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Events Archive - 2010

Audio recordings of selected events are available here.

 

Perspectives on Current U.S. - Taiwan Relations

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM Luncheon
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Discussion
Lindner Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

"US-Taiwan Military Relations since 2008"
Bernard Cole: Professor of International History, National War College

"Achievable Goals for Bilateral Relations in 2011"
Rupert Hammond-Chambers: President, U.S. - Taiwan Business Council

"US-Taiwan Political Relations"
Bonnie Glaser: Senior Fellow, Freeman Chair in China Studies and Senior Associate, Pacific Forum, Center for Strategic International Studies

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

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Eyewitness Account: Two Years Under the Red Flag, 1949-1951

Presented by the Organization for Asian Studies

Monday, December 6, 2010
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 5th Floor

Liliane Willens was born of Russian parentage in the former French
Concession of Shanghai, China where she attended a French lycee.
She and her family - all stateless - experienced World War II under the
Japanese military occupation, later the Chinese civil war between the
Nationalist government and the communists, the arrival of the victorious
People's Liberation army and subsequent establishment of the People's
Republic of China. Because of difficulties to obtain an immigration visa
to the United States under a very restrictive quota system, Liliane lived
two years under the PRC. Liliane immigrated to the U.S. where she
attended Boston University and earned her Ph. D., went on to teach
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and eventually moved to
Washington DC where she worked for U.S. Agency for International
Development and the Peace Corps.

Liliane will describe her first hand account of the demise of the
Kuomintang, the peaceful arrival of the People's Liberation Army, the
societal changes in the new government, the outbreak of the Korean War
and subsequent virulent anti-American propaganda and increasing political
repression.

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Taiwan's Search for International Space: Domestic and Regional Dynamics

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audio iconListen to the afternoon panel.

Monday, November 22, 2010
9:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Lindner Commons and City View Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th and 7th Floor

Conference Program:

9:30 Registration & Continental Breakfast

10:00 Welcome

Shawn McHale, Sigur Center Director

10:15 - Panel I: Taiwan's Soft Power Projection: Culture and Beyond

11:45

Moderator: Shawn McHale, Sigur Center Director

Michael Yahuda, The George Washington University, "An International Perspective on Taiwan's Soft Power"

Wei Chin Lee, Department of Political Science, Wake Forest University, "It is Hard to be Soft: Considering Taiwan's Soft Power"

Yeh-Chung Lu, National Chengchi University (Taiwan), "Branding Taiwan: Domestic Sources of its Soft Power"

12:00 - Luncheon Keynote Address (City View Room)

1:30

Thomas Gold, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, Executive Director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies

"Taiwan's Representation of Self in International Life"

1:30 - Panel II: Taiwan's Regional Ties: Expanding Networks?

3:00

Moderator: Ed McCord, The George Washington University

Thomas Bellows, University of Texas, San Antonio, "Taiwan's Relations with Southeast Asia"

Chyungly Lee, Associate Research Fellow, National Chengchi University "Taiwan's Role in Multilateral Regional Organizations"

Vincent Wei-cheng Wang, Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Richmond "Taiwan's post ECFA regional diplomacy"

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Obama's Asian Journey: Prospects for U.S. Policy

Co-sponsored by Asia Society

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010
12:30 - 2:00 PM
Lindner Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

President Barack Obama's 10-day trip to India, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan encompasses a G-20 summit, an Asian-Pacific Economic Council summit, major holidays in India and Indonesia, as well as four presidential news conferences. A panel of George Washington University experts will provide commentary on the significance of Obama's visit to Asia and prospects for U.S. policy in the region.

Deepa Ollapally (India): Associate Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Alasdair Bowie (Indonesia): Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Gregg A. Brazinsky (Korea): Associate Professor of History and International Affairs

Mike Mochizuki (Japan): Associate Dean for Academic Programs; Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

Moderated by Jack Garrity: Asia Society

 

OAS Film Series presents: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Presented by the Organization for Asian Studies as part of their weekly Fall Asian Film Series

Tuesday, November 16, 2010
6:30 PM
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

10 mini-documentaries (five minutes each) on Khmer Rouge history and reconciliation. These documentaries were produced by students of the Department of Media and Communication of the Royal University of Phnom Penh as part of their broadcast journalism training.

Krang Tachan Memorial Site
Villagers from Krang Tachan describe their feelings about the nearby genocide memorial site.

My Grandmother's Story
For the first time, the filmmaker's grandmother tells her granddaughter about the sufferings during the Khmer Rouge time.

Life of an Orphan after the Khmer Rouge
Sothea Arun lost his parents in the Pol Pot time. Now he runs an orphanage near Phnom Penh. His aim: to give children a protected home that he never had himself.

Two War Generations
A mother and daughter recall their experiences during the Khmer Rouge time. The daughter lost a leg in a landmine explosion.

Rabbit Dung Medicine
What is "rabbit dung medicine?" A traditional medicine maker describes health care under the Khmer Rouge.

Daughter of the Killing Fields
A profile of the well-known Cambodian author and NGO activist Seng Theary.

Sou Touch's Life
Sou Touch remembers her sufferings as a detainee in one of the Khmer Rouge's prisons.

A Visit to Tuol Sleng
Villagers from different provinces visit the Tuol Sleng genocide museum for the first time. What do they think about the upcoming Khmer Rouge tribunal?

Recalling Khmer Rouge History
A profile of the former head of a Khmer Rouge Mobile Children's Unit.

Chapei Saved My Life
Famous chapei player Prach Chourn describes how he survived the Pol Pot regime.

Presented by Matt Grieger.

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The Legacy of World War II on Philippine - Japan Relations

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Monday, November 15, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 505

"Impact of the Japanese Occupation on Philippine-Japan Relations"

Lydia Jose: Professor, Anteneo de Manila

Professor Lydia Jose will discuss the reaction of the mass media, politicians, and NGOs to the three major treaties that the Philippines and Japan have signed: Reparations; Amity, Commerce and Navigation; and Economic Partnership Agreement. She will show that, even after more than 60 years in the case of the Economic Partnership Agreement, the memory of WWII and the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines was present in the reactions.

