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Chinese Language Tables are open to all KU students who are looking to improve their conversational skills in a relaxed and open atmosphere.
1st year: Tuesdays 3:00-4:00 pm, Milton's cafe (1st floor, Kansas Union)
1st year: Fridays 10:30-11:30 am, Writer's Roost (4th floor, Watson Library)
2nd year: Fridays 2:30-3:30 pm, Writer's Roost (4th floor, Watson Library)
3rd & 4th year: Thursdays 3:00-4:00 pm, Milton's cafe (1st floor, Kansas Union)
Upcoming China Events
Thursday, November 19
Tea & Talk: Judith Major, “A Tour of Suzhou's Classical Gardens.” Major (Professor, School of Architecture, Design, and Planning) will present illustrated observations on several of the finest classical gardens in Suzhou and discuss why she prefers them to the more elaborate imperial parks and gardens of Beijing.
Time: 4 pm
Location: Kansas Room, Kansas Union
Thursday, December 3
CANCELED Tea & Talk: Michael Taylor (Title TBA).
We will reschedule Prof. Taylor's talk during the spring 2010 semester.
Tuesday, December 8
CHINA Town Hall Webcast: Kurt M. Campbell (U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs), “Issues in U.S.-China Relations,” and Bonnie S. Glaser (CSIS Senior Fellow and Freeman Chair in China Studies), “Chinese Foreign Policy: Continuity and Change.” Campbell will speak live via webcast for 15 minutes and then take questions via email. Glaser will follow in person, speaking for 30 minutes and then taking questions from the audience. CHINA Town Hall is a national day of programming on China involving 40 cities throughout the United States. The event is free and open to the public.
Time: 7 pm
Location: Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
Past 2009-2010 Events
Monday, September 14
Chinese Music by Li Fengyun and Wang Jianxin. Li and Wang will perform traditional and ancient songs with instruments such as the qin, xiao, pipa, xun, and di. Free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by the Lawrence Public Library.
Saturday, October 3
Mid-Autumn Festival Moon-Viewing Party. Join us for East Asian music, poetry, and moon cakes as we celebrate traditions surrounding the full moon. Music provided by the popular Kansas City Chinese Music Ensemble.
Thursday, November 5
Tea & Talk: Kapila Silva, “Siheyuan, Tulo, and Dialo: The Architectural Heritage of China beyond the Forbidden City.” Silva (Assistant Professor, Architecture) will discuss vernacular architectural traditions of China and the issues related to the preservation of this architectural heritage.
Thursday, November 12
Lecture: Peter Hessler, “Factory Town: Portraits from a Chinese City.” Over a period of two years, freelance writer and journalist Peter Hessler researched development in Lishui, a city in the Zhejiang province of China that was in the process of establishing a new development zone. Hessler will give lecture on his research in Lishui, as he observed the owners of one factory establish the place, hire workers, and interact with their employees. Hessler, who writes for the Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, lives in Beijing. Co-sponsored by CEAS and the Hall Center for the Humanities.
Past 2008-09 Events
Thursday, August 28
Artists’ Lecture: Gonkar Gyatso
Born in Lhasa in 1961, Gyatso’s artistic career charts the course of contemporary Tibetan history, documenting a creative engagement with what it means to be Tibetan in the 21st century. Sponsored by the Spencer Museum of Art and the KU Center for East Asian Studies.
Time: 7pm
Location: Spencer Museum of Art Auditorium
Friday, August 29
Meet & Greet: Tibetan artist Gunkar Gyatso
Come meet the artist and enjoy refreshments with others interested in contemporary art and Tibetan culture during this informal reception. Open to all KU faculty, students, and members of the community.
Time: 2 pm
Location: Centennial Room, Kansas Union
Monday, September 15
Annual Mid-Autumn Festival Moon-Viewing Party. Join us for East Asian music, poetry chanting, and moon cakes as we raise our (non-alcoholic) glasses to the full moon.
