School of Pacific and Asian Studies

The Annual SPAS Graduate Student Conference is nearly here! Please join us for a talk by keynote speaker Thogchai Winichakul at 3pm on Thursday, April 11 in the Center for Korean Studies.

Thongchai Winichakul is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison , and currently Senior Researcher at the Institute of Developing Economies (ジェトロ アジア経済研究所(IDE-JETRO)) in Japan. His book, Siam Mapped (1994), was awarded the Harry J Benda Prize from the Association for Asian Studies, Inc. (AAS). He was a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Award in 1994 and was President of the Association for Asian Studies by its members in 2013/14. His research interests are in the cultural and intellectual history of Siam focusing on the intellectual foundation of modern Siam (1880-1930). His forthcoming book is, however, on the history of memories of the 1976 massacre in Bangkok, the tragedy in which he was a participant. He is also a well-known critic of Thai political and social issues and has published six books and several articles in Thai.

UH Manoa Asian Studies Program Professor Patricio N Abinales has published an analysis of last week's arrest of journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines.

Ms. Ressa is CEO and Executive Editor of Rappler, the Philippines' most successful online news outlet and one that has not shied away from publishing stories that are critical of President Rodrigo Duterte and his associates. Dr. Abinales points out similarities between Duterte's attacks on the free press and similar attacks made by dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s.

The article appears in the Australian Outlook, published by the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Click below to see the full text.

The Arrest of a Journalist in the Philippines - AIIA In Duterte’s Philippines, laws intended to combat cybercrime are being used to stifle the media. Maria Ressa's arrest shows the threat to the nation's democracy.

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, What’s so scary about Huawei? Smartphones, sanctions and death sentences: what's going on with Huawei?

The 10th Center for Korean Studies Forum on Critical Issues in Korean Studies presents...

Sexuality and Public Politics: Temporal Contingency of the movement in Contemporary South Korea.

February 7: 4pm to 6pm
Center for Korean Studies
University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Now that the US midterm elections are over, how will President Trump react?

UH Manoa Asian Studies Program's Assistant Professor Kristi Govella at the University of Hawaii at Manoa spoke with The Japan Times about some different possibilities on the foreign policy front:

With GOP's loss of House, should Japan anticipate a more hard-line Trump? | The Japan Times Tokyo may see President Donald Trump accelerate his war on what he considers “unfair” trade, as he seeks ways to fire up his political base.

"...They can’t just say that they’re ending aid, because it would be a negative thing on the 40th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese friendship.”

Dr. Kristi Govella of the UH Manoa Asian Studies Program weighs in on China-Japan relations in this The New York Times:

Shinzo Abe Says Japan Is China’s ‘Partner,’ and No Longer Its Aid Donor For 40 years, Japan has quietly given foreign aid to China. Visiting Beijing, its leader said that would end, announcing a “new phase” in the relationship.

Please join us at the 24th Annual Men's March Against Violence, Hawai'i on Thursday, October 4, at the Hawaii State Capitol. The event will begin at 11:45am until 1:30pm.

A UH group photo is planned to occur immediately prior to the start of the event. The event itself will consist of a roughly 20-minute walk followed by a rally at Iolani Palace.

If you have a UH Mānoa "Aloha" T-shirt from previous years, please wear it to this event. If you do not already have a UH Mānoa "Aloha" T-shirt, free t-shirts are available (while supplies last) by filling out this form:
https://goo.gl/forms/dFZFYtXHx9m4Mufn2

A shuttle service organized by UH Mānoa is available; however, seats are limited. To RSVP for a ride from University of Hawaii at Manoa to ʻIolani Palace and back, please fill out THIS Google Form:
https://goo.gl/forms/osTXOirtNBIOJOyj2

Once your spot is confirmed, you will receive an email with further details regarding pick-up location and time. Hope to see you there!

Our own Dr. Kristi Govella, assistant professor for UH Manoa Asian Studies Program weighs in on a New York Times article today.

Click below to see the full article.

With a Submarine, Japan Sends a Message in the South China Sea A Japanese submarine participated in war games in the crucial waters and is now visiting Vietnam, signaling a more assertive pushback against China.