"Visual Propaganda in the Philippines during the Second World War and Japanese Occupation, 1941-1945"

Ricardo Jose: Professor, University of the Philippines

Professor Ricardo Jose will give a visual presentation displaying posters and leaflets issued by the Japanese, the Philippine government under the Japanese, the guerrillas, the US forces, and also the Commonwealth government in exile, highlighting the messages and idioms appropriated.

Moderated by Mike Mochizuki: Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs

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Political Representation and the Maoist Insurgency in India

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Co-sponsored by Asia Society

Thursday, November 11, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Emmanuel Tietelbaum: Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

Emmanuel Teitelbaum´s research examines the political roots of class conflict and the foundations of class compromise. His articles have appeared in leading journals, including World Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Political Research Quarterly, PS: Political Science & Politics, the Journal of Development Studies and Critical Asian Studies. His forthcoming book, Managing Dissent: Government Responses to Industrial Conflict in Post-Reform South Asia, explores the dynamics of state-labor relations and industrial conflict following the implementation of neoliberal economic reforms. Professor Teitelbaum's research has received support from the United States Institute of Peace, the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. He was the recipient of the 2007 Gabriel Almond Award for Best Dissertation in Comparative Politics. He holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University and a B.A. from John Carroll University.

With comments from:
Jennifer L. Oetken: Deputy Director and Associate, South Asia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

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2nd Annual Human Trafficking Symposium: Modern-Day Slavery in South Asia

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

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Wednesday, November 10, 2010
10:00 - 12:00 PM
Lindner Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Shivanna Puttaiah: Survivor of Bonded Labor Slavery, Activist and Community Organizer, JEEVIKA, 2010 Free the Slaves Freedom Awards recipient (India)

The farm fields of India are one of the world's worst spots for slavery. Trapped by phony debts, entire families have been enslaved for generations. JEEVIKA is a group that helps slaves understand their rights and free themselves from bondage. By standing together against powerful land owners and complacent public of officials, slaves discover that freedom is possible.

Roger Plant: Consultant to the Asian Development Bank and former head of the ILO Special action program to combat forced labor, 2010 Free the Slaves Freedom Awards recipient (UK)

You can think of Roger Plant as history's most unusual census taker. As head of a UN agency task force, he set out to count the number of slaves in the world today. The premise: you can't cure it if you can't count it. His global estimates of slavery -- and of the profits made by slaveholders -- have helped forge a worldwide governmental response. "There's a tremendous amount of good will around in the world," Roger says. "Our job is to mobilize the good will against the bad."

Ginny Baumann: Free the Slaves Partnerships Director

Since 2002, Ginny has worked with Free the Slaves' local NGO partners to help them dismantle systems of slavery and strengthen community-based resistance. Free the Slaves collaborates with locally-led initiatives against slavery in India, Nepal, DRC, Uganda, Brazil, Ghana, and Haiti.

Moderated by Shawn McHale: Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

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OAS Film Series presents: Formosa Betrayed (Taiwan)

Presented by the Organization for Asian Studies as part of their weekly Fall Asian Film Series

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
6:30 PM
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

In the early 1980s, an FBI Agent is assigned to investigate the murder of a respected professor. Through his investigation, he unearths a spider web of international secrets that has been thriving within college campuses across America for decades. His investigation takes him across the Pacific to the island nation of Taiwan, where with the help of the outspoken widow and an unlikely spy, he learns that the Professor's killing was not a random act, but a desperate move by scandalous government intent on keeping its nefarious activities under wraps. Our detective soon finds himself on a collision course against the U.S. State Department, the Chinese Mafia, and the Nationalist Chinese Government - in a land where the truth is not what it seems and the only people he can trust cannot be trusted at all. Inspired by actual events. Formosa Betrayed will be

Presented by Chou Yu-Chieh.

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The 18th Hahn Moo-Sook Colloquium in the Korean Humanities: Medicine, Mental Health and Childhood in Korea, Past & Present

Presented by the Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

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Saturday, November 6, 2010
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW

In this colloquium, top scholars in Korean studies will focus on the history of medicine and mental health in Korea, especially in relation to reproduction and childhood. Speakers will discuss how, in the Japanese colonial period, biomedical research in Korea on reproduction and women's health was conducted as a political tool for the empire; the role of the media in the 20th and early 21st century in decreasing the stigma of mental illness; and the growth of psychiatry, psychology, counseling, and cutting edge research on human behavior.

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OAS Film Series presents Ghajini (India)

Presented by the Organization for Asian Studies as part of their weekly Fall Asian Film Series

Tuesday, November 2, 2010
6:30 PM
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

This week's film presented by Ganesan Annamalai, Junior, International Affairs

Medical student, Sunita, is driven by curiosity to study the case of Sanjay Singhania, who is afflicted with short-term memory loss. She runs into him, befriends him, and finds out that he is out to kill a seemingly benevolent citizen, Ghajini Dharmatma. After warning the latter of the impending danger, she subsequently comes across a number of diaries written by Sanjay and attempts to put together a jigsaw puzzle as to how a successful and wealthy businessman became a crazed recluse, who re-lives his past through tattoos on his body, notes and Polaroid photographs on the wall of his Hiranandani Complex flat, and his sole obsession of carrying out his deadly mission - little knowing that Ghajini and his goons are out to erase every bit of evidence he has gathered and thus ensure that he ends up remembering nothing.

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OAS Film Series presents Mother (South Korea)

Presented by the Organization for Asian Studies as part of their weekly Fall Asian Film Series

Thursday, October 28, 2010
6:30 PM
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

This week's film presented by Heo Na Sil, MA Asian Studies candidate.

A mother lives quietly with her twenty-eight-year-old son, Do-joon, providing herbs and acupuncture to neighbors. One day, a girl is brutally murdered, and Do-joon is charged with the killing. Now, it's his mother's call whether to prove him innocent or to leave him imprisoned. She will stop at nothing.

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China Lite? How the West Supports One Party Rule in Vietnam

Co-sponsored by Asia Society
In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Tuesday, October 26, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

There's a prevailing assumption that economic liberalisation inevitably ushers in political liberalisation. How true is this in Vietnam? Bill Hayton will argue that the country's ruling Communist Party has successfully 'tamed' international efforts towards good governance and is managing civil society in ways which reinforce rather than undermine one-party rule.

