Notable Activities

Library Exhibit, Spring 2006
Focus On: Worlds of Modernity
A special exhibit of the University of Washington Libraries

General Information on the Exhibit (scroll down to April-May 2006)
Information on SEA exhibit materials

Curators:
Mary St.Germain, Near East Section
Judith Henchy, Southeast Asia Section
Michael Biggins, Slavic and East European Section
Chie Ikeya, Rockefeller Resident Fellow, Project for Critical Asian Studies

This display was a collaboration between the UW Libraries, International Studies Sections, and the Simpson Center for the Humanities, Project for Critical Asian Studies

Study Group, Spring 2006
“History of Ideas as Methodology”

Facilitator: Sun Ge, Rockefeller Resident Fellow, Project for Critical Asian Studies
Organizer: Wang Zhuoyi, Graduate Student, Asian Languages and Literature
Language(s): Chinese & English

Comments by Wang Zhuoyi:

"The reading group was designed to be a complementary alternative to regular university lectures and seminars where we necessarily need to quickly browse through a great amount of reading materials.  It achieved this goal extremely well.  Professor Sun chose a small number of pieces and rigorously trained us to understand VERY CLOSELY the ways how important arguments are developed and then raise productive questions to discover real problems.

While those more theoretical discussions were already very inspiring, the recent MIT visual culture controversy literally put all we had learned from the group in a living, real historical event. Discussions on this controversy were directly related to the fundamental issues of how to do researches pertinent to contemporary history and how to be a scholar in contemporary world.  These discussions proved to be very valuable.  Regular group members all found this reading group to be an eye-opening and exceptionally positive learning experience.  And we collectively appreciate the Simpson Center for making it possible.

Although Professor Sun has gone back to Beijing, the regular group members will still contact her regularly, take her advice on readings and write to her our reading reports.  In this way, the
reading group has not ended yet and will continue into the future."

Readings:

孙歌 <中日传媒中的战争记忆>,
<在理论思考与现实行动之间>,
Takeuchi Yoshimi "Asia as Method"
Masao Maruyama  Thought and Behaviour in Modern Japanese Politics
Reading materials for the recent MIT visual culture controversy

Some web resources on the MIT controversy:

Statements on "Visualizing Cultures"
On the "Visualizing Cultures" Controversy and Its Implications
Not So Open Courseware

Study Seminars, Spring 2006
“How Does Asia Mean”

Facilitator: Sun Ge, Rockefeller Resident Fellow, Project for Critical Asian Studies
Organizer: Yuki Shigeto, Graduate Student, Asian Languages and Literature
Language(s): Japanese & English

Readings:

"Rojin"  and "What is modernity" by Takeuchi Yoshimi 
"Asia to iu shiko kukan" and "Rojin ga nuida fuku" by Sun Ge

Study Group, Fall 2003
"On Revolution and the Possibility of Pan-Asian Narratives: Maoism, Nationalism, and Globalization."

Mediators:
Vince Rafael, Department of History, UW
Robert Garcia, Resident Fellow, Project for Critical Asian Studies

Meeting I: Nov. 7, 2003
Title: Trauma of the Unspoken: The Case of the Philippine Revolution and the Question of Violence

Meeting II: Nov. 21, 2003
Revolution, Nationalism, and Globalization in Asia

More information and readings for study group