Washington University
St. Louis, Missouri

From the Director’s Desk

Rebecca L. Copeland
 
 

The first year of the new millennium has been a particularly busy one for East Asian Studies at Washington University. As the Dragon morphed into the Snake, we have found ourselves engaged in one stimulating activity after another. In addition to our annual lectures and colloquium series, we have enjoyed a number of special events. Most notably the East Asian Studies Program hosted the annual meeting of the Association for Japanese Literary Studies on our campus November 10-12, 2000. And we were fortunate to also entertain the Midwest Japan Seminar here on February 10, 2001. Reports on all of our activities are provided below.
 

In the midst of our extra-curricular frenzy, the EAS Program continues to maintain strong enrollments in courses across the boards. We had a particularly energetic group of graduate students join us last fall (a total of 10) and anticipate an equal number (with equal energy) to arrive this fall. Our undergraduate majors remain constant at 35 (28 majors and 7 minors).

Arts and Sciences at Washington University has made several significant hires in the area of East Asia (China in particular). While these candidates were being interviewed, I was called on to write letters to them describing our program and welcoming them to the East Asian Studies community. Since this information may be of interest to many of our far-flung alumni, I am including bits of it here as an EAS update:

With no faculty of its own, the East Asian Studies Program is entirely interdisciplinary and depends on the commitments and coperation of other departments. Of the 27 full-time faculty members currently affiliated with East Asian Studies, our critical core at present is drawn almost exclusively from History and the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures. In History: George Hatch teaches courses on early China with interests primarily in Sung culture and philosophy; Laurence Schneider’s area of expertise is modern intellectual history. Most recently his research interests have concerned the history of science in modern China. Elizabeth Tsunoda, our Japanese historian, teaches the whole gamut of Japanese history, though her niche is the Japanese political economy. For the last three years, Dr. Tsunoda has taught our Core Seminar in East Asian Studies. This seminar is required of all entering MA students and introduces the variety of approaches, methodologies, and analytical tools necessary for studying "East Asia."

On the language and literature side of things we have four lecturers of Chinese language (Tz’u Chiang at the senior level, Xia Liang, Judy Mu, and Fred Wu), four lecturers of Japanese (Emi Fujiwara and Virginia Marcus at the senior level, Masayuki Itomitsu and Misako Suzuki), and one lecturer in Korean (Jung-Tae Kim). At the professorial level, Robert Hegel, works on Chinese vernacular fiction and drama. Beata Grant finds her area of specialty in Chinese religion and literature. Letty Lingchei Chen, our newest addition, has research interests in postmodernism, identity politics, and narratology.

I am on the Japanese side with focus on modern Japanese women writers. My colleague, Marvin Marcus (former director of EAS) works on Meiji-Taishô literature. And our junior colleague, Elizabeth Oyler, works on medieval narrative and performance.

In the Law School Frances Foster specializes in two areas; 1) trusts and estates; and 2) the legal systems of socialist and former socialist countries. Her colleague, John O. Haley, joined us this past fall. Wiley D. Rutledge Professor of Law, Haley’s interests are in international and comparative law. Both he and Professor Foster teach seminars on East Asian Law. Michele Shoresman, Assistant Dean for Graduate and Joint Programs at the Law School and Adjunct Associate Professor with East Asian Studies, specializes in comparative education with focus on East Asia.

Mention of the Law School may require explanation for some readers. In addition to offering an undergraduate major and minor and an MA in East Asian Studies, we also provide a Joint JD-MA. Currently we have 15 students in various stages of their degree. Additionally we have a joint MBA-MA program but rarely have a student with enough expertise to tackle the joint program. We hope for greater enrollments in the future.

