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Events Archive - 2009

 

Conference on Taiwan, Asia and the Global Economic Crisis

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for International Economic Policy

A transcript of this event is available here.

Wednesday , December 2, 2009
12:15 - 4:30 PM (Luncheon included)
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Schedule

12:15 - 1:30: Luncheon (Takes place in the City View Room, 7th Floor)

1:30 - 3:00: Panel I: The Economic Crisis and Taiwan's Political Strategies in Asia and Beyond

M. Terry Cooke, Founder, GC3 Strategy and Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute

Kerry Dumbaugh, Specialist in Asian Affairs, Congressional Research Service

Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

Moderator: Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, The George Washington University

3:00 - 4:30: Panel II: The Economic Crisis and Taiwan-China Relations

Peter Chow, Professor of Economics, City College & Graduate Center, City University of New York

Jiawen Yang, Professor of International Business and International Affairs, The George Washington University

Scott Kastner, Associate Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland

Moderator: Shawn McHale, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, and Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The George Washington University

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Context Shapes Theory: Distinctive Trajectories of IR Scholarship in Asia

In the Sigur Center's New Lecture Series on Power and Identity in Asia

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Muthiah Alagappa, Distinguished Senior Fellow, East-West Center and Visiting Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Dr. Muthiah Alagappa is Distinguished Senior Fellow at the East-West Center and a Visiting Scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies. Previously he was Director, East-West Center Washington, and Director, East-West Center Research Program in Honolulu.  His recent publications include The Long Shadow: Nuclear Weapons and Security in 21st Century Asia (2008), Civil Society and Political Change in Asia: Expanding and Contracting Democratic Space  (2004), and Asian Security Order: Instrumental and Normative Features (2003), all published by Stanford University Press. He is presently working on a journal article tentatively titled "IR Theory Scholarship in Asia: Distinctive, Contextual Trajectories" and a book manuscript tentatively titled "Explaining War and Peace: The Asian Experience 1945-2005."

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2nd Annual Conference on China's Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations

Presented by the Institute for International Economic Policy and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Watch the video of the conference.

Friday, November 20, 2009
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Continental breakfast from 8:00 AM

9:00 AM: Welcome and overview of the conference
Stephen C. Smith
, Director of the Institute for International Economic Policy and Professor of Economics and International Affairs, The George Washington University

9:15-10:00 AM:
Opening address and charge to the conference
Harry Harding
, Dean, Batten School of Public Policy, University of Virginia and former Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs

Coffee break (10:00-10:30 AM)

10:30-12:30 PM:
Session 1: Transformations and Emerging Challenges in the Economy of China

Bruce Reynolds, Professor of Economics, University of Virginia

Loren Brandt, Professor of Economics, University of Toronto

John Giles, Associate Professor of Economics, Michigan State University and Senior Lab Economist, World Bank

Xiaobo Zhang, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute

Lixin Colin Xu, Senior Economist, World Bank

12:30-1:00 PM: Lunch

1:00-1:45 PM:
Luncheon Keynote Speaker:
Fred Bergsten
, Founder and Director, Peterson Institute of International Economics

1:45-2:00 PM: Coffee Break

2:00-4:00 PM:
Session 2: Crisis, Emergence of the G2 Relationship, and Future Challenges

Zhu Caihua, Associate Professor of International Economics, China Foreign Affairs University

Philip Levy, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute and former Senior Economist, Council of Economic Advisors

Margaret Pearson, Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland

Bruce Dickson, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

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Pakistan: Military and Political Challenges Ahead

Presented by the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies Security Policy Forum in cooperation with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the M.A. Program in International Affairs

Tuessday, November 17, 2009
6:30 - 8:30 PM
Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 213

Dr. Stephen P. Cohen, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Brookings Institute

Dr. Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia, Council on Foreign Relations

Dr. Ashley Tellis, Senior Associate, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Moderated by:

Amb. Karl F. Inderfurth, Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, The George Washington University

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Expectations of the Summit Between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Presented by Bridging Nations, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Asia Society, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Monday, November 16, 2009
3:30 - 5:30 PM
1800 K Street, NW
Room B1

Speakers:

Ambassador Robert O. Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs

Ambassador Meera Shankar, Ambassador of India to the United States (invited)

Featured Panelists:

Dr. Jonah Blank, Chief Policy Advisor for South Asia, Central Asia, and Archipelagic Southeast Asia; Senior Professional Staff Member, Committe on Foreign Relations (Majority)

Professor C. Raja Mohan, Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress

Mr. Ted Jones, Director for Policy Advocacy, U.S.-India Business Council

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Rising India's Great Power Burden

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative

In the Sigur Center's New Lecture Series on Power and Identity in Asia

audio icon Listen to the lecture.

Monday, November 16, 2009
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

C. Raja Mohan, Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations, John W. Kluge Center, Library of Congress

C. Raja Mohan holds the Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the John W. Kluge Center in the Library of Congress, during 2009-10. He is also the Foreign Affairs Columnist for The Indian Express, New Delhi and Visiting Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His columns appear in the Yomiuri Shimbun (Tokyo) and the Oriental Morning Post (Shanghai). Earlier, Mohan was Professor of South Asian Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He also served as the Strategic Affairs Editor of the Indian Express in New Delhi, and the Diplomatic Editor and Washington Correspondent of The Hindu. Mohan was a Jennings Randolph Peace Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace during 1992-93. He was a member of India's National Security Advisory Board from 1998 to 2000 and again from 2004 to 2006. Mohan was a member of the UN Inter-Governmental Expert Group on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space from 1991 to '92. His recent books include Crossing the Rubicon: The Shaping of India's New Foreign Policy (New York: Palgrave, 2004) and Impossible Allies: Nuclear India, United States and the Global Order (New Delhi: India Research Press, 2006). He is finishing a new book on the Sino-Indian Maritime Rivalry in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Please RSVP with your name, organization/GW affiliation, and e-mail to gsigur@gwu.edu by Friday, November 13, 2009.

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Obama from a Southeast Asian Perspective

In the Sigur Center's New Lecture Series on Power and Identity in Asia

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Thursday, November 12, 2009
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Amitav Acharya, Professor, International Relations and Chair, ASEAN Study Center, American University

Amitav Acharya is Professor of International Relations at American University and Chair of its ASEAN Studies Center. He is the author, most recently, of Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the Problem of Regional Order, 2nd edition (Routledge, 2009); and Whose Ideas Matter: Agency and Power in Asian Regionalism (Cornell University Press, 2009). The new edition of his book, The Quest for Identity: International Relations of Southeast Asia (Oxford, 2000) will be published in 2010 by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore and Cornell University Press.