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: East Lawn, Lied Center (KU west campus)
Thursday, September 18
Tea & Talk: Terry Weidner, “"China in 2008: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly"
After noting some of the obvious advances China has made during its impressive reform, the talk will look at a series of problems that reform has either failed to address or actually exacerbated, and note how those problems have complicated U.S.-China relations and may constrain China’s efforts to become a world power. Co-sponsored by the Center for Global and International Studies.
Time: 4pm
Location: Pine Room, Kansas Union
Monday, September 22
Tea & Talk: Patricia Graham, “Chinese and Japanese Arts: Antique or Not, Authentic or Fake?”
The production of copies is part of the tradition of East Asian visual culture. Not all copies are fakes, and many have monetary value, sometimes more than the original. Understanding the different contexts in which copies were produced helps understand how to evaluate them. This presentation introduces the wide variety of Chinese and Japanese arts that are commonly copied, showing how some are copied for legitimate reasons, and others for deception.The issue of forgeries is particularly pertinent and vexing because these have increased substantially and become more difficult to discern in recent years, due to technological advances.
Time: 4 pm
Location: Pine Room, Kansas Union
Thursday, September 25
Panel Discussion: “The Beijing Olympics and the Global Community.”
Modern Olympic games, performed on a global stage from the time of the first successful summer Olympics in 1906, bring into focus not only sports but other kinds of social, political, and technological changes taking place in the world. What do the 2008 Beijing Olympics bring to light? This panel convenes in two back to back sessions to discuss questions such as, What do the Olympics reveal about the evolving nature of world sport? About changes taking place in the (competitive) arenas of national self-representation and global communications? How do the Olympics affect perceptions held of China, and of China’s view of itself? Do the Olympics expose paradigm shifts in public consciousness, and if so, what are those changes and how are they being shaped?
Monday, October 6
Revolution in Film: The Last Emperor (China)
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
The Last Emperor follows the life of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (1906-1967), who was put on the throne of China at the age of two, spent his youth as a virtual prisoner in his own palace, became the puppet emperor of Japanese-controlled Manchuria during WWII, underwent political re-education and lived as a humble gardener under Mao Zedong, and died during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Music by David Byrne and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Part of the Revolution in Film Series, presented by the KU International Area Studies Centers—the Center for East Asian Studies; the Kansas African Studies Center; the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies—as part of a year-long program devoted to "Protest & Revolution." (For a full list of films, see http://www.crees.ku.edu/revolution/)
Time: 7 pm
Location: Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
Thursday, October 9
Tea & Talk: Yong Bai, “Modern Bridges of China”
Several signature bridges built in China in recent time will be introduced along with bridge engineering and construction education programs in Chinese Universities. The construction of these bridges reflects the current boom development in China.
Time: 4 pm
Location: Centennial Room, Kansas Union
Thursday, November 20
Lecture: Hungkar Dorje, “Compassionate Activity: Tibetan Schools in China.”
Hungkar Dorje, a Tibetan spiritual leader and head of a Tibetan charity in China, will describe his operation of three schools in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, one for monks, one for lay yogis (nagkpas), and a new vocational/cultural school for children and teenagers.
Time: 7-9 pm
Location: Hall Center for the Humanities
Friday, January 30
Lunar New Year Party
Celebrate the Year of the Ox with crafts! Performances! And a taste of East Asian food!
Time: 5-7pm
Location: ECM, 1203 Oread Ave.
Thursday, February 4
Chinese Culture Lecture: Chi Ta-wei, “Unoptical Consciousness: The Blind Flaneuse in Contemporary Chinese Visual Culture.”
Time: 4 pm
Location: 4010 Wescoe
Monday, February 9
Lecture: Xiao Hui, “Love Is a Capacity: The Narrative of Gendered Self-development in ‘Chinese Style Divorce.’”
Time: 4:30 pm
Location: 4010 Wescoe
Thursday, February 19
Pre-performance Lecture: Wu Man & Friends.