Bill Hayton: Senior Broadcast Journalist, BBC News

Bill Hayton is the author of Vietnam: Rising Dragon, published this year by Yale University Press. He was the BBC's Vietnam Reporter 2006-7 and now works for BBC World News TV in London. He has been a journalist since 1995 - working for Dow Jones, Associated Press TV and al Jazeera, among other broadcasters, and has reported from Iran, Yemen, Israel and the Balkans as well as Southeast Asia.

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Repression and Toleration of Dissent in Contemporary Vietnam

In The Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Thursday, October 21, 2010
4:00-5:15 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 505

Public criticism of state officials and policies has grown considerably in Vietnam during the last dozen years, ranges over many issues, and emanates from several sectors of society. This talk will focus on several dozen regime dissidents. After synthesizing the dissidents' main criticisms and objectives, the presentation will analyze state authorities' actions towards them. That analysis reveals a lack of uniformity in the repression and a surprising degree of toleration.

Ben Kerkvliet: Professor Emeritus and former Head of the Department of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University

Ben Kerkvliet (PhD, Wisconsin) has been a path-breaking scholar on a wide range of topics in the study of Southeast Asia, including agrarian politics and state-society relations. His work includes a classic book on agrarian contestation, The Huk Rebellion: A Study of Peasant Revolt in the Philippines (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977 [reprint 2002] ; Everyday Forms of Resistance in Southeast Asia, co-edited with James C. Scott, (London: Frank Cass, 1986);  Everyday Politics in the Philippines: Class and Status Relations in a Central Luzon Village (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990); Transforming Asian Socialism: China and Vietnam Compared, co-edited with Anita Chan and Jonathan Unger (1999); The Power of Everyday Politics: How Vietnamese Peasants Transformed National Policy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005).

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State Capitalism and Foreign Direct Investment: Are China and India Buying Up the World's Oil?

Presented by the Department of International Business, Department of Finance, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, and Asia Society.

Friday, October 22, 2010
12:00 - 1:30 PM
Duques Hall, 453
2201 G Street, NW

Robert Weiner: Professor of International Business & International Affairs,
The George Washington University

Dr. Robert J. Weiner teaches international finance, economics, and strategy. He is concurrently Associate Director of GEFRI (Global and Entrepreneurial Finance Research Institute), a GW chartered research center, and Membre Associe, GREEN (Groupe de Recherche en Economie de l'Energie et des Ressources Naturelles), Departement d'economique, Universite Laval, Quebec. He received his PhD in 1986, and has been at GW since 1994, serving as Chairman of the International Business Department from 2001-2005.

Professor Weiner has been Research Fellow in the International Energy Program, Center for Business and Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and consultant to the International Petroleum Exchange; the New York Mercantile Exchange; the U.S. Department of Energy; the U.S. International Trade Commission; the Harvard Institute for International Development; the World Bank; and private clients. He has won research awards from the Ministere des Affaires Internationales, Quebec; Resources for the Future; the Columbia Center for the Study of Futures Markets; and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Professor Weiner has authored or coauthored four books (Energy and Environment; Oil Shock; Oil and Money; and Oil Markets in a Turbulent Era), and more than fifty articles on environmental and natural resource economics, focusing on energy security, risk management, and oil and gas markets and companies. His articles have appeared in scholarly business and economics journals such as the Journal of Business, Journal of International Business Studies, and Economic Journal.

This research seminar is part of the Sigur Center's Rising Power's Initiative, which is sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation and MacArthur Foundation.

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North of the 38th Parallel: GW Student Experiences in N. Korea

INTERNAL EVENT: GW affiliates only

Tuesday, October 19, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 505

A unique opportunity to hear about life inside North Korea from two GW students who traveled there this summer with the P'yongyang Project

Debbie Kye
BA Candidate, Asian Studies & International Affairs

James Tetlow
MA Candidate, Asian Studies

Moderated by Professor James Person
PhD Candidate, History
Wilson Center Program Associate, North Korea International Documentation Project

The P'yongyang Project was founded in 2009 initially as a not-for-profit academic project run by Access | Exchange, an organization that creates independent educational and exchange programs that bridge East Asia and North America. The P'yongyang Project's early goals were (and still are) simple: to increase understanding of North Korea through hands on-experience and interaction. The P'yongyang Project firmly believes that engagement, dialogue and cooperation between Americans and North Koreans is the most direct way to build relationships, promote understanding and lay the foundation for peace and prosperity between North Korea and the global community.

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Views from the Field: Student Research in Asia

Monday, October 18, 2010
4:00 - 5:15 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 505

5 GW students report on their summer 2010 Asia Field Research Grant discoveries.

Since 2004 the Sigur Center has provided $96,961 in summer field research grants in Asia for 23 George Washington University graduate students (M.A. or Ph.D.) interested in Asian affairs. These awards provide funding for travel, living, and research expenses while doing fieldwork in an Asian country.

Chang Ming Che (Peter)
Taiwan
"Mainland Chinese Tourists and the Baodao"

Justin Collier
South Korea
"Asian Regional Identity: A Korean Perspective"

Caleb Dependahl
China
"Associated Colleges of China Summer Field Studies: Topics on China&s Education System"

Wang Yaqiu
China
"NGOs, Legal Aid NGOs, and Political Reform"

Zhu Xiaoyu
China
"The role of Chinese Navy in Sino-Japanese Relations"

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OAS Film Series presents The Warlords (China)

Presented by the Organization for Asian Studies as part of their weekly Fall Asian Film Series

Thursday, October 14, 2010
6:30 PM
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

This week's film presented by Devin Foil, Senior, Asian Studies.

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Indo-U.S. Relations: An Evolving Partnership

Featuring Ambassador Meera Shankar, India's Ambassador to the United States

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative, the Elliott School for International Affairs' Ambassadors Forum and the Distinguished Women in International Affairs Series

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010
6:00 - 6:30 PM: Reception
6:30-7:30 PM: Program
City View Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

The Distinguished Women in International Affairs series is presented with the generous support of Jack and Pam Cumming.