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Beijing Underground: China's Alternative Music Scene

Presented by the Asia Society in partnership with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Monday, November 9, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Govinda Gallery
1227 34th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007

A reception and book signing will be held at 7:30 pm after the presentation.

We are pleased to invite you to join Asia Society Young Professionals (ASYP) and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for an exciting night with Matthew Niederhauser, who will give a presentation on his exhibition: Sound Kapital: Beijing's Music Underground, currently on display at Govinda Gallery in Georgetown. The talk will delve into China's burgeoning creative industries and their connections to urban development, widespread adoption of new communication technologies, and the Chinese government's vision of a modern society. China is undergoing a period of unprecedented change that continues to allow more room for independent thought and individualistic expression.

After studying anthropology at Columbia University, Matthew Niederhauser split his time between the National Committee on US-China Relations and the International Center of Photography, before returning to Beijing as a fulltime freelance photographer. Over the past year, his work covering youth culture in China has appeared in the New Yorker, Time Magazine, The Washington Post, PDN, and the Guardian Weekly amongst others. While his nights are spent photographing Beijing's underground music scene, Niederhauser also works on a large-format, photo-documentary project entitled Visions of Modernity that investigates urban development and new architecture in China's swelling capital.

For more information please review links:
http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/blog/erin-dejesus/nary-zither-nor-lutehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/04/punk-rock-china-matthew-niederhauser

A selection of musicians featured in Sound Kapital will be in attendance for a Q & A session following Matthew Niederhauser's presentation.

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Battles of Manila (1945) and Nanjing (1937): Atrocity, Justice and Reconciliation

Presented by the Sigur Center's Project on Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific

Friday, November 6, 2009
2:30 - 5:00 PM (Reception to follow)
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Panel 1: Battle of Manila (1945)

Professor Satoshi Nakano, Hitotsubashi University

"Battle of Manila Studies Project: Rediscovering, Remembering and Reconciliation"

Professor Nakano teaches American history at Hitotsubashi's Graduate School of Social Sciences; and he has written extensively about Philippines-U.S.-Japan relations during the Commonwealth (1935-1946) and after.

Ms. Sharon Chamberlain, The George Washington University

"Philippine Trials of Japanese War Criminals: Issues of Justice and Reconciliation"

Ms. Chamberlain is preparing to defend her dissertation on Philippine war crimes trials, entitled "History, Justice, and Reconciliation: Philippine Trials of Japanese War Criminals After World War II."

Moderator: Professor Shawn McHale, The George Washington University

Panel II: Battle of Nanjing (1937)

Professor Tokushi Kasahara, Tsuru University

"The Nanking Massacre and Political Structure of Its Denial in Japan"

Professor Kasahara teaches modern East Asian history; and he has published numerous books and articles about Nanjing including "The Nanking 100-Man Killing Contest" and the Nanking Incident (2008), Historiography of the Controversy about the Nanking Incident in Japan (2007),  and The Nanking Incident (1997).

Professor Daqing Yang, The George Washington University

"Revision, Revisionism, and the Nanjing Atrocity"

Professor Yang teaches modern Japanese history at GWU, and he has written extensively on the historiography of war crimes as well as on postwar reconciliation.

Moderator: Professor Mike Mochizuki, The George Washington University

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Japan's New Government: Looking Under the Hood

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
12:00 - 2:00 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 602

audio icon Listen to the lecture.

On the eve of President Obama's first presidential visit to Tokyo (Nov. 12-13) and the Asian region, we take a look under the hood of Japan's new government. What do the decisions taken in the first six weeks tell us about its economic policy, foreign policy and political priorities? And what are the implications for the Obama Administration?

To guide us through this debate the Sigur Center is pleased to have three speakers perfectly positioned to analyze Japan's new government, and who are not commonly heard in the Washington, D.C. area.

Richard Katz, Editor-in-Chief, Oriental Economist

Richard Katz is one of the most prominent commentators on the Japanese economy. He is author most recently of Japan Phoenix (2003).

Christopher Hughes, Edwin O. Reischauer Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies, Department of Government, Harvard University and Professor of International Politics and Japanese Studies, University of Warwick, UK

Professor Christopher Hughes is a prolific analyst of Japanese foreign and security policy, most recently publishing Japan's Remilitarization (2009).

Takashi Oka, Advisor to Ozawa Ichiro

Takashi Oka, D.Phil., acts as advisor to Ozawa Ichiro - the most important member of the DPJ government other than the Prime Minister - since 1994, and recently returned from an extended stay in Tokyo.

Moderator: Llewelyn Hughes, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

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U.S. Policy Directions on Taiwan

Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Luncheon: 12:00 - 12:30 PM
Roundtable: 12:30 - 2:00 PM
The City View Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

Featuring:

Bernard Cole, Professor of International History, National War College

Alan Romberg, Distinguished Fellow and Director, East Asia Program, Henry L. Stimson Center

Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, Professor of History, Georgetown University and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Moderator:

Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, The George Washington University

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Human Trafficking in South and Southeast Asia

Thursday, October 22, 2009
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
The State Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

Featuring:

Sina Vann

Sina Vann is a Vietnamese woman who was trafficked to Cambodia for sex slavery when she was 13. She was eventually rescued from the brothel by one of Cambodia's most prominent trafficking NGOs, the Somaly Mam Foundation. With only a third grade education, she is now completing her schooling and serves as one of the Somaly Mam Foundation's most effective spokespeople, speaking for those still trapped in slavery.

Veero

Veero and her family were held in debt bondage in Pakistan, forced to work off a falsified debt for a local farmer. She eventually made a daring escape past armed guards and staged a three-day sit-in at the local police station until authorities agreed to rescue her family from bonded labor. She has gone on to help more than 700 bonded laborers escape from their traffickers. She has founded an organization called Saath Saharoo Society ("Help Together") to help free Pakistanis trapped in slavery.

Discussants:

Laura Lederer, Vice President, Global Centurion, and Former Senior Director of Global Projects in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State

Shawn McHale, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, and Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The George Washington University

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The 17th Annual Hahn Moo Sook Colloquium:
Representing Korea's Visual Culture and Heritage: Defining Identity through the Aesthetic Qualities of Korean Art

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, and the Institute for Ethnographic Research

Saturday, October 17, 2009
9:00 AM - 2:30 PM
Room 113
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 1st Floor

Program:

8:30-9:00 AM: Coffee and Pastry

9:00 - 9:15 AM: Welcoming Remarks:

Ed Able, advisor and consultant to museums, associations, foundations and philanthropic organizations; past president and CEO, American Association of Museums

9:20 AM to 10:30 AM: Session I

Paul Michael Taylor, Director, Asian Cultural History Program, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

"Representing Korean Visual Culture to 'Other' Audiences: Opening the Korea Gallery in Washington, DC"

Cheeyun Kwon, Former Curator of Korean art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

"Presenting Korean Art in an Asian Context: Two Case Studies at Two Asian Art Museums in the U.S."