Zhang Xiaoming and Shelley Wu of the Kansas City Chinese Music Ensemble will demonstrate the pipa and other Chinese plucked instruments prior to the Lied Center Wu Man performance. Wu Man pairs the pipa, a lute-like instrument with a history of more than 2000 years, with other plucked instruments from around the world to find the similarities and differences between styles, traditions, and locations. She explores the dichotomy between the familiar and the foreign with musicians from Uganda and the Applachian region of the United States. The concert is ticketed, but the pre-performance lecture is free and open to the public. (For tickets, contact the Lied Center box office, 785-864-2787, www.lied.ku.edu.)
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Seymour Gallery (2nd floor), Lied Center
Tuesday, March 3
Chinese Maintenance Lecture: Join Spencer Museum of Art curator Kris Ercums and SMA intern Ai-lian Liu for a Chinese language tour of A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-Tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000. Co-sponsored with the Center for East Asian Studies
Time: 3 pm
Location: Kress Gallery, Spencer Museum of Art
Friday, February 27
Roundtable Discussion: “What Does ‘Revolution’ Mean in Our Time? Society, Science, and the Arts.”
The idea of revolution as radical social-political change is no longer dominant. In the arts and literature of the latter half of the 20th century, images of change are often playful, parodying rather than confronting. Although there is no artistic “avant-garde” in the modernist sense of the word, art continues to disturb, ask questions, challenge the status quo, and move audiences to think and, it is hoped, to change. Part of the “Changing the World” series co-sponsored by the KU Center for East Asian Studies, Center for Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Kansas African Students Center.
Time: 3:00-5:30 pm
Location: The Commons, Spooner Hall
Thursday, March 12
Lecture: Chunmiao Zheng (University of Alabama), “Will China Run Out of Water?”
Zheng (2008 Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer of the Geological Society of America and Visiting Professor and Founding Director of the Center for Water Research, Peking University) will examine China’s water scarcity problems amid the country’s unprecedented economic growth. Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, the Kansas Geological Survey, and KU Geology Department.
Time: 7 pm
Location: Jayhawk Room, Kansas Union
Wednesday, April 15
Public Event: The Monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery, “Tibetan Spiritual Music and Dance.” Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity to experience Tibetan culture. The Monks of Drepung Gomang Monastery will perform music and dance, as well as other demonstrations of Tibetan culture, including a brief talk on the Tibetan Buddhist view of the mind. Co-sponsored by the KU Center for East Asian Studies, the Spencer Museum of Art, and the Tibetan Education Project.
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: Spencer Museum of Art auditorium
Thursday, April 16
Lecture: Shuming Bao, “Understanding Demographic and Business Data with GIS.” Dr. Bao is Senior Research Coordinator for China Initiatives, China Data Center, at the University of Michigan. He will give an introduction to some background information of China Census data, including methodologies, definitions, and data coverage. The presentation will demonstrate how the demographic and business data can be integrated with the GIS maps of China at province, prefecture, county, township, and grid levels. Co-sponsored by the KU Dept. of Political Science and Institute for Policy and Social Research.
Time: 3:00 pm
Location: English Room, Kansas Union
Thursday, April 16
Roundtable Discussion: “Changing the World: Revolutionary Thinking about the Environment”
Over the last 200 years the natural environment has played a crucial role in radical social thought. In the early 21st century, the endangered environment has forced thinking that is changing how humans live on this planet. This roundtable focuses on (1) the historical and contemporary ways that revolutionary thinking and social revolutionaries have conceptualized the natural environment, and (2) how the environmental change of the last half century has radically changed our conceptions of our lives. Panelists will address the interaction of all these factors with a focus on different regions of the world. Part of the “Changing the World” series co-sponsored by the KU Center for East Asian Studies, Center for Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Kansas African Students Center.