In addition to the faculty mentioned above (a list that is by no means inclusive), our affiliation with the University of Missouri-St. Louis allows us to avail ourselves of additional faculty strengths. We conduct a faculty exchange through the auspices of the Joint Center. (See the Joint Center report below.) Language faculty from Washington University have been teaching two levels of Chinese on the UM-St. Louis campus. In exchange an UM-St. Louis faculty member offers one course per semester on our campus. This spring our visiting professor has been Dr. Hung-Gay Fung, Y.S. Tsiang Professor of Chinese Studies, whose expertise lies in international finance and banking and Chinese business. In the fall Dr. Chikako Usui will return to our campus to teach her popular seminar on the society and economy of Japan. A sociologist, Dr. Usui’s interests are in comparative political economy and Japanese business organizations. Other faculty members at UM-St. Louis who frequently teach on this campus include Dr. Joel Glassman, U.S. Foreign Policy in East Asia, and Dr. Susan Brownell, an anthropologist whose research and teaching interests cover international business, sports and body culture. Dr. Debin Ma, economics of China and Japan, and Dr. Alan Bird, the Eiichi Shibusawa-Seigo Arai Professorship in Japanese Studies, whose interest is also in business, have recently joined the UM-St. Louis faculty, and we are eager to have them as guest professors on our campus.
 

If you have not been in touch with the East Asian Studies Program recently, you may want to consult our web page, where you will find more information on our programs of study and our students. Past newsletters are there as well: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~eas/
 

As indicated above, Arts and Sciences has recently made three new hires of particular interest to East Asian Studies. Thomas DuBois (History, Ph.D. UCLA, 2001) will join the faculty with a Mellon Post-doctorate in Religious Studies. Dr. DuBois will be teaching courses on East Asian religions. (Current enrollments for his fall course are over 90!) Women’s Studies and Anthropology have recently hired Sara Friedman (Ph.D. Cornell, 2000), whose dissertation is entitled: "Reluctant Brides and Prosperity’s Daughters: Marriage, Labor, and Cultural Change in Southeastern China’s Hui’an County." And the Political Sciences department has made a joint appointment with International Studies to hire Andrew Mertha (Ph.D. Michigan, 2001), who works on intellectual property and trademark laws/China.

The appearance of every new face inevitably suggests that some familiar faces will be leaving. East Asian Studies has been particularly hard hit this year by the retirements of two very important faculty members, Robert Thorp and Karen Brock, both in Art History. Drs. Thorp and Brock have contributed richly to the EAS program by offering an annual undergraduate course on Asian Art that easily attracted more than 100 students, and by creating wonderful seminars for our graduate students on East Asian art history and archeology. The Forbidden City, The Yoshiwara, The Tomb of Lady Hao . . . the topics were provocative and the professors engaging. In addition to their splendid teaching, both Professors Thorp and Brock served regularly on MA exit exams. We will miss them and their generous contributions to the program, but we wish them well on their new adventures in the Southwest.

Many EAS alumni will be saddened to know that Professor James Shih, while not yet retired, is now on permanent disability leave because of ill health. Dr. Shih has been a mainstay in the East Asian Studies Program with his seminars on Taiwan history and his reading courses in Chinese culture. Dr. Shih has moved to Oakland, California to be closer to family.

The EAS Program is also sorry to have to say good bye to Ms. Jing-jing Chai, Visiting Lecturer in Chinese language. Ms. Chai joined the faculty last year while Mr.Fred Wu was on leave. During her short stay here, Ms. Chai made significant contributions to the Chinese language curriculum, and her students and colleagues are sorry to see her leave.
 
 

In the spring we initiated a new undergraduate "topics" course, L03 294 Images of East Asia. Meant to engage a diverse audience from among the undergraduate population, the goal of this course is twofold: to explore issues concerning East Asia and thereby to gain a general appreciation and understanding of the history and culture of this complex and dynamic region of the world. And, in the process, to consider the way East Asia in particular and Asia in general have been treated by the Western observer over the centuries. Dr. Elizabeth Oyler inaugurated the series with "Legacy of the Samurai in Japanese Culture," a course that invited students to explore the ways the portrayal of the samurai developed from the earliest descriptions of warriors in Japanese myth, to the twentieth-century soldier of the imperial army. In the fall, Dr. Marvin Marcus will offer "Chronicling the Japan Experience," a survey of over a century of writing by foreigners who have had noteworthy encounters with Japan. Based on the works of Western visitors, who have long been attracted to this "exotic" land and its promise of adventure, enlightenment, and bemusement, Marcus will lead students on a journey with a double aim: first, to explore the richness and complexity of Japanese culture, society, and its modern history; and second, to understand and appreciate the process by which our experience of the foreign is mediated and "domesticated" through reminiscence and creative interpretation.
 