UHM’s own Christine Yano of Anthropology has been nominated as a candidate for the Association for Asian Studies, Inc. (AAS) Vice-Presidency.

As many of you may know, under AAS rules the VP serves for a year’s “apprenticeship” and is then promoted the next year to AAS President.

If you are an AAS member eligible to vote, you will receive an email with your ID and password along with a link to the voting page.

Christine is certainly well qualified for the position and it would wonderful to have someone from University of Hawaii at Manoa in the AAS presidency! (The last such person was Barbara Andaya in 2005-2006) Please vote!

Remember, the link will arrive via email! This link is some information for our UHM candidate, Christine Yano. Mahalo!

Department of Anthropology | Christine Yano, PhD | University of Hawaii at Manoa I have undergraduate degrees in Communication (Film) from Stanford University and Musicology (Ethnomusicology) from the University of Michigan. My graduate degrees are all from the University of Hawai'i, M.A. in Musicology (Ethnomusicology) and Anthropology, and Ph.D. in Anthropology. My Ph.D. work....

2018 Andrews Chair Lecture
September 27, 2018
Center for Korean Studies
4:30 pm

“Between the Streets and the Assembly: Protests, Activists, and Political Parties in Korea.”
by Professor Yoonkyung Lee of University of Toronto.

Koreans frequently take to the streets to articulate political demands, but these expressions of collective energy generally fail to lead to strengthening political parties.

An examination of this enigmatic reality will be at the heart of the 2018 Andrews Chair Lecture.

Lee is a political sociologist who specializes in labor politics, social movements, political representation, and the political economy of neoliberalism. She is the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Pacific and Asian Studies 2018 Arthur Lynn Andrews Visiting Professor of Asian and Pacific Studies.

Lee is a political sociologist who specializes in labor politics, social movements, political representation, and the political economy of neoliberalism. She is the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa School of Pacific and Asian Studies 2018 Arthur Lynn Andrews Visiting Professor of Asian and Pacific Studies. The title of her lecture is “Between the Streets and the Assembly: Protests, Activists, and Political Parties in Korea.”

Audition for a spectacular production on Kennedy Theatre Mainstage: A Midsummer Night's Bollywood Dream. A song-n-dance marriage of Shakespeare and Bollywood!

If you are interested in singing, dancing, acting or all of the above, please come audition for the play!

September 4th and 5th.
Studio S - Kennedy Theater
Callbacks September 6th, 5.30pm onwards.
Details: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PNTSMp1oaP45pittpZhR-t2O7l6fLlBf/view?usp=sharing

http://manoa.hawaii.edu/liveonstage/dream/

Japan's scandal-plagued Shinzo ABE eyes his place in history books.

Kristi Govella, an assistant professor at UH Manoa Asian Studies Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa weighs in on NBC News on Abe and the upcoming LDP leadership race.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/japan-s-scandal-plagued-shinzo-abe-eyes-his-place-history-n901186

Scandals don't sink Japan's leader as he eyes place in history books A trickle of revelations that damaged his standing in opinion polls and contributed to a sense of arrogance at the heart of government seems like a memory.

TODAY! At 4PM Join the UH Center for Philippine Studies​ at the Philippine Consulate General for a panel discussion on the Marawi siege and its aftermath. Please RSVP at [email protected] due to limited parking.

WEDNESDAY, 4/25: At 3PM in Hamilton Library, Rm 401, attend a colloquium that explores afresh the genesis and the breadth of the Library's Asia collection to promote its use by our students and faculty as well as researchers beyond the UHM community.

Sachiko Iwabuchi, Okinawan Studies Librarian, will showcase unique items from the collection. Professor Manabu Yokoyama, the author of "Shomotsu ni miserareta Eikoku-jin: Furanku Hōrē to Nihon bunka [An Englishman’s enchantment with books: Frank Hawley and Japanese culture]" (2003), will join us as an expert commentator, and share with us his professional insights into the significance of this collection. Additionally, Professor Yokoyama is a research fellow at the Ryusaku Tsunoda Center for Japanese Culture, Research Institute for Letters and Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan.