Chair: R. Richard Grinker, Professor of Anthropology, International Affairs, & Human Sciences, The George Washington University

10:45 AM - 12:00 PM: Session II

Hyun-key Kim Hogarth, Fellow, Royal Anthropological Institute

"Revival of Once-Lost Cultural Heritage: From Subversion to Cultural Nationalism"

Tom Vick, Film Programmer, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution

"Defining Korean Identity Through Film"

Chair: Gregg Brazinsky, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, The George Washington University

12:00 - 1:00 PM: Luncheon, The City View Room, 7th Floor

1:15 - 2:30 PM: Session III & General Discussion

Christine Kim, Assistant Professor, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and the Department of History, Georgetown University

Robert C. Provine, Professor in the School of Music, University of Maryland

Lenore D. Miller, Director of University Art Galleries and Chief Curator, The George Washington University

Chair: Young-Key Kim-Renaud, Professor of Korean Language and Culture and International Affairs, & Chair, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The George Washington University

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Back from the Brink: Prospects for Inter-Korean Dialogue, Past and Present

Organized by the North Korea International Documentation Project and the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention at the United States Institute of Peace, in cooperation with the Wilson Center's Asia Program

Thursday, October 15, 2009
3:30-5:00 PM
5th Floor Conference Room
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

The inter-Korean dialogue of 1971-1972 marked the first significant thaw between the rival regimes on the peninsula. To this day, the July 4th North-South Joint Communique of 1972 is considered a milestone in inter-Korean relations. Drawing upon newly declassified documents from the archives of Romania, (East) Germany, Bulgaria, South Korea, and North Korea, scholars Bernd Schaefer, Jongdae Shin, Sunwon Park, and Gregg Brazinsky will examine the lessons of the first breakthrough on the peninsula, and apply them to the recent warming of relations and renewed dialogue.

Bernd Schaefer is a senior scholar with the Woodrow Wilson Center's Cold War International History Project and a former research fellow at the German Historical Institute in Washington. Schaefer's publications include Cold War International Project Working Paper #44, "North Korean 'Adventurism' and China's Long Shadow, 1966-1972."

Jongdae Shin is a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, and a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, Seoul. Shin's research interests include North Korea's foreign relations and inter-Korean relations in the 1970s. Prof. Shin's numerous publications include Principal Issues of South Korean Society and State Control (co-author) (Yonsei University, 2005); and Theory of Inter-Korean Relations (co-author) (Hanul, 2005).

Sunwon Park is an expert in international relations and national security, particularly U.S.-South Korea relations. He has served in the government of the Republic of Korea as senior director for national security strategy and planning, and also as secretary to the president for national security strategy.

Gregg Brazinsky is an associate professor of history and international affairs at the George Washington University. He is a specialist on U.S.-East Asian relations during the Cold War. His work focuses on the social and cultural impact of the United States on East Asia. His book, Nation Building in South Korea: Koreans, Americans and the Making of a Democracy, examines why South Korea was among the few post-colonial nations to achieve economic development and political democracy. It is the first book on the subject to use both American and Korean source materials. Brazinsky serves as a senior advisor to NKIDP and as co-director of the George Washington University Cold War Group.

Visit www.wilsoncenter.org/nkidp for more information.

This is not a Sigur Center event. Please contact the Wilson Center with any questions.

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The Sound of Ecstasy and Nectar of Enlightenment: Buddhist Ritual Song and Dance from Korea

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Smithsonian Institution

Wednesday, October 14, 2009
7:30 p.m.
Meyer Auditorium
Freer Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Washington, DC

Experience rarely seen ceremonies of ancient Korean Buddhism, performed in full costume by the Young San Preservation Group from Korea. The ritualized dances, known as chakpop, are accompanied by pomp'ae, mesmerizing vocal chants that facilitate contemplation and spiritual growth. Musicians accompany the chants and dances on an array of traditional drums, cymbals, and gongs.

More information about tickets can be found at the Freer Gallery's website.

This event, presented in cooperation with the Korea Society and in conjunction with the George Washington University Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium in Korean Humanities, is cosponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Smithsonian Institution.

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The 2009 Northeast Asian Women's Peace Conference:
Negotiating Regional Peace, Reconciliation and Cooperation

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Organizing Committee of the Northeast Asian Women's Peace Conference

Tuesday, October 6, 2009
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
The State Room
7th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Women's voices are important but have often gone unheard during the Six Party Talks and the U.S.-DPRK talks on the future of the Korean Peninsula. This conference, in contrast, brings together a diverse group of Asian and American women speakers from civil society and government to address peace and security issues in Northeast Asia. The conference will provide a space for discussion of steps to reduce military tension and build peace in Northeast Asia and ways to realize UNSCR 1325, which recognized "the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building and stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security."

Schedule:

10:00 - 10:15 a.m.: Introduction and Welcoming Remarks

10:15 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.: Session I

Myungsook Han, Former Prime Minister of South Korea

"Women's Perspectives on the Peaceful Settlement of Conflict in Korea and Northeast Asia"

Hazel Smith, Professor of Security & Resilience, Head of the Resilience Center, Department of Applied Science, Security & Resilience, Cranfield University

"Peace and Security in Korea and Northeast Asia and the Role of International Community"

Moderator: Cora Weiss, President, Hague Appeal for Peace

12:00 - 1:30 p.m.: Luncheon

1:30 - 4:30 p.m.: Session II: Country Reports on Building Peace in Northeast Asia

China: Sun Jisheng, Dean of the Department of English and International Studies, China Foreign Affairs University

Japan: Kozue Akibayashi, International Vice President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Associate Professor, College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University

Russia: Lebedeva Nina Boresovna, Member of the Women's Union of Russia, Leading Scholar at the Institute of Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

United States: Karen Jacob, Chair, Women's Action for New Directions

South Korea: Jeong Sook Hahn, Board member, Women Making Peace and Professor, Department of Western History, Seoul National University

Moderator: Patricia Morris, Executive Director, PeacexPeace

5:00-6:00 p.m.: Closing Session

This is a joint session with the Elliott School's Distinguished Women in International Affairs Series.