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Fall Welcome Reception

Friday, October 8, 2010
4:00- 6:00 PM
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

A social event for the GWU Asian Studies community. Food and drinks will be provided.

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G2 at GW

Hosted by the Institute for International Economic Policy at the Elliott School of International Affairs

Cosponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Friday, October 8, 2010
8:00AM - 4:15 PM
Lindner Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 602

The 3rd Annual Conference on China's Economic Development and U.S.-China Economic Relations

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To Uphold the World: A Call for a New Global Ethic from Ancient India

Presented by the Sigur Center's India Initiative & Transnational Asia Lecture SeriesCosponsored by the Institute for International Economic Policy

Wednesday, October 6, 2010
12:30-1:45 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 5th Floor

Bruce Rich, Author and International Environmental Attorney

Bruce Rich has published extensively on the environment in developing countries and development in general. He is the author of a major critique and history of the World Bank, Mortgaging the Earth: The World Bank, Environmental Impoverishment, and the Crisis of Development, (Beacon Press) and was awarded the United Nations Global 500 Award. He has written numerous articles and op-eds in publications such as The Nation, The Financial Times, The Ecologist, and Environmental Forum, the policy journal of the Environmental Law Institute in Washington. His most recent book is To Uphold the World: A Call for a New Global Ethic from Ancient India (Beacon Press, April 2010), with a forward by Amartya Sen and an afterword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His professional focus on finance and ethics, as well as numerous visits to South Asia, helped inspire the writing of To Uphold the World. He is currently researching and writing a new book on the World Bank, to be published by Beacon Press in 2012.

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Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe

In the Sigur Center's Subnational Asia Lecture Series

Wednesday, September 29, 2010
12:30-1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Frank Dikotter, Chair Professor of Humanities, University of Hong Kong and Professor of Modern History of China, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Frank Dikotter is Chair Professor of Humanities at the University of Hong Kong and Professor of the Modern History of China on leave from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Born in the Netherlands in 1961, he was educated in Switzerland and graduated from the University of Geneva with a double major in History and Russian. After two years in the People's Republic of China, he moved to London where he obtained his PhD in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 1990. He stayed at SOAS as British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow and as a Wellcome Research Fellow before being promoted to a personal chair as Professor of the Modern History of China in 2002. His research and writing has been funded by over US$ 1.5 million in grants from various foundations, including, in Britain, the Wellcome Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Economic and Social Research Council and, in Hong Kong, the Research Grants Council and the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation.  He has published nine books that have changed the ways historians view modern China, from the classic The Discourse of Race in Modern China (1992) to China before Mao: The Age of Openness (2007). His most recent book is Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe published by Bloomsbury and Walker Books.

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Worldviews of China, India and Russia: Power Shifts and Domestic Debates

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' Rising Powers Initiative

Watch the video of the event.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010
12:00 - 12:30 PM: Buffet Luncheon
12:30-2:00 PM: Briefing
City View Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

Andrew Kuchins, Director and Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Russia

Deepa Ollapally, Associate Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies
India

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

Moderator: Henry R. Nau, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs

The Sigur Center gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation for this Policy Briefing.

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China's Soft Power: Fact or Fiction?

Presented by the Rising Powers Initiative's Worldviews of Aspiring Powers Project

Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Reception: 5:00-5:30 PM
Lecture: 5:30-6:30 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs; Director, China Policy Program, the George Washington University

David Shambaugh has been Professor of Political Science & International Affairs in the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University since 1996. He recently returned from a year in China on a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship at the China Academy of Social Sciences. He directed the Sigur Center for Asian Studies from 1996 to 1998, and since that time has directed the China Policy Program at the Elliott School. He has also been a nonresident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at The Brookings Institution since 1998. Previously, Dr. Shambaugh taught at the University of London's School of Oriental & African Studies; served as Editor of The China Quarterly (1991-95); and directed the Asia Program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1986-87). His newest books are China's Communist Party: Atrophy & Adaptation; American and European Relations with China; and The International Relations of Asia (all published in 2008). Professor Shambaugh is a frequent commentator in international media, and has contributed to leading scholarly journals such as International Security, Foreign Affairs, The China Quarterly, and The China Journal. He is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies, World Economic Forum, Pacific Council on International Policy, Council on Foreign Relations, Asia Society, and other public policy and scholarly organizations. He received his BA in East Asian Studies from the Elliott School, an MA in International Affairs from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York for the Worldviews of Aspiring Powers Project.

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Japan's Corporate Responsibilities for Wartime Forced Labor: Research and Response

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Asia Policy Point

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
3:30-5:00 PM
The Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Sigur Center for Asian Studies
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

William Underwood, Independent Scholar

Dr. William Underwood's doctoral research analyzed the origins and development of the reparations movement for Chinese forced labor in Japan during World War Two, while locating ongoing redress efforts within the emerging global trend toward repairing historical injustices. He directly observed forced labor reparations work involving Chinese, Korean and Allied POW victims at the grassroots level in Fukuoka from 2002 until 2008, when he returned to California. Since 2005 Mr. Underwood has served as a coordinator for The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, a peer-reviewed open source journal available at www.japanfocus.org. Dr. Underwood received his Ph.D. in political science from Kyushu University while teaching at Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University and Kurume Institute of Technology as well as two years in Aomori for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. He received an M.A. in Government from California State University, Sacramento, where his thesis examined the Japanese American redress movement. He also has a B.A. in Government-Journalism from CSUS. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and freelance writer, and as a Japanese-English technical translator in the semiconductor industry.

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Taiwan-China Economic Relations: ECFA & Beyond

Tuesday, July 27, 2010
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:

Eric S.H. Chiang, Director, Economic Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office

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

Charles Freeman, Freeman Chairholder in China Studies, Center for Strategic & International Studies

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, President, U.S.-Taiwan Business Council

Moderated by:

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

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Sigur Center Graduation Reception 2010

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

Please join us in celebrating the Class of 2010 with a reception following the ESIA Graduation Ceremony.

