Portraits: Marston Anderson (essay)
Marston Anderson
When I returned from my year in Taiwan, there was a new professor of Chinese literature at Yale whom I had never met. He was a tall man with very short blond hair and a shy personality. The new professor did not talk much unless you engaged in a subject, but then he spoke with an enthusiasm and alertness that was inspiring. His name was Marston Anderson and he had just received a Ph.D. from Berkeley in Chinese literature. I heard later that he had been considered one of the most promising young scholars of Chinese studies. Professor
Portraits: Jonathan Spence (Essay)
Jonathan Spence
Jonathan Spence is the towering intellectual in Chinese studies at Yale, a man who has produced generations of important scholars in Chinese history and inspired many undergraduates at Yale to study Chinese. His most important role, I believe, has been introducing Chinese culture to American intellectuals who would otherwise not take much interest. Because he writes such elegant English, and is so well versed in the Western classics, his writing makes China accessible. I took only one course with Professor Spence, his famous survey of Modern China. We established a close relationship that has lasted to this day.
Asia Institute Seminar with Noam Chomsky (article in Korean)
White Ink
December 5, 2011
노암 촘스키, ‘나꼼수’에 대해 말하다
위키트리 11.12.05 11:20 하얀잉크
나꼼수 미국원정길에 딴지건 한국정부 향한 노암 촘스키의 대답은?
“만약 이라크 특공대가 조지 부시의 집에 침투해 부시를 암살하고 그 시신을 대서양에 버렸다면 어떻게 반응할 것인지 우리는 자문해야 할지도 모른다”
오사마 빈 라덴이 사살되었던 지난 5월 축제 분위기에 휩싸인 미국사회에 일침을 가했던 지성인. 미국정부의 오사마 빈 라덴 사살은 계획된 살해이며 이것은 명백한 국제법 위반이라고 당당히 밝혔던 이가 바로 노암 촘스키(Noam Chomsky) 교수이다.
“Next president of KAIST should be a woman” (Korea Herald,Article)
Korea Herald
2011-12-05 19:56
“Next president of KAIST should be a woman”
KAIST plays a critical role in Korea as a trendsetter for the nation in the sciences. Innovations at KAIST quickly become innovations throughout Korea. It was a tremendous breakthrough when Professor Robert Laughlin of Stanford was appointed president of KAIST, bringing a new international emphasis to the institution. KAIST set a precedent through that appointment of hiring foreign faculty that impacted the entire nation. The decision by President Suh Nam-pyo of KAIST to employ English as the primary language of instruction has also done much to increase KAIST’s global profile and sparked a serious discussion about the use of English at the majority of universities in Korea.
As we consider who might serve as the next president of KAIST after Professor Suh Nam-pyo, it is important to keep in mind the symbolic value of that role in reaffirming KAIST’s role as a leading institution in Korea, and the world. I would suggest that, if at all possible, we should appoint a woman as the next president of KAIST.
Portraits: Vivien Lu and Chinese language at Yale University
Vivien Lu
I decided to study Chinese my freshman year at Yale rather abruptly after taking a course in French literature for three weeks and then promptly dropping the course. Although I had done well in French, and thought that perhaps a major in French literature would be a good way to go at Yale, I found that I was simply not inspired by the books we read. I fell asleep in the library within a few minutes trying to read the plays of Moliere.
I spent a few days thinking about what I wanted to do next and decided that Chinese literature was the most intriguing opportunity for me among the classes listed for Fall, 1983. I quickly made up my mind that I wanted to learn Chinese, and learn it as quickly as possible.
Christine Liang and Lowell High School (essay)
Christine Liang
It would not be an exaggeration to say that I feel as comfortable around Asians as Caucasians, maybe more so. That mindset can be traced back to my experience in high school (1979-1983). Lowell High School was the finest public high school in San Francisco and although at first I was not all the enthusiastic about it, I think now it was a tremendous opportunity to study there. The student body of Lowell High School was about seventy percent Asian American, primarily Chinese. Often I was the only Caucasian in the room at school.
Discovering Korea’s Sleeping Technology Treasures (article in Korean)
This article calls for a complete revision of the concept of technology in Korea, with an emphasis on traditional technologies. Munhwa Ilbo, November 30, 2011.
문화일보
2011년 11월 30일
千年의 잠에서 깨어나는 한국인의 기술
이만열/경희대 후마니타스 칼리지 교수·동아시아문명학
하루가 다르게 새로운 제품들이 쏟아지는 21세기 과학기술의 시대를 맞아 새삼 ‘기술’이라는 용어에 관심을 가질 필요가 있다. 우리가 직면하는 문제들은 그 단어에 내포된 제한적인 의미를 뛰어넘어 행동하기를 요구하기 때문이다. 기술은 일반적으로는 전자산업 부품의 디자인과 제작을 위한 적용 기술을, 보다 좁게는 기계공학,
Korean Unification Project
The Global Peace Youth Corps has taken the unusual step of launching this campaign to call on youth, Korean, or any nationality, as part of their annual convention. Since the Asia Institute has launched a biweekly seminar with the Global Peace Youth Corps (GPYC), including a live webinar with Professor Noam Chomksy on December 1, this effort is particularly noteworthy.
What better approach to the bureaucratic gridlock than to have youth offer their own creative solutions and get the conversation flowing? Your ideas are welcome!
Portrait of the Chinese Ecologist Chen Minhao (Essay, November, 2011)
Emanuel Pastreich
Circles and Squares
November 28, 2011
Portrait of the Chinese Ecologist Chen Minhao (陈敏豪)
I was a graduate student in Japan back in 1991, working on my master’s thesis at University of Tokyo and I had just started to think about returning to the United States for a Ph.D. program in East Asian studies. I was particularly interested in Ming literature, because it had had such an impact in Japan during the 18th century—my field of specialization. In my search for good graduate programs, I had been introduced to University of Indiana, specifically to Professor Lynn Struve, a scholar of Ming/Qing history with whom I thought I might study with in the United States. I wrote to her and learned that she would be spending the summer in Shanghai at Fudan University. I quickly bought a ticket and made an appointment to stay at the