 

A great amount of attention has been focused this year on the undergraduate curriculum at Washington University and two initiatives are underway that will be of interest to EAS students and alumni. The undergraduate curriculum has been completely overhauled and a new curriculum is scheduled to be in place beginning Fall 2001. This new curriculum has been designed "to help students construct coherent undergraduate programs, in which the courses reinforce each other in challenging and productive ways." New features of the curriculum include the replacement of the "distribution system" with "clusters;" increased emphasis on intensive writing courses; and more opportunity for students to engage in "capstone experiences." For more information on the new curriculum, please consult: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/curriculum/about.html
 
 

The second innovation of interest is the establishment of a new International and Area Studies Program. Aimed at helping students meet the challenges of our rapidly changing world, this new program will, in the words of Edward Macias, Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of Arts & Sciences, "have an international core of classes with a series of area studies course tracks. Initially, those area studies courses will be East Asian, European and International studies. We want to form an interdisciplinary link between students and faculty by supporting various scholarly activities within the program." Students who wish to major in East Asian Studies will henceforth pursue their program of study through the auspice of International and Area Studies.
 

One source of funding for this new International and Area Studies initiative is a generous gift to the university bequeathed last fall by alumna Helen Ette Park. Park’s gift of more than $10 million is intended to "support scholarships for Asian students, strengthen the University’s existing International and East Asian Studies programs, establish new programs to support interdisciplinary scholarship and research, and award grants to faculty for conferences, research and travel." There is much to look forward to.
 

The Midwest Japan Seminar was inaugurated in 1970 to provide scholars of Japanese studies in the Midwest a forum to meet and interact with others who share common professional interests. The MJS, currently under the leadership of Dr. Laura Miller, Loyola University Chicago, meets five times a year at different institutions throughout the Midwest. Convened on Saturday afternoons, where two pre-circulated research papers are discussed, the seminar is followed by a dinner, where some of the most interesting discussion occurs. MJS membership includes historians, political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, art historians, literature and language specialists, and other scholars with research capabilities in the Japanese language who devote a significant portion of their time to teaching and/or research on Japan.

Thanks to the able and generous support of the EAS secretariat, the University hosted the February meeting of the Midwest Japan Seminar (MJS). The event, attended by an impressive contingent of Japan scholars spanning the range of academic disciplines, featured presentations by Laura Hein (Northwestern University) on "Statistics for Democracy: Economics as Politics in Occupied Japan" and Timothy Van Compernolle (University of Michigan) on "A Play of Gazes: Higuchi Ichiyô’s ‘Takekurabe’ (Child’s Play’").

– Marvin Marcus
 
 

Marvin Marcus, and Elizabeth Oyler, and I were honored to host The Ninth Annual Meeting of the Association for Japanese Literary Studies last November. The only conference held outside Japan that is dedicated exclusively to Japanese literary studies, the Association for Japanese Literary Studies, meets annually at various campuses around the nation. The meeting at Washington University was held November 10-12, 2000 under the organizing title: "Acts of Writing: Language and the Construction of Identity in Japanese Literature." My colleagues and I selected this particular topic because we liked the interface between language and literature that the theme offered. Moreover, the topic was broad enough to include a wealth of approaches and eras, and the selection of papers for the conference bears this out. Featuring twenty-three paper presentations that moved from the 8^th century to the 21^st and from topics with linguistic orientation to those that incorporated elements of art history and film criticism, all addressed notions of "literariness," national / gendered identities, and language. In addition to these presentations, the conference offered two keynote speakers: Dr. Zdenka Svarcova of Charles University, Czech Republic, and Mr. Yoshihiro Ohsawa, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Tokyo University.

An important contribution to the success of the conference was the presence of non-presenting participants—some from the St. Louis community and some from as far afield as California, Boston, Germany, and Japan. Everyone contributed actively to the discussions following the panels, enabling us to sustain a lively dialogue throughout the weekend.