Ambassador Melanne S. Verveer, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues

"Women's Role in Peace Making"

City View Room
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

A reception will follow the closing session.

This event is endorsed by American Friends Service Committee, The Hague Appeal for Peace, International Women's Tribune Center, Peace X Peace, Women's Action for New Directions, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom International, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom U.S. Section, Peace Boat, Global Partnership for Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC) Northeast Asia, National Association of Korean Americans, Bongha Washington, the Women's Mobilization Program of World Conference of Religions for Peace and the Washington Coalition for 'Comfort Women' Issues.

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Fall Welcome Reception

The Sigur Center for Asian Studies Cordially Invites:

GW Students, Faculty, Staff and Visiting Scholars

to attend the Fall Welcome Reception to celebrate the start of a new year!

Thursday, October 1, 2009
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

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A Passage to America

Book Discussion on The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Asia Society

audio icon Listen to the lecture.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Featuring:

Patrick Radden Keefe, Author

Patrick Radden Keefe will talk about his acclaimed new book, The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream. This brilliant account examines America's complicated relationship with immigration through the story of Cheng Chui Ping, known as Sister Ping, who built a multimillion-dollar empire as a "snakehead," smuggling Chinese immigrants into America. With the immigration debate still simmering, this exploration of how far people will go to achieve the American dream is a must-read. Keefe is a writer who focuses on international security, immigration, espionage, and the globalization of crime. He is a Fellow at The Century Foundation and a Project Leader at the World Policy Institute. His articles and Op-Eds have appeared in the New Yorker, Slate, the New York Times Magazine and Op-Ed page, the New York Review of Books and other publications. He is the recipient of a Marshall Scholarship, a Guggenheim Fellowship and a fellowship at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York Public Library. He is also a non-practicing lawyer and a member of the New York State Bar.

Discussant:
Moises Naim, Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy magazine

Moderator:
Sujit Raman, Board Member, Asia Society Young Professionals Program

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The U.S., East Asia and Mongolia: Regional Dynamics

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Tuesday, September 29, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Ambassador Mark C. Minton, Ambassador of the United States of America to Mongolia (2006-2009)

Mark C. Minton is a career member of the Foreign Service.  He arrived in Ulaanbaatar on September 18, 2006 to take up his assignment as U.S. Ambassador. Mr. Minton was previously Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Republic of Korea.  During his assignment in Seoul, he acted for over six months as Charge d'Affaires ad interim.  Mr. Minton began his Foreign Service career as a Political Officer in Tokyo in 1977.  He served on the Policy Planning Staff in Washington, D.C., followed by an assignment with the Office of Soviet Union Affairs.  In 1984, Mr. Minton became the Consul General in Sapporo, Japan.  He has served in subsequent assignments with the Department of State's Executive Secretariat, as a Pearson Fellow with the United States Senate, and as Deputy Director, Japanese Affairs, at the Department of State.  In 1992, Mr. Minton became the Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, after which he returned to Washington as the Director of Korean Affairs.  Mr. Minton's next posting, in 1998, was as Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, followed by a year as Diplomat-in-Residence at the City College of New York.  Minton graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Literature and received his Master's degree in History from Yale University.  He speaks Japanese and Korean.  He is also a veteran, having served three years in the United States Army.

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Emerging Powers in Asia: Are These Post-Colonial Informal Empires?

In the Sigur Center's New Lecture Series on Power and Identity in Asia

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Monday, September 28, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Dibyesh Anand, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Westminster

Dr. Dibyesh Anand is a Reader (Associate Professor) in international relations at Westminster University in London. His publications are in the areas of Global Politics, Tibet, China, Hindu Nationalism, and Security. He is the author of Geopolitical Exotica: Tibet in Western Imagination (University of Minnesota Press, 2007) and Hindu Nationalism in India and the Politics of Fear (Palgrave Macmillan, Forthcoming). He is currently working on a book China's Tibet, a research project on Sino-Indian border regions, and majority-minority relations in India and China.

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Korea's Past, Present and Future: Challenges and Prospects

Presented by the International Council on Korean Studies, the Global Society of Korea and America, and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Friday, September 18, 2009
8:30 AM - 9:00 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Schedule:

7:30 - 8:30 AM: Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30-8:50 AM: Opening Ceremony

Keynote speech:
"Challenges and Prospects of U.S.-Korean Relations during the Economic Crisis"
Ambassador Charles L. Pritchard, President, Korea Economic Institute

9:00- 10:30 AM: Panel I: Economic Prospects in Korea and the United States during the Financial Crisis

Moderator: Dr. Kwang Soo Cheong, Johns Hopkins University

"Korea-U.S. Economic Relations: Present and Future"
Mr. Jong-hyun Choi, Embassy of Korea

"The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis and the Changes in the Labor Market Policies in Korea"
Dr. Joyup Ahn, Korea Labor Institute
Dr. Jaimie Sung, Korea University of Technology and Education

"Korea's Economic Outlook and Key Policy Challenges"
Dr. Subir Lall, International Monetary Fund

Discussants:
Dr. Jaewoo Lee, International Monetary Fund
Dr. Haeduck Lee, The World Bank
Mr. James Lister, Korea Economic Institute

10:45 AM-12:30 PM: Panel II: Changes in U.S.-Korea Relations under the Obama Administration

Moderator: Dr. John Merrill, U.S. Department of State

"U.S.-South Korean Relations under the Obama Administration: Challenges and Prospects"
Dr. Bruce Bechtol, U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College

"U.S.-North Korean Relations under the Obama Administration: Problems and Prospects"
Dr. Hong Nack Kim, West Virginia University

"U.S. Aid to North Korea: From the Clinton Administration to the Obama Administration"
Dr. Mark E. Manyin, Congressional Research Service

"The Origins and Trajectories of Reunification Strategies in South Korea"
Dr. Jai Kwan Jung, The George Washington University
Dr. Chad Rector, The George Washington University

Discussants:
Dr. John Merrill, U.S. Department of State
Dr. Hugo Wheegook Kim, East-West Research Institute

12:30 - 2:00 PM: Luncheon and Keynote Speech:

"The U.S.-Korea Relationship and Making the ROK an Advanced Country"
Henry Hyun-Suk Kang, President, Global Society of Korea and America

2:00 - 3:30 PM: Panel III: Women and Empowerment in Choson Korea

Moderator: Dr. Young-key Kim-Renaud, The George Washington University

"Non-elite Women as Legal Subjects in Late Choson Korea"
Dr. Jisoo Kim, The George Washington University

