.org, for the latest information on our events.

Upcoming Events for Fall 2016
[All events take place at Columbia University. The following information is subject to change.]

September

Amanda Mayer Stinchecum (Independent scholar)
Disembodiment of an Everyday Object and Changing Regional Identity: Pushing against the Center in Southern Okinawa
Thursday 22 September, 6 PM, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University

October

Takashi Fujitani (Dr. David Chu Professor and Director in Asia Pacific Studies, Professor of History, University of Toronto)
Two Unforgivens: Clint Eastwood, Lee Sang-Il, and the Transpacific Western
Thursday 6 October, 6 PM, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University

Andrea Gevurtz Arai (Affiliate Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington)
The Strange Child: Education and the Psychology of Patriotism in Recessionary Japan
Thursday 13 October, 6 PM, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University

November

Gennifer Weisenfeld (Professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies, and Dean of the Humanities, Duke University)
Electric Design: Light, Labor, and Leisure in Prewar Japanese Advertising
Thursday 17 November, 6 PM, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University
December

Paul Anderer (Mack Professor of Humanities, Professor of Japanese Literature, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University)
Kurosawa’s Rashomon: A Vanished City, a Lost Brother, and the Voice Inside His Iconic Films(Pegasus Books, October 2016)
Friday 2 December, Starting time TBA, 403 Kent Hall, Columbia University
Co-sponsored by University Seminar on Japanese Culture

Friday, September 23rd Fall 2016 is undergraduate Career Day. 

We are expecting approximately 80 companies across a wide range of industries and we ask that you kindly share this information with yourundergraduate students—positions for ALL MAJORS.  This event is open to all Baruch undergrads and to students who graduated May 2016 (one semester out)

Also, on Thursday, September 22nd (club hours), we are holding a Career Fair Prep workshop in room 3-160. One of our recruiting partners from Target Corporation will be hosting this session and will offer a few tips on how to successfully navigate career fairs to achieve greater results.

IMJS: Japanese Cultural Heritage Initiatives
cordially invites you to the Concert Marking the 60th Anniversary of the Death of Michio Miyagi (1894-1956)

Wednesday, October 5, 2016, 7:30PM
Celebrating the Genius of Michio Miyagi

Merkin Concert Hall
KAUFMAN MUSIC CENTER
129 West 67th Street
New York, NY 10023

Free and open to the public but please register here or go to http://medievaljapanesestudies.org.

PROGRAM
Michio Miyagi, Rondon no yoru no ame (A Night of Rain in London)
Michio Miyagi, Sashisou hikari (Confluent Rays of Light)
Michio Miyagi, Ochiba no odori (Dance of Fallen Leaves)
Michio Miyagi, Seoto (Song of a Stream)
Minoru Miki, Hanayagi (The Greening)
Tadao Sawai, Tori no youni (Like a Bird)
Dai Fujikura, Cutting Sky
Michio Miyagi, Haru no umi (The Sea in Spring)

[in the order of appearance]
Satomi Fukami (koto)
Reikano Kimura (koto & shamisen)
Sumie Kaneko (koto)
Yumi Kurosawa (bass koto & 20-string koto)
Masayo Ishigure (koto)
Stephanie Griffin (viola)
James Nyoraku Schlefer (shakuhachi)

Supported by Toshiba International Foundation, Ajinomoto North America, Inc., and the Japan Foundation, New York

and save the date for our Annual Concert of Japanese Heritage Musical Instruments

International Conference of Undergraduate Research at Baruch College

in Room H-620 in BCTC in the Baruch Library, 151 E. 25th Street, 6th floor

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 FROM 8:00-9:30 AM

Theme:  Aging, Health, and New Technologies

Speaker 1:  Nicholas Miller (English, French & History, University of Warwick, UK) “Remember this? The issues and advantages of social media as a historical source for memory studies”

Speaker 2: Nikita Lai (Medicine, University of Leeds, UK) “Pediatric Meningitis Treatment: Audit 2015”

Speaker 3: Seonghee (Joy) Park (Biochemistry, Hunter College/Baruch College) “Generation of a Novel Mouse Model for the Study of Cisplatin Resistant Bladder Cancer”

Speaker 4: Stephanie King (Psychology, Baruch College) “The Relation between Theory of Mind and Socio-Emotional Functioning in a Sample of Older Adults”

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 FROM 9:30-11:00 AM

Theme:  Attitudes and Experiences

Speaker 1:  Eleanor Kerfoot (History, University of Warwick, UK) “Presley Admirers: ‘Delinquent’ Girls in Cold War Germany”