Time: 3:00-5:30 pm
Location: The Commons, Spooner Hall
Friday, April 17
Conference: “The Opening of Western China: Problems and Prospects”
This conference will bring together 8 national and international experts on China to discuss the problems and prospects of social, political, and economic development in western China. Speakers will cover six general topics: ethnicity, economic development, poverty alleviation, environmental protection, security/boarders, and political development.
Times: 9 am to 4 pm (a program will be posted as lecture titles and times are established)
Location: Hall Center for the Humanities
Friday, April 17
Wallace S. Johnson Memorial Lecture in Medieval Chinese Studies: Peter Bol, “In Defense of Translating and Computing: From the Tang Code to Biographical Databases”
Bol (Charles H. Carswell Professor of East Asian Languages & Civilizations, and Director, Center for Geographic Analysis, Harvard University) will deliver the inaugural lecture in honor of the late KU East Asian Languages & Cultures Professor Wallace Johnson.
Time: 4:30pm
Location: Centennial Room, Kansas Union
Thursday, April 23
Tea & Talk: Yan Li (East Asian Languages & Cultures), “Can English-speaking L2 Chinese Learners say ‘no’ in Chinese?” Li will discuss her research on the acquisition of the two main negative markers “bu” and “meiyou” in Chinese by English-speaking Chinese learners. The linguistic description of these two negative markers, the experiment aiming to reveal the status of these two negative markers in L2 Chinese learners’ interlanguage, and the implications of this study to teaching will be addressed.
Time: 4pm
Location: Pine Room, Kansas Union
Monday, May 4
Panel Discussion: "Revolution and Protest in 20th-century China." Many of 20th-century China's most significant and revolutionary political events happened in years that ended in 9 (1919, 1949, 1959, 1989). On this 90th anniversary of the May 4 Chinese student protests against the Treaty of Versailles, a set of demonstrations that sparked many of the major changes that China later underwent, this panel of speakers will address revolution and political change as it occurred in various moments during the past century. Featuring Megan Greene (KU Dept of History, and Director, CEAS); John Kennedy (KU Dept of Political Science); Yong Bai (KU Dept of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering); and Tailan Chi (KU School of Business).
Time: 3 pm
Location: Pine Room, Kansas Union
2007-08 Events
Thursday, September 27
Tea & Talk: Elizabeth Schultz, “Changing in Beijing.” Dr. Schultz will discuss her experience as a 2007 Fulbright fellow in Beijing.
Time: 4 pm
Location: Centennial Room, Kansas Union, KU Lawrence campus
Tuesday, October 16
Pre-performance lecture: “A Brief Overview of the Chinese Writing System.” Learn about the history and traditions of this beautiful script, which inspired Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s “Wild Cursive.”
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Seymour Gallery, 2nd Floor, Lied Center, KU Lawrence west campus
Performance: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan: “Wild Cursive.” Tickets available through the Lied Center box office [(785)864-2787; www.lied.ku.edu].
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Lied Center, KU Lawrence west campus
Thursday, October 18
Tea & Talk: Hong Zhang, “Innovation and Tradition: A View of the Third Chengdu Biennial.” An adjunct professor in the Art Department, Hong Zhang will discuss her experience as an invited artist in the Third Chengdu Biennial sponsored by the Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum.
Time: 4 pm
Location: Kansas Room, Kansas Union, KU Lawrence campus
Friday, November 16
Tea & Talk: Wang Hui, “The Debate for China’s Future: Some Reflections on the Intellectual Politics in Contemporary China.” Widely regarded as a central figure in China’s “New Left” group of writers and academics, Prof. Wang is currently a Visiting Professor at New York University. (Introduction by KU’s Asst. Prof. John Kennedy, Political Science.)