We were grateful for the attendance of EAS/ANELL graduate students and undergraduates, many of whom volunteered to work for the conference over the weekend. Suzanne Kauer (MA ’02) is to be especially commended for the effort she brought to organizing volunteers and assisting with the conference.

Assisted by generous grants from The Japan Foundation, the Northeast Asia Council of the Association for Asian Sdies and by financial support from Washington University, we were able to provide conference attendees a number of special amenities, including a buffet dinner in the gorgeously renovated Holmes lounge. As a lovely addition to the conference, Steven Owyoung, Curator of Asian Art at the Saint Louis Art Museum arranged a special exhibit of Japanese calligraphy entitled, "The Beautiful Brush," which displayed the works of Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) and her contemporary Nukina Kaioku (1778-1863). Additionally, all conference attendees had access to our book display "AJLS in PRINT," which showcased books authored by AJLS members from a variety of university presses, including Harvard, Stanford, and Hawaii. Presently, I am working with ANELL student Glynne Walley (MA ’01) and EAS student Lane Harris (MA ’02) to compile the presented papers in a conference proceedings volume. More information about the conference, including abstracts of the papers presented, may be found at: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~ajls/

– Rebecca Copeland
 
 

The Joint Center for East Asian Studies, inaugurated in 1991, combines the resources and strengths of Washington University with those of the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Now entering its tenth year, the Center has proved to be a model of success to which similar programs have turned for guidance and direction. The JCEAS not only provides EAS students on WU’s campus with access to UM-St. Louis’s distinguished faculty, many of whom specialize in areas that are underdeveloped on the WU campus, the agreement also allows both universities to co-sponsor a colloquium series, as described below.
 
 

The year-long Colloquium Series allows students and faculty in the Joint Center to engage in a variety of lectures and discussions with pre-eminent scholars in the field of East Asian Studies. Past topics for the series have ranged from "Women in East Asia" to "East Asian Diasporas" and have featured such speakers as Dorothy Ko (University of California, San Diego), Cameron Hurst (University of Pennsylvania), and Andrew Nathan (Columbia University) The 2000-2001 Colloquium Series addressed the topic of food. "Cuisine, Eating, and the Economies of Food in East Asia" dealt with the globalization of food in East Asia—the consequences of too little food and the implications of too much. From Japanese girls who starve themselves to be fashionably thin, to China’s metaphorical "cannibalization" of the world, the 2000-2001 Colloquium Series offered new perspectives on food and its consumption.

Dr. Clark Sorensen, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, provided the inaugural lecture "The Rural Gourmet: Nutrition and Adaptation in the Korean Countryside" on September 21, 2000. Merry White, Professor of Anthropology, Boston University, followed on October 27 with "Tokyo Italiano: Domesticating Pasta in Global Japan." It wasn’t bad enough that Dr. Sorensen had us all starving with his delectable descriptions of the "Korean Rural Gourmet," Dr. White showed slides of luscious fruit and vegetable displays, pastas, and wines. Cruel treatment for scholars sitting through late afternoon lectures! The torture continued on November 17 when Dr. Joanne Bernardi, Associate Professor of Japanese and Film, Rochester University, treated us to "Food Bytes: Chowing Down in Japanese Cinema." Dr. Bernardi’s presentation included film clips—appetites soared. We were somewhat chastened, and none too soon, when Dr. Laura Miller revealed the lengths that people go to diet. Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, Loyola University, Chicago, Dr. Miller’s talk on February 8 was entitled: "The Well-behaved Appetite: Dieting, Products and Food Fads in Japan." Dr. Gang Yue, Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Literature, University of North Carolina, concluded our gourmet feast March 8, 2001 with a discussion of the recent international focus on China as the consumer (literally) of the world.
 

Co-sponsored by the Saint Louis Art Museum, this annual lecture was inaugurated in October 1998 to honor Nelson I. Wu. A specialist in Chinese painting, Wu is the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of the History of Art and Chinese Culture and a world-recognized scholar of Asian art and architecture.