"From an 'Adulteress' to a 'Living Buddha': Bhiksuni Yesun and Politics in Prince Kwanghae's Court"
Dr. Hyangsoon Yi, University of Georgia

"Unyong-jon: A Woman's Tale of Love and Oppression"
Dr. Michael J. Pettid, Binghamton University (SUNY)

Discussants:
Dr. Soon-Won Park, George Mason University
Dr. John Goulde, Sweet Briar College

3:45-5:45 PM: Panel IV: Science and Technology: U.S. and Korean Trends and Issues

Moderator: Dr. Jae O. Kang, University of New Hampshire

"A Comparative Study on Internet Usage Patterns and Future Trends: U.S. and Korea"
Dr. Young B. Choi, James Madison University

"The Importance of U.S.-Korea Cooperation on Global Energy Issues"
Dr. Jong-Hee Park, Alion Science and Technology
Dr. Yong Nak Lee, HTRD

"Recent Trends and Policies on Infrastructure and Environment in the U.S. and Korea"
Dr. Kang-Won Wayne Lee, University of Rhode Island

6:30 - 9:00 PM: Dinner and Lecture:

"Korean Studies Present and Future: Challenges and Prospects"
Hong Nack Kim, West Virginia University

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The Tokyo War Crimes Trial and Japan Today

Friday, September 11, 2009
12:30 - 2:00 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

Featuring:

Kazuhiko Togo, Former Japanese Ambassador to the Netherlands
"Unconditional Surrender, The Emperor and the Tokyo Tribunal: Implications for the Japan-U.S. Alliance"

Kazuhiko Togo joined the Foreign Ministry of Japan in 1968, worked extensively in Soviet/Russian Affairs, and served as Japan's Ambassador to the Netherlands. His recent publications include History and Diplomacy: Yasukuni, Asia, and the Tokyo Tribunal (in Japanese), The Inside Story of the Negotiations on the Northern Territory (in Japanese), and Japan's Foreign Policy 1945-2003.

Hirofumi Hayashi, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Kanto Gakuin University
"The Tokyo Trial and Post-War Japan: Striving to Surmount the Alliance of Irresponsible Nations"

Hirofumi Hayashi is a professor of politics and international relations at Kanto Gakuin University and research director of the Center for Research and Documentation on Japan's War Responsibility. His recent works include Tried War Crimes: British War Crimes Trials of Japanese (in Japanese) and Class B & C War Crimes Trials (in Japanese).

Discussant:

Franziska Seraphim, Associate Professor, Boston College

Franziska Seraphim is an associate professor of history at Boston College and is the author of War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945-2005.

Moderated By:

Daqing Yang, Associate Professor of History and International Relations, The George Washington University

This event generously supported by the Sigur Center's Academic Excellence Signature Program Award and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission

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The Changing World and China-U.S. Relations

In the Sigur Center's New Lecture Series on Power and Identity in Asia

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Tuesday, September 8, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Amb. Wu Jianmin, Member, Foreign Policy Advisory Group, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People's Republic of China

Ambassador Wu is currently Vice Chairman of the China Institute of Strategy and Management (CISM), Professor at China Foreign Affairs University, Member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Group of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the People’s Republic of China, Member and Vice President of the European Academy of Sciences and Honorary President of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE). From 2003 to 2008, Ambassador Wu served as President of the China Foreign Affairs University, Executive Vice President of the China National Association for International Studies, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Spokesman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. From 2003 to 2007, Ambassador Wu served as President of the International Bureau of Expositions, the first Asian to take up the post. Earlier, he served as China’s Ambassador to France (1998-2003); to the United Nations Office in Geneva, and to other international organizations in Switzerland (1996-1998); and to the Netherlands (1994-1995). Ambassador Wu graduated from the Department of French at Beijing Foreign Studies University, and from 1959 to 1971, interpreted numerous times for Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. In 1971 he became a member of China’s first delegate to the United Nations. He was awarded the honor of Knight of the Foreign Legion of Honor by French President Jacques Chirac in 2003.

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Taiwan's Quest for International Space

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Tuesday, July 21, 2009
12:00 - 12:30 PM: Buffet Luncheon
12:30 - 2:00 PM: Roundtable
The City View Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

Featuring:

David Dean, Advisor-in-Residence, Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation and Former Director of the American Institute in Taiwan

Jacques deLisle, Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law and Director, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania; Director, Asia Program, Foreign Policy Research Institute

Bonnie Glaser, Senior Fellow, Freeman Chair in China Studies and Senior Associate, Pacific Forum, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Moderated By:

Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, and Director, Taiwan Education Program, The George Washington University

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Transatlantic Perspectives on China

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' China Policy Program

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
5:30 - 7:00 PM
Room 113
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Ground Floor

Featuring:

Amb. J Stapleton Roy, Director, Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Michael Yahuda, Professorial Lecturer, The George Washington University and Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics

Francois Godement, Professor, Asia Center, Sciences Po & European Council on Foreign Relations

Moderated By:

David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Director, China Policy Program, The George Washington University

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A Glimpse of South Asia: Politics, Religion, Environment, Health and Migration

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Tuesday, June 16, 2009
10:00 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

Introduction: Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Session One: 10:00 - 11:15 a.m.

Chair: Deepa Ollapally, Associate Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

The U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan: A Troubling Triad and its Need for Constructive Engagement
Amina Khan, Fulbright Graduate Student, Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Ecotourism in India: Issues and Concerns for Global Travel Needs,
Seema Bhat, Fulbright Scholar, Center for Responsible Travel

Session Two: 11:15 - 11:45 a.m.

Chair: Indika Bulankulame, Fulbright Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Doorways to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health: Psychosexual Well-Being in South Asia,
Hadia Nusrat, Fulbright Graduate Student, School of Global Health, The George Washington University

Lunch: 11:45 - 12:30 p.m.

Session Three: 12:30 - 1:15 p.m.