Time: 4 pm
Location: Pine Room, Kansas Union, KU Lawrence campus
Monday, November 19
Tea & Talk: Wang Ning, “Global/Local Orientations in Current Chinese Literary and Cultural Studies.” Dr. Wang is Professor of English and Comparative Literature and Director, Center for Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, Tsinghua University, Beijing. With KU Prof. Elizabeth Schultz, he is co-organizing Beijing’s first international conference on ecocriticism. (Introduction by Prof. Elizabeth Schultz, English). Co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies, the KU Dept. of East Asian Languages and Cultures, and the KU Hall Center for the Humanities.
Time: 3:30 pm
Location: Hall Center for the Humanities Conference Room, KU Lawrence campus
Thursday, November 29
Tea & Talk: Lu Yang, “Discovering Medieval China in Xi'an.” New KU Assistant Professor Lu (History) will report on new archaeological materials related to the study of medieval Chinese history.
Time: 4 pm
Location: Big 12 Room, Kansas Union, KU Lawrence campus
Thursday, February 7
Tea & Talk: David Cateforis
“Wenda Gu’s Neon Calligraphy Series”
Professor Cateforis (Art History) will discuss his research on contemporary Chinese artist Wenda Gu.
Time: 4 pm
Location: English Room, Kansas Union
Friday, February 8
Lunar New Year Party
Come celebrate the Lunar New Year with activities for everyone, including crafts, performances, and East Asian food tastings.
Time: 5-7pm
Location: ECM, 1204 Oread Avenue
Thursday, February 21
Tea & Talk: Kris Imants Ercums
“Beyond Sports: Cultural Impact of the Olympics in China”
Ercums (East Asian Curator, Spencer Museum) will discuss the cultural impact (so far) of the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
Time: 4 pm
Location: Pine Room, Kansas Union
Thursday, March 13
Film: “Balls of Fury.” Former ping pong pro Randy Daytona is down on his luck and down on his game when FBI agent Ernie Rodriguez recruits him for a mission he can't refuse: to smoke out his father's killer, the evil Feng. With the help of a blind ping pong sage and an expert trainer, Daytona travels to Feng's jungle compound, where he'll face a raft of formidable players en route to the prize. (2007, 91 minutes) Part of the 2008 East Asia Film Festival.
Time: 7pm
Location: Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union, KU Lawrence campus
Conference
April 10-12
“Olympian Desires: Building Bodies and Nations in East Asia”
This international conference will explore the Olympic games in East Asia and their impact on the politics, cultures, economic conditions, international relations, natural and built environments, and lifestyles of the host countries and the region.
Opening lecture April 10, 7:30 pm, Regnier Hall Auditorium, KU Edwards Campus
Conference April 11-12, Hall Center for the Humanities, KU Lawrence campus
For more information: www.ceas.ku.edu
Friday, April 18
Claire Conceison (Tufts University, Dept. of Drama & Dance)
“Collaborative Autobiography: Writing the Life of Chinese Theatre Luminary and Statesman Ying Ruocheng.” Sponsored by the Hall Center for the Humanities and the KU Center for East Asian Studies.
Time: 1:30–3 pm
Location: Hall Center for the Humanities
Thursday, May 1
Discussion: Morris Rossabi (City University of New York), "More at Stake than the Olympics: Power and Influence between China and Post-Soviet Central Asia." Roundtable discussion will follow, featuring Prof. Rossabi; Brigadier General Mark E. O'Neill (Deputy Commandant, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth); and Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Joseph G. D. “Geoff” Babb (Instructor, Command and General Staff College). Arienne Dwyer (Assistant Professor, Anthropology, KU) will lead the discussion. Part of the Eurasian Security two-part symposium co-sponsored by the Center for East Asian Studies and the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Time: 4-6pm
Location: Pine Room, Kansas Union
Monday, May 5
Film & Discussion: “Olympic Spotlight on Tibet.” The film, “Tibet: The Cry of the Snow Lion,” is a documentary about Tibetan culture and recent history. Historical context and views on the current situation will follow with a panel discussion with the Venerable Champa Tenzin Lhunpo and Lu Yang (History), moderated by Eric Rath (History).
Time: 4pm
Location: Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union
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