Speaker 2: Ma Su Su Aung (Biological Sciences, Baruch College) “Elimination of the pro-apototic pretein Bak effects free-radical production in mitochondria”

Speaker 3: Yu Shing (Jason) Hung (Sociology, University of Warwick, UK) “How many more can we take?: The impact of discriminatory media coverage on refugee and asylum seeker experiences in Coventry”

Speaker 4: Brianna Vernoia (Psychology, Baruch College) “Obstacles to Habitual Exercise and Mindfulness”

COFFEE BREAK AND DIGITAL POSTER SESSION 11:00-11:30 AM

Digital posters will be on view from students at international participating universities, including the following Baruch students

Ishrath Ahmed (Political Science), “Why does India Choose to be a Nuclear State?”

Rachel Parroco (Psychology), “Life Seems Harder When You Haven’t Slept Well”

Alanna McAuliffe (English), “Differences v. Disabilities: Emerging Perspectives on Neurodiversity”

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 FROM 11:30 AM-1:00 PM

Theme:  Popular Opinion & Changing Cultures

Speaker 1:  Monika Jankowski (History/Psychology, Baruch College) “Popular Culture in 1970s and 1980s Poland”

Speaker 2: Yustyna Yaremchuk (Finance, Baruch College) “Do Millennial College students at an urban, non-residential university believe that there is a link between material wealth and happiness?”

Speaker 3: Lisa-May Mosse (Film and TV, University of Warwick, UK) “Filming the Berlin Clubbing Scene as a Postmodern Construct”

Speaker 4: Yasmin Nartey (Politics & International Studies, University of Warwick, UK) “The Changing Cultural Identity of St. Lucia Carnival”

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 FROM 5:30-6:30 PM

Theme:  Social Inclusion & Inter-cultural Understanding

Speaker 1:  Amanda Er (Radiography & Medical Imaging, Monash Australia) “Medical imaging settings in different countries: a cross-cultural observational study”

Speaker 2: Dana Frenkel (Communication Studies, Baruch College) “Decoding Campus Dynamics”

Speaker 3: Anna Velychko (Psychology, Baruch College) “Training for Success”

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 FROM 6:30-7:30 PM

Theme:  Human Rights

Speaker 1:  Roger Wu (Human Rights Law, Monash Australia) “Statutory Interpretation and Limits in the Victorian Human Rights Charter”

Speaker 2: Anthony Hallal (Human Rights Theory, Monash Australia) “Ticking Time Bombs and Absolute Rights: Is Torture Ever Permissible in Theory or Practice?”

Speaker 3: Ruth Laryea-Walker (International Human Rights, Baruch College) “Child Marriage: An Abuse of Children’s Rights—Strengthening Policies to Eliminate It”

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 FROM 9:00-10:30 AM

Theme:  Environment, Evolution & Systems

Speaker 1: Matthew Lane (Physics, University of Warwick, UK) “The Cosmic History of Galactic Habitability: Probing our Origins and place in the University in the search for the Genesis of Civilization”

Speaker 2: Emma Latham Jones (Politics, University of Warwick, UK), “A critical study of the politics of climate change in the main oil-producing states of Latin America”

Speaker 3: Cherisse Fraser (Biochemistry, Baruch College) “tRNA Evolution and Remolding in Marine Snails”

Speaker 4: Fiona Pye (Geosciences, University of Leeds, UK) “Did Jurassic brachiopods from the Swiss Alps live at methane seeps?”

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 FROM 10:30 AM-12:00 PM

Theme:  New Perspectives and Improvements

Speaker 1: Zijing Yang (Economics, University of Warwick) “Degree of market segmentation: Price dispersion across and within the US and China”

Speaker 2: Jessica Kraker (English & History, Baruch College), “Mental Health in New York: It’s Time to Shed Some Light”

Speaker 3: Katharine Spark (International Studies, Monash Australia presenting from the University of Warwick) “How does your country’s immigration policy affect your national security?”

Speaker 4: Margia Shiriti (Psychology, Baruch College) “Idiographic Assessment of Self-Efficacy for Everyday Problem Solving in Adult Development”

RSVP or information contact Katherine.Pence@baruch.cuny.edu or see icurportal.com

This conference is generously funded by the Office of the Provost, the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, the Zicklin School of Business, and the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College.

Study Abroad Fair (9/15, Thurs.) from 12:30 and 2:30.

fs-2016-study-abroad-fair-flyer