Seminars are sponsored by: CAS - Centre for Australian Studies | CAPRI - Canada Asia Pacific Research Initiatives | CCR - Centre for Chinese Research | CISAR - Centre for India & South Asian Research | CJR - Centre for Japanese Research | CKR - Centre for Korean Research | CPIRD - China Program for Integrated Research Development | CSEAR - Centre for Southeast Asia Research | PICSA - Program in Inter-Cultural Studies in Asia. Sessions are typically held in the C.K. Choi Building.
 

 

date&time	JANUARY SEMINARS	location
Tues 6 Jan 12:00 - 1:30 pm	CENTRE FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA RESEARCH, CENTRE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, AND INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES Reflections on East Timor After Independence: Government and Opposition: An Opposition Leader's Perspective Fernando de Araujo, Opposition Leader of National Coalition Platform and Former Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Fernando de Araujo is currently a Member of Parliament in East Timor, Leader of the Opposition Platform, and founder of an alternative press, Vox Populi. In 2001, he was elected as the President of Partido Democratico, the party which won the second largest number of votes in the August 2001 national elections for the Constituent Assembly. During the Second Transitional Administration, he became a Cabinet Member, as Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs. He has been extensively involved as founding member of several civil society institutions such as Fundacao Haburas (an environmentalorganization), Talitakum (a weekly magazine), and most recently Vox Populi. Mr. De Araujo will discuss the obstacles and challenges faced by East Timorese and the current government. Why is Parliament considered to be inefficient? What are the problems at the local government level? Mr. de Araujo will discuss the importance of a strong and healthy opposition in the democratization process. He will also look at some economic problems that East Timor faces, in particular the conditions in the villages and districts. He will also address some aspects of the role of different players in civil society, including student and youth organizations, environmental NGOs, and the alternative press .	C.K. Choi Bldg. #120
Fri 16 Jan 4:00 - 5:30 pm	THE CENTRE FOR KOREAN RESEARCH A New Approach To Understanding Korean Ecological Literature Dr. Yim Young-Chun, Visiting Scholar, Centre for Korean Research, UBCDepartment of Korean Language and Literature, Chosun University, Kwangju, ROK Traditional western humanism is based on Hellenism, while Christianity is rooted in Hebraism. Nowadays, the environmental crisis and ecological destruction are becoming the focus of much attention. So these issues have influence on literary criticism. For this reason, it is necessary to discuss these issues from the contrastive viewpoint of Hellenism and Hebraism.	C.K. Choi Bldg. #129
Mon 19 Jan 12:00 - 1:30 pm	CENTRE FOR CHINESE RESEARCH The Qing Creation of The Province By Professor Kent Guy, Department of History, University of Washington. Professor Guy will report on his study of the development of provincial government in the early Qing. The Qing succeeded as an empire in large part because they built an administrative layer between the court and the local level. There were officials termed "governors" in earlier dynasties, but the Qing governors had more responsibility for the functioning of local administration. The research is partly an institutional history, partly a prosopography of the 500 or so governors who served between 1700 and 1800.	C.K. Choi Bldg #120
Wed 21 Jan 3:30 - 5:00 pm	CENTRE FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA RESEARCH & UBC DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY Issues of Malay Urbanity: Colonial Constructions / Indigenous Constructions by Dr. Terry McGee, UBC Department of Geography and Institute of Asian Research This presentation presents a synopsis of one chapter of a book I am currently writing, tentatively entitled RECONSTRUCTING THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN CITY. Using the example of the construction of the ideas of Malay rurality/urbanity in Malaya during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the paper shows how these ideas have powerfully influenced public policy in the period since 1957. Utilising a review of historical data, this presentation attempts to show that this expatriate constructions of Malays as rural people subverted a strong indigenous tradition of urbanity among Malays. This is further supported by a case study of Malays in Kuala Lumpur City.The conclusion reviews developments in Malay urbanization in the period since 1970 showing that the proportion of Malays living in urban areas has increased rapidly. By 2000 the majority of Malays are now living in urban areas and this development both asserts the ongoing continuity of an urban tradition that has never been lost and new indigenous constructions of Malay urbanity.	Geography Building Rm. 212
Tues 27 Jan 7:00 pm	CENTRE FOR KOREAN RESEARCH AND DEPT. OF ASIAN STUDIES Koryô Kayo: Korean Songs from the Koryô Period By Kevin O'Rourke Koryô kayo are songs from the Koryô period (918-1392) that give direct expression to a broad cross-section of the Korean people. By turns earthy, passionate, wistful, and celebratory, they offer a stark contrast to the more formal and conceptual verse written in Chinese by Korean scholar-bureaucrats. One such song, "Kashiri," is a precursor of modern Korea's best-loved poem, "Azaleas."Scholar, poet, and raconteur, Kevin O'Rourke is our leading all-around translator of Korean literature into English, with numerous volumes of translations to his credit. A native of Ireland, he has lived in Korea since 1964. He obtained a Ph.D. at Yonsei University in Seoul and teaches at Kyunghee University.	C.K. Choi Bldg. # 120
Thurs 29 Jan 11:30 - 2:00 pm	INSTITUTE OF ASIAN RESEARCH LUNAR NEW YEAR Celebrate the year of the monkey! Join the Institute of Asian Research at the C.K Choi Building for a new year celebration. Enjoy foods, music, crafts and lion dancing on Thursday 29 January from 11:30-2:00 pm.	C.K. Choi Bldg. # 120
Fri 30 Jan 12:00 - 1:30 pm	CENTRE FOR CHINESE RESEARCH AND CENTRE FOR SOUTHEAST ASIA RESEARCH Women and Development Lecture Series: Supporting Marginalized Women Exporters in the Asia-Pacific Region By Heather Gibb, The North-South Institute Studies on gender and trade suggest that while women's economic activities may benefit from trade liberalization, a "gender neutral" approach to trade policy may fail to capture the different capacities and needs of women producers. Many women's enterprises are very small (0-5 employees), and concentrated in traditional, vulnerable sectors (handicrafts, garments and textiles, food products). Many women producers face constraints in access to ICT; training; market information; advice on product design and development; export networks, and finance. In addition, their businesses may be too small, or too weakly linked with mainstream organizations to be aware of, or eligible for national or international export facilitation programsThe presentation will describe a project currently under way in APEC's (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum) Committee on Trade and Investment. It focuses on strategies by which very small women producers, among the most marginalized of groups, could better take advantage of international markets.Heather Gibb is a senior researcher at The North-South Institute, an independent research institute based in Ottawa, Canada, that addresses relations between industrialized and developing countries.	C.K. Choi Bldg. # 120
Fri 30 Jan 4:30 - 6:00 pm	CENTRE FOR JAPANESE RESEARCH Redefining Race in Japan: Domestic Mobilization of Global Human Rights Frames by Professor Jennifer Chan-Tiberghien, Educational Studies, UBC	Room #120