Friday, May 14, 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 East Asian Order: Continuity and Change

In the Sigur Center's Transnational Asia Lecture Series

Wednesday, April 28, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Michael Yahuda, Visiting Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Michael Yahuda is a Professor Emeritus of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, where he served from 1973 to 2003. Since then he has been a visiting scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, the Elliott School, George Washington University, except for 2005-2006 when he was a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the Australian National University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Adelaide (South Australia) and the University of Michigan. He has also been a guest scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC and the Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies, Harvard. More recently he was a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Singaporean Institute for South East Asian Studies. He has acted as an adviser to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as a consultant to organizations in London and Singapore. His main fields of interest are China's politics, foreign policy and the international relations of the Asia Pacific. He has published six books and more than 200 articles and chapters in books. He is joint editor of International Relations of Asia (2008) and is currently preparing a revision of his single authored The International Politics of the Asia-Pacific.

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The Social Costs of China's Modernization: Implications for Chinese Politics and U.S.-China Relations

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

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
6:30 - 8:30 PM
Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 213

Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Professor of History, University of California at Irvine

Commentary from:

Warren Cohen, Distinguished University Professor of History and Presidential Research Professor, University of Maryland

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

Carla Freeman, Associate Director, China Studies Program, the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, the Johns Hopkins University

Jeffrey Wasserstrom is Professor of History at University of California Irvine and the Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies. He is the author of four books: Student Protests in Twentieth-Century China (Stanford, 1991), China's Brave New World (Indiana, 2007), Global Shanghai, 1850-2010 (Routledge, 2009), and China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford, 2010). He has also edited or co-edited five other books. His essays have appeared in many academic journals, as well as in newspapers, such as the International Herald Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, and magazines such as Foreign Policy, the Nation, Outlook India, and Time and Newsweek. He blogs regularly for the Huffington Post, is a co-founder of the "China Beat" blog/electronic magazine, and has been a guest on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered." He has lectured on four continents, been a consultant for two prize-winning documentaries on Chinese history, and been interviewed about U.S.-China relations by the BBC and CNN. He earned his Master's degree in East Asian Studies in 1984 from Harvard and received his doctorate in History in 1989 from Berkeley.

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Identity Shifts in Asia: Implications for Regional Cooperation

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' Rising Powers Initiative

audio icon Listen to the lecture.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
12:00 - 12:30 PM: Buffet Luncheon
12:30-2:00 PM: Briefing
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

"Korea: National Identity, State Identity and Security"

Gregg Brazinsky, Associate Professor of History & International Affairs, The George Washington University

"China: National Identity in Flux?"

Allen Carlson, Associate Professor of Government, Cornell University

"Japan: Balancing Between the United States and Asia"

Mike Mochizuki, Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Associate Professor of Political Science & International Affairs, The George Washington University

"India: The Ambiguous Rising Power"

Deepa Ollapally, Associate Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Moderator: Henry R. Nau, Professor of Political Science & International Affairs

The Sigur Center gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation for this Policy Briefing.

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Little Men Between Big Empires: Muslim Transnationalism in the 19th Century

In the Sigur Center's Transnational Asia Lecture Series

Thursday, April 22, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Seema Alavi, William Bentinck-Smith Fellow, Radcliffe Institution for Advanced Studies, Harvard University

Seema Alavi is a Professor of South Asian History at Delhi University, New Delhi, India. She is presently at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard as the William Bentinck-Smith Fellow. She specializes in early modern and modern South Asia, with an interest in the transformation of the region's legacy from Indo-Persian to one heavily affected by British colonial rule. She has written books on the military and medical cultures of the region from the early modern to modern times. Her most recent book is Islam and Healing: Loss and Recovery of an Indo-Muslim Medical Tradition, 1600-1900 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). Her other books include Sepoys and the Company: Tradition and Transition in Northern India, 1770-1830 (Oxford University Press, 1995) and A European Experience of the Mughal Orient (Oxford University Press, 2001) co-authored with Muzzafar Alam. She edited The Eighteenth Century in India (Oxford University Press, 2002) and serves on the editorial board of several journals, including Modern Asian Studies, and Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Alavi earned her PhD from the University of Cambridge in England.

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Navigating Cross-Strait Relations: Taiwan's Domestic and International Imperatives

Transcripts of this event are available here: Opening and Panel 1, Keynote, Panel 2.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
10:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

10:00-10:30 am - Welcome and Opening Remarks
Welcome: Shawn McHale, Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies
Opening Remarks: Jason Yuan, Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office

10:30 am - 12:00 pm - Panel I: Taiwan's External Environment: Implications for Cross-Strait Ties
Shirley Kan, Specialist, Congressional Research Service
Phillip Saunders, Acting Research Director and Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University
Teng Chung-Chian, Professor and Dean, College of International Affairs, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Moderator: Bruce Dickson, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, The George Washington University

12:15 - 2:00 pm - Luncheon and Keynote Lecture
Douglas Paal, Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
City View Room, 7th Floor

2:00 - 3:30 pm - Panel II: Domestic Sources of Taiwan's Cross-Strait Policies
Sara Friedman, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies, Indiana University
Megan Greene, Associate Professor of History, University of Kansas
Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor of East Asian Politics, Davidson College
Moderator: Edward McCord, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, The George Washington University

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Enlightened Citizen, Righteous Citizen: A Forum with Former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Presented by the South Asian Society, The Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiative, the George Washington University Students Association and the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin

Sunday, April 18, 2010
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Room 113
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Ground Floor

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam served as President of India from 2002 to 2007, during which time he was known for his vision advocating the development of India and its scientific and technological capabilities. He consequently became known as the "People's President." He began his career as an Aeronautical Engineer, and was one of the principal scientists and engineers involved in India's satellite and missile development programs. Dr. Kalam continues to emphasize his vision for India's future, which he discusses in his recently published book, India 2020.

To see a flyer for this event, please click here.

If you have questions, please contact the South Asian Society at saso@gwu.edu.