TODAY! At 12PM Join the UH Center for Philippine Studies in the Center for Korean Studies Auditorium. Guest speakers Dr. Sulpecia L. Ponce and Dr. Marilou S. Nanaman, both from Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, will talk about the ISIS influence among radical Islamic groups in Mindanao who battled the Philippine military for five months from May 2017 to October 2017. They will also discuss what happened, why did the Islamic militants choose Marawi City, and what are the costs of reconstructing the war-torn city and healing the distraught residents. They will also touch on the implications of this conflict on the global war on terror, and the stalled peace process between Moro rebels and the Philippine government.

WEDNESDAY, 4/25: Join the UH Mānoa Center for Japanese Studies for a presentation by Dr. Beng Choo Lim, Associate Professor in the
Department of Japanese Studies, at the National University of Singapore. The presentation will focus on the advantages and challenges in using digital technologies in the research, preservation, and outreach of traditional theater, using PerformCT as a case study. 12PM in Tokiokoa Room (Moore 319).

The UH Center for Philippine Studies is hosting a "mini-conference" featuring two professors from Mindanao to discuss the 2017 war in Marawi City (a predominantly Muslim city), on the island of Mindanao on the following dates and venues April 18 & 19, 2018 (flyers attached).

On Wednesday, April 18, 12:00PM - 2:00PM, join them in the Center for Korean Studies

On Thursday, April 19, 2018, 4:00PM-6:00PM, join them at the Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu along Pali Highway.

Dr. Sulpecia L. Ponce and Dr. Marilou S. Nanaman, both from Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, will talk about the ISIS influence among radical Islamic groups in Mindanao who battled the Philippine military for five months from May 2017 to October 2017. They will also discuss what happened, why did the Islamic militants choose Marawi City, and what are the costs of reconstructing the war-torn city and healing the distraught residents. They will also touch on the implications of this conflict on the global war on terror, and the stalled peace process between Moro rebels and the Philippine government.

More information on the Center for Philippine Studies website - https://www.hawaii.edu/cps

Attend the 35th Annual Symposium of the UH Center for South Asian Studies, "Religion and Ritual: Poetics and Performance of the Ineffable" THIS WEEK: April 4-6, 2018.

Attend all sessions that interest you and join them in the celebration of discussing religious and indigenous traditions, comparative,cross-cultural, inter-religious presentations, chanting, rituals, inner- rituals, dance, music, singing kirtan, bhajan, and so forth.

Aloha Kakou! The 2018 SPAS Graduate Student Conference is upon us. Please come join us in welcoming presenters from across the country and the world as they share their research from March 14-16 at the UH Manoa Center for Korean Studies. Also, please come and share your evening with the keynote address on "China, America, and the Collapse of Democracy in Southeast Asia: The Case of Cambodia" by Dr. Sophal Ear, a Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs from Occidental College.

We look forward to a series of fascinating presentations and illuminating discussions. https://www.facebook.com/SPASGraduateConference/

SPAS Graduate Student Conference 2019 School of Pacific and Asian Studies Graduate Student Conference
Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
April 11-12, 2019

APPLY BY APRIL 2: APPLY BY APRIL 2: ANU Asia Pacific Week 2018 delegate applications are now open! Bringing students, policymakers, senior officials, and young professionals of the highest calibre together for a week of stimulating discussion and debate at the Australian National University, this event is not to be missed. But don't delay - applications close on the 2nd of April!

Apply today: https://goo.gl/forms/u2L0db3xNireGGMp2

More info: http://asiapacificweek.anu.edu.au


*Applications close Friday April 2nd at 3pm AEST (UTC +10).

2018 Asia Pacific Week - Delegates Application Form

While in the Philippines, Dr. JoJo Abinales will have TWO speaking events at Ateneo de Manila University on March 15 and 16. He will discuss ministry to the frontiers with the Jesuit community (3/15) and the state and society of the Philippines in the Duterte era (3/16).

Join us tomorrow at 3PM for a discussion by visiting guest speaker Dr. Hiroko Nagai, Assistant Professor, Japanese Studies Program at Ateneo De Manila University. The topic is "Hogaku goes global:
NHK Blends in Japan’s cultural diplomacy". In the Center for Korean Studies auditorium. Light refreshments will be served after.

UH Manoa Asian Studies Program faculty engage with youth!