Chair: Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Gender and Religion: Women as Identity Markers among Bangladeshi Diaspora,
Naseem Hussain, Fulbright Scholar, Howard University

Beyond the Island Paradise- Searching for Hope: An Overview of Female Migrations, and the Impact on Intra-Familial Relationships,
Indika Bulankulame, Fulbright Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

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The Future of U.S.-Taiwan Relations

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Formosa Foundation

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

Schedule:

10:00-10:30 AM: Opening Session

10:30-11:00 AM: Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA), Foreign Affairs Committee

11:00-12:30 PM: Change and Continuity in U.S.-Taiwan Relations: Tracking Trends Following the 2008 Elections

Chair: Edward McCord, The George Washington University

Carolyn Bartholomew, U.S. China Commission
Shih-chung Liu, Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, Brookings Institute
Edward Friedman, University of Wisconsin
Julian Baum, former Taipei Bureau Chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review

12:30-1:45 PM: Luncheon Keynote: "Obama's Foreign Policy: Is He Neglecting Asia?" Henry R. Nau, The George Washington University

1:45-3:15 PM: Analyzing Cross-Strait Detente: Implications for Taiwan's Relations with the United States and the International Community

Chair: Bruce Dickson, The George Washington University

June Teufel Dreyer, University of Miami
Bruce Gilley, Portland State University
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, U.S.-Taiwan Business Council

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Sigur Center Graduation Reception 2009

Graduating Asian Studies BA and MA students; Family & Friends; and Faculty & Staff:

Please join us in celebrating the Class of 2009 with a reception following the ESIA Graduation Ceremony.

Friday, May 15, 2009
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

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The 13th Annual Gaston Sigur Memorial Lecture:

The United States and China: Still a "Fragile Relationship"?

Featuring

Harry Harding, University Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University

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Thursday, May 14, 2009
5:00-5:30 p.m.: Reception
5:30-6:30 p.m.: Lecture
Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 213

Harry Harding, former Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs from 1995-2005, is currently University Professor of International Affairs at The George Washington University. From 2005 to 2007, he served as Director of Research and Analysis at Eurasia Group, a political risk advisory and consulting firm headquartered in New York. He remains a Counselor to Eurasia Group, as well as a Visiting Fellow in the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society. Dr. Harding has served on the faculties of Swarthmore College (1970-71) and Stanford University (1971-83); was a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution (1983-94). In July of 2009, he will be leaving GW to become Founding Dean of the Batten School of Public Policy at the University of Virginia. A specialist on Asia, his major publications include The India-China Relationship: What the United States Needs to Know (co-edited with Francine Frankel, 2004); A Fragile Relationship: The United States and China Since 1972 (1992); Sino-American Relations, 1945-1955: A Joint Reassessment of a Critical Debate (co-edited with Yuan Ming, 1989); China's Second Revolution: Reform After Mao (1987); China's Foreign Relations in the 1980s (editor, 1984); and Organizing China: The Problem of Bureaucracy, 1949-1976 (1981).

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Vishwa Mohan Bhatt: Master of the Mohan Veena

Presented by the Sigur Center's India Initiative, the Asia Society, and the Embassy of India

Thursday, May 7, 2009
7:30 p.m.
Jack Morton Auditorium
The George Washington University
805 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC

The Mohan Veena, a modified guitar, was created by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt by assimilating sitar, sarod and veena techniques and adding 14 more strings thereby taking the instrument to new heights. He will be accompanied by Samir Chatterjee on tabla.

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt has mesmerized the world with his pristine, pure, delicate yet fiery music. Being the foremost disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Vishwa Mohan belongs to that elite body of musicians which traces its origin to the Mughal emperor Akbar's court musician Tansen and his guru the Hindu Mystic Swami Haridas. He received the Grammy Award in 1994 with Ry Cooder for their World Music album, A Meeting by the River. He was awarded the Padmashree, one of India's highest civilian awards, in 2002. Vishwa Mohan has performed extensively in the US, Russia, Canada, Great Britain, Europe, the Middle East and throughout India. Among the many prestigious venues at which he has performed are New York City's Madison Square Garden and the Lincoln Center and the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Samir Chatterjee is a virtuoso Tabla player who has accompanied many of India's greatest musicians including Ravi Shankar, Amjad Ali Khan, Vilayat Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Jasraj, Nikhil Banerjee, Shivkumar Sharma, and Hariprasad Chaurasia. In the New York area he has become a catalyst in the fusion of Indian and Western music performing with jazz, classical and avant-garde musicians and ensembles such as Pauline Oliveros, William Parker, Branford Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Dance Theater of Harlem, Boston Philharmonic, Ethos Percussion group, and Da Capo Chamber Orchestra. He is a member of the jazz trio SYNC and quintet Inner Diaspora. The founder of the Indian music organization Chhandayan, Samir has taught tabla for over 30 years.

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Approaches to Cross-Strait Relations

Sponsored by the Sigur Center's Taiwan Education and Research Program and the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Wednesday, May 6, 2009
10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Tsai Ing-wen, Chair, Democratic Progressive Party

Tsai Ing-wen previously has served as Vice Premier of the Executive Yuan, as a Nationwide Legislator, and as a National Policy Advisor in the Office of the President under Chen Shui-bian. She has also served in various other positions in the Executive Yuan including as Chairperson of the Mainland Affairs Council and Commissioner of the Fair Trade Commission. Prior to her appointment to the Executive Yuan, Dr. Tsai served as Chief Legal Counsel for the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and as a Professor at National Chengchi University and Soochow University. She received her Ph.D. in Law from the London School of Economics.

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A New Approach to History Education: The First East Asian History Curriculum for Korean High Schools

In the Sigur Center's Visiting Scholar Roundtable Series

Monday, April 27, 2009
4:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

Byungwoo Ahn, Visiting Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Byungwoo Ahn is a professor in the Department of Korean History, Hanshin University, South Korea. He researches and teaches on the medieval and socioeconomic history of Korea, and published The Financial System in the First Half of Goryo Dynasty (2002, Seoul National University Press). He was the President of the Organization of Korean Historians from 1991 to 1993, which is the society of young progressive Korean historians. Recently, he has been concerned with the topic of historical conflict and reconciliation in East Asia. For this reason, he became an NGO activist, is co-chairperson of the Asia Peace and History Education Network, a member of board of Northeast Asian History Foundation. He has many articles on Korean history and history problems in East Asia. He received his Ph.D. from Seoul National University.

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Globalization and Democracy: Lessons from India and Malaysia

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Institute for International Economic Policy, and the Elliott School of International Affairs' Future of Democracy Initiative

Thursday, April 23, 2009
Luncheon: 12:00-12:30 p.m.
Panel: 12:30-2:00 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

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Jomo K.S., Assistant Secretary General for Economic Development, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

Kaushik Basu, C. Marks Professor of International Studies and Economics, Cornell University

Bridget Welsh, Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Moderated by:

Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, the George Washington University

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U.S.-South Asia Relations: A Perspective from the Region

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Wednesday, April 8, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

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Saleem Kidwai, Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Saleem Kidwai is Associate Professor in the Centre for Canadian, U.S., and Latin American Studies, School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India. He taught post-graduate classes at University of Kashmir for a decade. He was Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Villanova University in Pennsylvania from 2001 to 2002. He also held a position as Visiting Specialist on Islam under the Fulbright program in 2004 at Jamestown and at Charleston College. Professor Kidwai is the author of three books including U.S. Policy towards South Asia: Post 9/11 Period (Edited), as well as numerous articles and book chapters. He earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Aligarh University.