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Reflections on Identity, Security and the U.S. Role in Asia

The Public Launch of the Sigur Center's New Rising Powers Initiative

Featuring

Peter Katzenstein, Walter S. Carpenter Jr. Professor of International Studies, Cornell University

Watch the video of the conference.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010
5:30 - 7:00 PM
City View Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, N.W., 7th Floor

Peter Katzenstein is the Walter S. Carpenter Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. His research and teaching lie at the intersection of the fields of international relations and comparative politics. Katzenstein's work addresses issues of political economy, security and culture in world politics. His current research interests focus on the politics of civilizational states on questions of public diplomacy, law, religion, and popular culture; the role of anti-imperial sentiments, including anti-Americanism; regionalism in world politics; and German politics. Recent and forthcoming books include: Analytical Eclecticism (2010), with Rudra Sil; Civilizations in World Politics: Plural and Pluralist Perspectives (Routledge, 2009); Rethinking Japanese Security (Routledge, 2008); and Beyond Japan: East Asian Regionalism (Cornell University Press, 2006), co-edited with Takashi Shiraishi. He is the author, co-author, editor and co-editor of more than 30 books or monographs and over 100 articles or book chapters.

Katzenstein was President of the American Political Science Association from 2008-09. He was the recipient of the 1974 Helen Dwight Reid Award of the American Political Science Association for the best dissertation in international relations; of the American Political Science Association's 1986 Woodrow Wilson prize for the best book published in the United States on international affairs; and, together with Nobuo Okawara, of the 1993 Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. One of his edited volumes, The Culture of National Security, was selected by Choice magazine as one of the top ten books in international relations in 1997. Katzenstein joined the Cornell Government Department in 1973. He received Cornell's College of Arts and Science Stephen and Margery Russell Distinguished Teaching Award in 1993, and, in recognition of sustained and distinguished undergraduate teaching, was made one of Cornell University's Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellows in 2004.

For more information about the Rising Powers Initiative, please go to the Initiative's website here: http://www.gwu.edu/~power/.

The Sigur Center gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Carnegie Corporation and the MacArthur Foundation for this Initiative.

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Japanese Love Statues and Chinese Prisons: Early Cold War Sino-Japanese Relations and WWII War Crimes

In the Sigur Center's Transnational Asia Lecture Series

Thursday, April 8, 2010
4:00 - 5:15 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 5th Floor

Barak Kushner, Lecturer, Modern Japanese History, University of Cambridge

Barak Kushner teaches modern Japanese history in the Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (formerly the Faculty of Oriental Studies) at the University of Cambridge. In the summer of 2008 he was a visiting scholar at Nanjing University (China) and during 2009 he was a visiting scholar at Waseda University (Japan). He was a 2008 Abe Fellow and conducted research concerning "Cold War Propaganda in East Asia and Historical Memory." The Thought War, Kushner's first book, delves into the history of wartime Japanese propaganda. His second book (almost finished), entitled Slurp!: A social history of ramen, the Japanese noodle soup, focuses on food and history. He is also working on a third book that analyzes the postwar adjudication of Japanese war crimes in China, tentatively titled, "Men to Devils and Devils to Men": Japanese War Crimes and Cold War Sino-Japan Relations. Kushner's academic articles have appeared in Diplomatic History, The International History Review, Japanese Studies, Journal of Popular Culture, and the Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. He also has three book chapters in press: one concerns a postwar media history of Godzilla. The two other chapters deal with Kamishibai and children's wartime propaganda in Japan, and the Chinese influence on Taisho notions of modern cuisine in Japan. A chapter on Japan's 1940 Olympic plans is also forthcoming in an edited volume. Dr. Kushner earned his PhD in History from Princeton University.

 

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The U.S.-ROK Alliance: Issues and Challenges

In the Sigur Center's Visiting Scholar Roundtable Series

Wednesday, April 7, 2010
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

Young Bum Choi, Visiting Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Young Bum Choi is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies. He is also a Brigadier General in the Republic of Korea Army. He has served in a variety of posts in the Korean Army, including in Africa and Iraq.

 

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Love on the Great Wall: America and China in the Affair of the Century

Presented by the Lionel Gelber Foundation, the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto, Foreign Policy, and the Elliott School of International Affairs

Thursday, April 1, 2010
6:00 - 7:15 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Jay Taylor, Research Associate, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University; Winner of the 2010 Lionel Gelber Prize for The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China

Moisés Naím, Editor-in-Chief, Foreign Policy magazine

Now in its 20th year, the Lionel Gelber Prize has sought to further public debate on significant global issues by recognizing the year's best book on international affairs. This year's winner is Jay Taylor for his book, The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China.

This event will feature a conversation with 2010 Gelber Prize winner, Jay Taylor, and Foreign Policy Editor-in-Chief, Moisés Naím. Guests will be invited to ask questions during the discussion.

A reception will follow this event. Copies of The Generalissimo will be available for purchase during the reception.

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Never a Tiger: Thailand's Late-Colonial Economy and its Consequences

Co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for International Economic Policy

In the Sigur Center's Subnational Asia Lecture Series

Monday, March 29, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 5th Floor

Michael J. Montesano, Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies

 Thailand's post-1945 economy demonstrated strong and generally overlooked continuities with the pattern of its economic growth during the hey-day of Western colonial penetration of Southeast Asia between 1860 and 1940. Close consideration of migration, the evolution of the Thai state, and the role of ethnic Chinese in Thailand's economic life during the colonial and early post-war periods is indispensable to an understanding of Thailand's long and continuing deviation for the path of Asia's "tiger" economies. In addition to examining that deviation in Gerschenkronian perspective, this talk considers some of its implications for Thailand current deep political crisis.


Michael Montesano has served as a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore since 2008.  He is completing a book manuscript tentatively entitled, "Business in a Late Colonial Economy: Banking and State-Sponsored Enterprise in Provincial Thailand, 1940s-1970s".  With Patrick Jory, he is co-editor of "Thai South and Malay North: Ethnic Interactions on a Plural Peninsula" (2008), which will soon appear in Thai.  Montesano's writings on contemporary Southeast Asian developments have appeared in Orbis, Foreign Policy, Asian Survey, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Southeast Asian Affairs, and The Far Eastern Economic Review. From 1999 to 2008, Montesano taught in the Southeast Asian Studies Programme of the National University of Singapore.  He has served as a visiting researcher at Thammasat, Chulalongkorn, and Walailak Universities in Thailand.