Dr. Kristi Govella at PAAC Global Vision Summit | Asian Studies Program Uncategorized Dr. Kristi Govella at PAAC Global Vision Summit March 8, 2018 hg824 On Saturday, March 3, the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council brought together 189 students from 27 high schools on 5 islands for their Global Vision Summit on Climate Change hosted at UH West Oahu. Dr. Kristi Govella, A...

TOMORROW at 12PM: Attend a discussion by Dr. Patricia Steinhoff of the UHM Dept. of Sociology. The topic is "Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodogō Exiles”. Hosted by the UH Mānoa Center for Japanese Studies in the Tokioka Room (Moore 319). Sandwiches and coffee will be offered.

WEDNESDAY, Mar. 7: Dr. Shinye Gima will share his experiences as a Nisei Military Intelligence Service (MIS) soldier during the Battle of Okinawa. Join the University of Hawai'i Center for Okinawan Studies ハワイ大学沖縄研究センター for "The Pacific War as seen by soldiers of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS)". 10AM in Hamilton Library Room 301.

FRIDAY, Mar. 16: Attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa 11th Annual Polyfest. This student-led cultural festival is FREE and OPEN to the public. Starting at 6PM in Hale Aloha Courtyard (lower campus). There will be performances, food, and fun activities that share the various Polynesian cultures and identities on Hawai'i. It also welcomes performances that share Micronesian, Melanesian, and Australasian cultures as well.

This year, the theme of Polyfest is navigation and voyaging. All of the Polynesian island chains will be represented at individual tents that have sample dishes and activities (e.g. makahiki games). The dishes will have images and information displayed to describe the significance and importance of each dish to their respective cultures. Come & celebrate with us!

DEADLINE EXTENDED: Apply for a summer internship at the
Ehime Prefectural International Center (EPIC)! The deadline to apply to the summer 2018 EPIC internship has been extended to MONDAY, March 5, 2018. Please consider applying and encourage interested students.

From May-August 2018, interns will have the opportunity to:
1. Assist EPIC staff in answering general inquiries both from the people of Ehime
and foreigners.
2. Plan, coordinate, and execute cross-cultural seminars that include topics on Hawaiian and American cultures (including visits to schools).
3. Support and assist the Ehime-Hawaiʻi related programs.
4. Assist in the update and management of the website and publications for EPIC.

More info: https://www.hawaii.edu/cjs/accepting-applications-for-the-2018-ehime-internship-program/

Extended Deadline: 2018 Ehime Internship Program – application due March 5, 2018 UPDATE (2/14/2018): This post was updated on February 14, 2018 with revised flyer, application, and guidelines. Summer Internship Program 2018 at Ehime Prefectural International Center (EPIC…

FRIDAY, Mar. 2: Join the UH Mānoa Center for Japanese Studies for a presentation around "Artistic Engagement with Maritime Pathways" by Dr. James Jack. Starting at 3PM in the Center for Korean Studies. Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.

PUBLISHED! Dr. Cathy Clayton of the UH Manoa Asian Studies Program has a chapter called "Petri-Dish Urbanism" included in the book "Macau and the Casino Complex". The book discusses Macau's recent architecture and transformation from a sleepy backwater to the world's casino capital. Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Macau-Casino-Complex-Gambling-Studies/dp/1943859388/ref=as_at?imprToken=hefhmDLfCa2VjKLHAOJVhg&slotNum=2&SubscriptionId=AKIAIOCEBIGP6NUBL47A&tag=stefanal-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1943859388

Macau and the Casino Complex (Gambling Studies Series) In only a decade, Macau has exploded from a sleepy backwater to the world’s casino capital. It was bound to happen. Macau, a former Portuguese colony that became a special administrative region within the People’s Republic of China in 1999, was the only place in China where gambling w...

CHECK IT OUT: An Interview of Center for Pacific Islands Studies Prof. Alexander Mawyer by UH Press. It shares his background, areas of interest, and passion for Pacific Island studies. https://uhpjournals.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/interview-the-contemporary-pacific-editor-alexander-mawyer/

Interview: The Contemporary Pacific editor Alexander Mawyer Alexander Mawyer’s passion for Pacific Island studies is contagious​, and has led him to a prolific career in Hawai`i and abroad​. As a graduate of the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa and the …