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Remembering Devotion: Oral Histories of the Pilgrimage to Mecca from Southeast Asia

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Institute for Middle East Studies and Asia Society

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Monday, April 6, 2009
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Eric Tagliacozzo, Associate Professor of History, Cornell University

Eric Tagliacozzo is Associate Professor of History at Cornell University, where he primarily teaches Southeast Asian Studies.  He is the author of Secret Trades, Porous Borders: Smuggling and States Along a Southeast Asian Frontier, 1865-1915 (Yale, 2005), which won the Harry J. Benda Prize from the Association of Asian Studies (AAS) in 2007.  He is also the editor or co-editor of four books: Southeast Asia and the Middle East: Islam, Movement, and the Longue Duree (Stanford, 2008); Clio/Anthropos: Exploring the Boundaries Between History and Anthropology (Stanford, 2009); The Indonesia Reader: History, Culture, Politics (Duke, 2009), and Chinese Circulations: Capital, Commodities and Networks in Southeast Asia (Duke, 2010).  His next monograph, The Longest Journey: Southeast Asians and the Pilgrimage to Mecca, will be published by Oxford University Press. He earned his Ph.D. at Yale University in 1999.

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The Tokyo War Crimes Trial at Sixty: Legacy and Reassessment

Presented by the Sigur Center Project on Memory and Reconciliation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation

Monday, March 23, 2009
4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Reception to follow
The City View Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
7th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Speakers:

Yoshinobu Higurashi, Kagoshima University, author of The Tokyo Trial and International Relations: Power and Norms in International Politics, (2002) and The Tokyo Trial (2008)

Yuma Totani, University of Hawai'i, author of The Tokyo War Crimes Trial: The Pursuit of Justice in the Wake of World War II (2008)

Commentator:

Daqing Yang, The George Washington University

Moderator:

Mike Mochizuki, The George Washington University

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Eighth Annual John H. Holdridge Memorial Lecture: U.S.-China Relations under a New Administration

Presented by the Maryland-China Business Council and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Tuesday, March 17, 2009
5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Reception followed by lecture
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
6th Floor, 1957 E Street, NW

Speaker: Douglas H. Paal, Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The incoming Obama administration faces a variety of challenges and opportunities in China and Asia more broadly. Many in Asia have assessed Barack Obama's presidential victory as a mandate for a more thoughtful, engaging American foreign policy. Opportunities for engagement include coordination to minimize the global recession, warming PRC-Taiwan relations, Chinese military modernization, and a variety of conflicts and challenges across Asia. Carnegie's Douglas Paal will discuss the way forward for America's new leadership with China and other regional powers.

Douglas H. Paal is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He previously served as unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan from April 2002 to January 2006. He was on the National Security Council staffs of Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and between 1986 and 1993 as director of Asian Affairs, and then as senior director and special assistant to the President. Paal held positions in the policy planning staff at the State Department, as a senior analyst for the CIA, and at U.S. Embassies in Singapore and Beijing. He has spoken and published frequently on Asian affairs and national security issues. Paal received an A.B.-A.M. in Chinese Studies and Asian History from Brown University and Ph.D. in History and East Asian Languages from Harvard University. He speaks Chinese and Japanese.

This is an annual lecture established to commemorate the contributions of former MCBC board member Ambassador John H. Holdridge to the development of constructive diplomatic and business relations between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China.

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New Actors in Dhaka and Washington: Prospects for U.S. Bangladeshi Relations

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Ambassadors Forum

His Excellency, M. Humayun Kabir, Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the United States

Wednesday, March 4, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Ambassador Humayun Kabir is a career diplomat with the rank of Permanent Secretary, Government of Bangladesh. In July 2007, he became the Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the United States. He served as High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji from 2006 to 2007, and from 2003 to 2006 as Ambassador to Nepal. He has served as Director-General in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in charge of, at different points, South Asia and SAARC, Europe, and the UN. He served as a delegate to five sessions of the United Nations General Assembly, as well as in various other positions in embassies and at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassador Kabir began his career with the Bangladeshi Civil Service in 1981, after serving as a lecturer for the Departments of Political Science and Law at the University of Dhaka.

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New Coats on Old Tales: The Role of the Indian Epic in Modern Fiction

Wednesday, February 25, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

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Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Author, Palace of Illusions

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is the author of the bestselling novels Queen of Dreams, Mistress of Spices, Sister of My Heart, and The Vine of Desire, and of the prize-winning story collections Arranged Marriage and The Unknown Errors of Our Lives. She lives in Houston, Texas, and teaches creative writing at the University of Houston.

Taking us back to a time that is half history, half myth and wholly magical, The Palace of Illusions gives new voice to Panchaali, the fire-born heroine of the Mahabharat, as she weaves a vibrant interpretation of an ancient tale. Married to five royal husbands who have been cheated out of their father's kingdom, Panchaali aids their quest to reclaim their birthright, remaining at their side through years of exile and a terrible civil war. But she cannot deny her complicated friendship with the enigmatic Krishna or her secret attraction to the mysterious man who is her husbands' most dangerous enemy as she is caught up in the ever-manipulating hands of fate.

Manil Suri, Author, The Age of Shiva

Manil Suri first published fiction in English was The Seven Circles, a short story that appeared in the New Yorker in February, 2000. The Death of Vishnu, his first novel, was published to great critical acclaim 2001. It was long-listed for the Booker Prize (2001) and the IMPAC Prize (2003) and was a New York Times Notable Book for 2001. Manil Suri was named by Time Magazine as a "Person to Watch" in 2000 and received a Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction in 2004. In addition to being a writer, Suri is a mathematician. He has a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University and is a tenured full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Maryland. In The Age of Shiva Manil Suri tells a mesmerizing story of modern India, richly layered with themes from Hindu mythology. The story follows Meera Sawhney from her unhappy 1950s marriage to aspiring singer Dev Arora through to her own son's coming-of-age. The Age of Shiva is at once a powerful story of a country in turmoil and an extraordinary portrait of maternal love.