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Taiwan to the World: Super Pigs and Spirit Talk

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Asia Society

Thursday, March 25, 2010
6:45 - 8:45 PM (Registration begins at 6:30)
Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 213

Super Pigs, directed by Charlene Shih

They are cute, smart, have sharp memories and a keen sense of smell. Some might add that they have incredible figures and wear high heels all the time. Not only are they destined for the dinner table, but in Taiwan, they also contribute much to mankind, simply by glowing red and green! These are no alien mutants, they are today's Super Pigs...with powers to advance science and keep us looking beautiful and young. From glow pig to stud pig, this is the story about them, the fascinating world of today's super pig and the science behind them.

Spirit Talk, directed by Charlene Shih

Death is a subject that has produced fear and obsession in every human being throughout history, transcending all cultural and social boundaries. Director Charlene Shih's best friend, Georgia, lost her 30-year-old husband a year ago from a brain aneurism. Left alone with her 10-month-old baby, she is determined to find a way to communicate with her husband Jerry one last time. Charlene documents this extraordinary search on film and meets Paul, a terminally-ill cancer patient who is facing his own death. Join Director Shih in a search for what lies beyond life and discover if spirit talk is truly possible.

This event is sponsored in part by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

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Nuclear Energy Policies of China, India and the U.S.

Presented by Bridging Nations, the Sigur Center for Asian Studies' India Initiatve and the Asia Society

Thursday, March 25, 2010
4:30 - 6:30 PM
B1 Conference Room
CSIS
1800 K Street, NW

A discussion with Professor Bo Kong, Dr. Satish Kulkarni and Paul Genoa on the current state of affairs in the Nuclear Energy Policies of India, China and United States and anticipating the future of these policies.

Professor Bo Kong, Director of the Global Energy and Environment Initiative at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Council of the National Capital Area Chapter of the United States Association for Energy Economics

Dr. Satish Kulkarni, Associate Vice President of Special Initiatives, Partnerships Office of the Senior VP at Georgetown University

Paul Genoa, Director of Policy Development at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

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Taiwan to the World: The Pigeon Game and The Butterfly Code

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Asia Society

Thursday, March 18, 2010
6:45 - 8:45 PM (Registration begins at 6:30)
Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 213

The Pigeon Game, directed by Ko-shang Shen

Professional pigeon racer Tsai Fong Chi has what it takes to make it big in the next pigeon games. He has the right birds and the right skills. His family is depending on him and much is at stake. With little success since his last big winning streak, his cash reserves have dwindled and he needs to win and win big. Taiwanese pigeon breeders believe that a bird's wings, tail, and eyes provide clues to its future performance. For Tsai, pigeon #13 is his number one pick this season. The descendent of a prized former champion bird, #13 shows promise with the right eyes and body shape. Can Tsai's favorite pigeon make it to the final races and bring home the grand prize?

The Butterfly Code, directed by Deng Wen-bing

The Parantica sita, or chestnut tiger, is a milkweed butterfly that flourishes in East Asia. From an egg to a caterpillar and finally emerging as an adult butterfly, it's genetically wired for one last mission - to reproduce and ensure another generation of its kind before it dies. The clock is ticking. It has only a few weeks to mate and lay eggs. One such creature may have carried its mission to the extreme, traveling nearly 1200km from the island of Taiwan to Japan, and sending shockwaves throughout Asia's scientific community.

This film is part of the "Taiwan to the World" mini-series. On March 25th, the remaining 2 films will be shown, "Spirit Talk," and "Super Pigs."

This event is sponsored in part by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

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Taiwan to the World: Kungfu Secrets, A Documentary Film

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Asia Society

Thursday, March 11, 2010
6:45 - 8:45 PM (Registration begins at 6:30)
Harry Harding Auditorium
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 213

The story of kungfu in Taiwan is a fascinating chronicle of a glorious tradition stuggling to survive in a changing world. This film follows three contemporary kungfu masters as they stuggle to adapt their martial arts to modern Taiwan. Tracing the story of kungfu in Taiwan, this film follows Master Wang Jin Fa, head of the last secret chapter of the Hong Men society in Taiwan, as he reveals their heretofore secret kungfu to cameras for the very first time. Also two young women pave the way for future Taiwanese Olympic glory as they travel to China in search of the most difficult gold medal of their careers.

Featuring Commentary from the Directors

Mei-Juin Chen moved to Los Angeles after graduating from National Taiwan University in 1989, where she received an M.A. in Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California. In 1993, she founded Lotus Film Productions and embarked on a career as a documentary filmmaker, pursuing projects in Taiwan, China, and the United States. Her award-winning work has appeared on television in approximately 100 countries and at major international film festivals. In 2000, Ms. Chen received the Most Outstanding Asian Artist Special Award from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs.

Martha Burr received her Ph.D. in American Studies at NYU, where she also studied filmmaking, after attending Harvard as an undergraduate. She has directed music videos for record companies such as Interscope which aired on MTV's various shows, and worked in other film production capacities. From 1997-2003 she was the Executive Editor of Kungfu magazine and traveled extensively in China and Southeast Asia. Ms. Burr was honored by her peers with the Outstanding Contribution award in the Hall of Fame of the USA Wushu Kungfu Federation in 1999. Ms. Burr left publishing in 2003 and work in documentary full time, becoming partners with Mei-Juin in "Shaolin Ulysses: Kungfu Monks in America," which they co-directed and co-produced for PBS.

This film is part of the "Taiwan to the World" mini-series. On March 18th and 25th, the remaining 4 films will be shown, including "The Butterfly Code," "The Pigeon Game," "Spirit Talk," and "Super Pigs."

This event is sponsored in part by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office.

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U.S.-Japan-China Relations and East Asian Regional Security

A Student Forum Featuring:

A student delegation from Kyoto University's "International Relations Seminar Class"

Tuesday, March 9, 2010
12:30 - 2:30 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 5th Floor

This is a course in which a small number of students do intensive research, analysis, presentations and discussion on many hot-button issues taking place in the world.

The students will hold a forum with other students, faculty, scholars, and interested individuals at the George Washington University to discuss U.S.-Japan-China relations and East Asian regional security as the final project for their course. This is an open forum for discussion between the delegation and the audience.

The groups is led by Kyoto University Professor of European and American Economic History, Takeshi Sakade, and includes students Kazushi Minami, Kiyohiko Atsuji, Yuka Nishiwaki, and He Xuanye.

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The 14th Annual Gaston Sigur Memorial Lecture: Revisiting Japan's Asia Policy

Featuring

Takashi Shiraishi, President, Institute of Developing Economics, Japan External Trade Organization

Thursday, March 4, 2010
5:30 - 6:00: Reception
6:00 - 7:00: Lecture
The State Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 7th Floor

Takashi Shiraishi is President, Institute of Developing Economies-Japan External Trade Organization (since 2007) and Executive Member, Council for Science and Technology Policy, Cabinet Office (since 2009). He has taught at the University of Tokyo (1979-1987), Cornell University (1987-98), Kyoto University (1996-2005) and at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo (2005-2008). He has also served as editor for Indonesia, Cornell Southeast Asia Program (since 1987) and editor-in-chief of Japan Echo (since 2007). In 2007, he was awarded the Japanese Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon. He has published numerous books, including three award-winning works: An Age in Motion (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1990, Ohira Masayoshi Asia Pacific Award), Indonesia: Kokka to Seiji (Government and Politics in Indonesia, Tokyo: Libroport, 1990; Suntory Academic Award), and Umi no Teikoku (Empires of the Seas, Tokyo: Chuokoron, 2000; Yomiuri-Yoshino Sakuzo Award). He was born in 1950 in Japan, majored in international relations at the University of Tokyo and obtained a Ph.D. in History from Cornell University in 1986.

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Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand

Presented by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and Asia Society

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

Tuesday, February 23, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Duncan McCargo, Professor of Southeast Asian Politics, University of Leeds

Duncan McCargo is professor of Southeast Asian politics at the University of Leeds, UK. Born in the North of England, he read English for his BA at Royal Holloway, University of London. After graduating he taught for two years at a Japanese high school, before spending a year studying intensive Thai in Bangkok, living with a host family of car and gun dealers. McCargo then returned to London, completed two graduate degrees at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and taught briefly at the Queen's University of Belfast before moving to Leeds in 1993. At Leeds he has been seconded to the University's International Office, and previously chaired the Politics department. McCargo's specialty is fieldwork-based research on the politics of Thailand. As Time magazine wrote recently: "No armchairs for this author... McCargo is the real McCoy." He has also spent a year as a visiting professor in Kobe; twelve months attached to the Center for Khmer Studies in Cambodia; and a year as a visiting senior fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. He has also written and researched on Indonesia and Vietnam. McCargo has published nine books, six of them on Thailand. No stranger to controversy, he gained some notoriety for his ground-breaking 2005 Pacific Review article on Thailand's "network monarchy". When not travelling, McCargo lives a quiet life near the Leeds campus.

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Lunar New Year's Reception

GW Students, Faculty and Staff!

Please join the Sigur Center, the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, and the Language Center for a Lunar New Year's Reception!

Friday, February 19, 2010
12:30 - 2:00 PM
Rome Hall
Room 470
801 22nd Street, NW

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Democratic Peace and Covert War: The Case of the U.S. Covert War in Chile

In the Sigur Center's Visiting Scholar Roundtable Series

Thursday, February 18, 2010
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503

Jaechun Kim, Visiting Scholar, Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Jaechun Kim is currently a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Sigur Center for Asian Studies. He is also Associate Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Sogang University in Korea. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 2001.

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International Engagement in Afghanistan: Kandahar as a Case Study of Civil-Military Coordination

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Transnational Asia

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Cory Anderson, Executive Director, Hila Organization for Partnerships in Education

Lucas Robinson, Global Program Director, Hila Organization for Partnerships in Education

Cory Anderson has spent the majority of the past three years in Kandahar Province on assignment for the Government of Canada. He recently completed an assignment as Political Director of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar City, and was one of the first Canadian civilians deployed to Kandahar in 2006 as Political Advisor to Task Force Afghanistan at Kandahar Airfield. He is now the Executive Director of Hila Organization for Partnerships in Education, Inc.

Lucas Robinson recently returned from a one-year assignment in Afghanistan, where he was responsible for civilian communications at the Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Kandahar City. He has previous experience throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. He holds an MA from George Washington's School of Media and Public Affairs, and is now the Global Program Director for Hila Organization for Partnerships in Education, Inc.

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"Treason" on Trial: Political Dissidents, the Vietnamese State, and the Blogosphere

In the Sigur Center's Lecture Series on Subnational Asia

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Thursday, January 14, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Room 505
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 5th Floor

Shawn McHale, Associate Professor of History and International Affairs, The George Washington University

This talk will use the trials of five activists in Vietnam to explore the evolving character of politics in Vietnam over the past few years. These activists have all been accused of conspiring to overthrow the Vietnamese state. It will address the extensive use by Vietnamese inside Vietnam of web sites and blogs outside the country to promote an alternative nationalist politics, and the way that the Vietnamese Communist Party is cracking down on this emerging internal political dissent. Particular attention will be paid to the case of the arrested lawyer Le Cong Dinh.


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 Strange Rise of India

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

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

audio icon Listen to the lecture.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010
12:30 - 1:45 PM
Lindner Family Commons
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, 6th Floor

Edward Luce, Washington Bureau Chief, Financial Times

Edward Luce became the Financial Times' Washington Bureau Chief in July 2006, writing on the U.S. economy, politics and foreign affairs and managing a team of eight DC-based reporters. Previously, he was the South Asia bureau chief, based in New Delhi, appointed in 2001. Between 1993 and 1994 he was the Geneva-based correspondent for The Guardian newspaper of the UK. He then moved to Manila to be the Philippines correspondent of the Financial Times from 1995 to 1997. From 1997 to 1999, he was the Financial Times' capital markets editor, based in London. Earlier, Luce was speechwriter to Larry Summers, Treasury Secretary in the Clinton administration. Luce graduated in politics, philosophy and economics from Oxford University in 1990 and completed a post-graduate diploma in newspaper journalism from City University in London in 1993. His highly-acclaimed book on India: In Spite of the Gods, The Strange Rise of Modern India, was released in the U.S. by Doubleday in 2007 and by Little, Brown in the UK in 2006.

 

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