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China Engages Latin America: Motivations, Manifestations, and Prospects

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
5 p.m. - 6 p.m.
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor

Jiang Shixue, Professor, Institute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Discussant:
Gonzalo Paz, Lecturer, The Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University

Chair:
David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

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Caste and Affirmative Action: What Nepal Can Learn from India and Malaysia

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Wednesday, February 18, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 505

Suvash Darnal, Reagan Fascell Democracy Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy

Suvash Darnal is founding chair of the Jagaran Media Center, a nongovernmental organization working to promote Dalit rights in Nepal through research and activism. He also serves as chairperson of the Collective Campaign for Peace, an umbrella human rights organization that seeks to strengthen Nepali democracy through programs advocating for accountability, peace, and human rights. Mr. Darnal has been an outspoken voice for Nepal's Dalits, the so-called "untouchables" of traditional Hindu society who remain marginalized in Nepal today. He is the author of The Local Discourse of Reservation in Nepal (2005) and coeditor of The Politics of Affirmative Action and Special Rights in Nepal (2006). During his fellowship, Mr. Darnal is exploring strategies and techniques for including marginalized groups such as the Dalits into the political, economic, and social mainstream in Nepal.

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The Forgotten Origins of Khmer Rouge Racism: Vietnamese-Khmer Violence After World War Two

Presented by Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies

A 2008-2009 GW University Seminar on History, Memory and Politics

Thursday, February 12, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Voesar Conference Room, Suite 412
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies & Asian Studies Program, Associate Professor of History & International Affairs

It is commonly understood that the Khmer Rouge — a regime responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million inhabitants of Cambodia between 1975 and 1975 — often defined enemies in racial terms. But where did this deep ethnic antagonism — and in particular the hatred against Vietnamese — come from? Surprisingly, the existing literature does not explain this well. This talk will offer a completely new explanation of the rise of Khmer antagonism to Vietnamese. It argues for the key importance of forgotten massacres after World War Two in worsening Khmer-Vietnamese relations. It will also address the ways that Vietnamese and Cambodian states, for divergent reasons, have avoided discussion of these massacres and thus have helped to perpetuate misunderstandings of the past.

Shawn McHale is Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, Director of the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and Director of the Asian Studies Program at the Elliott School for International Affairs, The George Washington University. His publications include Print and Power: Confucianism, Communism, and Buddhism in the Making of Modern Vietnam (University of Hawaii Press, 2004); and "Freedom, Violence, and the Struggle Over the Public Realm in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1945-1958," in Naissance d'un Etat-Parti: le Viet Nam depuis 1945 (Les Indes Savantes, 2004). He recently returned from a year in Vietnam on a Fulbright-Hays faculty fellowship. Born in Southeast Asia, he received his B.A. with honors from Swarthmore College, an M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Southeast Asian history from Cornell University (1995).

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The U.S. Role in a New Vision for Peace in Northeast Asia: Economic Ties and the "Fourth Wave" on the Korean Peninsula

Part of the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Chung Dong-Young, Democratic Presidential Candidate, South Korea (2007), Visiting Scholar, Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University

Chung Dong-Young was the presidential candidate of the ruling United New Democratic Party in the 17th presidential election which took place in December of 2007. He was defeated by President Lee Myung-bak of the opposition Grand National Party. Prior to that, Mr. Chung was the South Korean Minister of Unification from April 2004 until December 2005. He was twice Chairman of the Uri Party (the now United New Democratic Party), which he co-founded, and also was elected to the National Assembly for two consecutive terms. Currently, Mr. Chung is a visiting scholar at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. Mr. Chung has a bachelor's degree in Korean History from Seoul National University (1979) and a Master's from the University of Wales. Before entering politics, he was a journalist and the main news anchor of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation.

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New Actors and Factors in Cross Strait Relations

Thursday, January 29, 2009
9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
State Room, 7th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

8:30 - 9 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9 a.m. Welcome:
Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies
9:15 - 10:45 a.m. Panel I: Political Change in Taiwan and the Impact on Cross Strait Interaction

Chair: Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History & International Affairs, The George Washington University; Director, Taiwan Education & Research Program

T.Y. Wang, Professor, Department of Politics and Government, Illinois State University

Shelley Rigger, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Davidson College

Donald Rodgers, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Austin College
10:45 -11 a.m. Coffee Break
11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Panel II: Strategic and Economic Drivers of Cross Strait Relations

Chair: David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

Bernard Cole, Professor of International History, National War College

Robert Sutter, Adjunct Professor of International Affairs, The George Washington University and Visiting Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

M. Terry Cooke, Chairman & Founder, GC3 Strategy, & Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Research Institute
12:30 - 2:00 p.m. Lunch
Lindner Family Commons, 6th Floor

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The Japan-U.S.-China Triangle and the Okinawa Question: Toward Shared History and Common Security

Friday, January 9, 2009
9 a.m. - 2 p.m.
State Room, 7th Floor
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

Presented by The Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Nansei Shoto Industrial Advancement Center.

9 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
9:30 a.m. - 9:40 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
9:40 a.m. - 11 a.m. Session I: Fostering Shared History

Chair: Michael SWAINE (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)

Kurayoshi TAKARA (Ryukyu University) "Resolving the Okinawa Issue: Historical Problems and Sharing the Past"

Kazuhisa OGAWA (International Politics and Military Analyst) "Why a Problem with History?: The 'Comfort Women' Issue and the Tamogami Essay Controversy"

Daqing YANG (The George Washington University) "A Noble Dream?: Shared History in the Asia Pacific"

Mike MOCHIZUKI (The George Washington University) "U.S.-Japan Relations and the History-Security Nexus"
11 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. Break
11:10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Session II: Promoting Common Security

Chair: Mike MOCHIZUKI (The George Washington University)

Akio TAKAHARA(University of Tokyo) "A History that Extends in to the Future: Towards a History East Asia for the 20th and 21st Centuries"

Tomoyuki KOJIMA (Keio University) "East Asia Community and the Modernization of Japan: Thoughts on Yukichi Fukuzawa's Argument for 'Leaving Asia' (Datsu-A Ron)" (presented by Akio TAKAHARA)

Akikazu HASHIMOTO (J. F. Oberlin University) "Change in Japan's Public Will and Views about History: Implications for Peace Strategies in East Asia"

Michael SWAINE (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) "U.S.-China Relations after Bush: Implications for Japan and Okinawa"

Michael O'HANLON (Brookings Institution) "U.S. Strategy toward the Asia-Pacific after the Bush Administration"
12:30 p.m. - 2 p.m. LUNCH in the City View Room
Keynote Speech by Governor Hirokazu NAKAIMA of Okinawa Prefecture

 

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