The Third Annual Lecture "Kazari: Japanese Dynamic Design" was delivered by Dr. Nicole Rousmaniere, Director, Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, London, on October 26, 2000 at the Saint Louis Art Museum. As Dr. Rousmaniere explained, "the word kazari appears in the eighth-century poetry anthology, Man’yôshû, and refers to the act of ornamenting one’s hair with sweet-smelling flowers. In later periods, the term was more typically employed to describe a wide variety of ornamentation from design to performance." Dr. Rousmaniere employs kazari as a rubric through which to examine Japanese artistic production in a wholistic manner that exceeds the more usual binary of art versus craft.
The 2001 lecture will be held November 8^th at the Saint Louis Art Museum and will feature Robert Mowry, Alan J. Dworsky Curator of Chinese Art and Head of the Department of Asian Art at the Harvard University Art Museums, who will speak on the topic "Korean Ceramics: The Great Tradition."
 

This lecture was founded in 1994 to honor Dr. Stanley Spector (1925-1999) for his tremendous contributions to the creation and development of Asian Studies at Washington University. Past Spector Lecturers have included: William Kirby (Harvard University), Jonathan Spence (Yale University), and Carol Gluck (Columbia University). The Eighth Annual Spector Lecture was presented by Dr. Bruce Cumings, Norman & Edna Freehling Professor of History, University of Chicago, who spoke on "Democracy from the Bottom Up: The Virtues of Political Conflict in Korea and East Asia." Dr. Cumings’ research and teaching focus on 20^th century international history, U.S.-East Asian relations, East Asian political economy, modern Korean history, and American foreign relations. He is interested in the multiplicity of ways that conceptions, metaphors and discourses are related to political economy and material forms of production, and to relations between "East and West." In his presentation, he challenged audience members to put the current "situation" in China (involving the spy plane) in both a global and a national context. He argued that a civil society, particularly an active one, functions as a counterbalance to authoritarian regimes and that inevitably the civil society – if dynamic – transforms the authoritarian regime into a democratic one. Here Dr. Cumings referred primarily to Korea and Taiwan, where the authoritarian regimes fell in the late 1980s and democracy was implemented.
 
 

EAST ASIAN LIBRARY
 

The East Asian Library, located on the second floor of January Hall, now accommodates over 123,000 volumes in Chinese, Japanese, and a modest, but growing, holding in Korean. Tony Chang, Head Librarian, gives this report on a surprising donation:

In December 2000, the East Asian Library and the Department of Asian & Near Eastern Languages & Literatures received a total of 16 boxes of materials as a gift from the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Chicago and the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language in Beijing. The boxes contained 383 volumes and 29 audio tapes including dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps and other reference materials; books and audio tapes on Chinese language teaching; books on Chinese literature, history, philosophy, religions, and culture. These gift materials are being processed at the East Asian Library, and will be available to users soon. A book donation ceremony was held at the East Asian Library on April 25.

Haruko Nakamura, Japanese subject librarian and cataloguer on staff, gave this report on an exciting new grant:

The East Asian Library received a grant from the North American Coordinating Council on Japanese Library Resources (NCC) multi-volume sets award program. The specific title that Washington University acquired from the grant is Bunshô sekai. This Meiji era Japanese periodical will be available on microfiche from June 30, 2001.
 
 

Congratulations to Our Outstanding Mentors: All of us in the program know that the faculty mentors in East Asian Studies are outstanding, but recently we got to show off some of our favorites to the rest of WU. At the Graduate Student Senate sponsored Faculty Mentor Awards ceremony April 17^th two EAS faculty were given "Special Recognition" and another was awarded an "Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award." The GSS initiated these awards last year to honor faculty members whose dedication to graduate students and commitment to excellence in graduate training are particularly notable. Of the hundreds of faculty members at WU fifty, including our own Dr. Rebecca Copeland and Dr. Marvin Marcus, were recognized for their commitment to their students. Awardees were nominated by students and then judged by a committee of Graduate Student Senators. Dr. Robert Hegel and four other faculty from other areas were chosen for top honors this year.

This is the second year the awards have been given, and the second year that Dr. Hegel has been nominated. Several of his current and past students were quick to praise Dr. Hegel as a caring and dedicated mentor.

I was on the committee that chose the winners and think that our mentors stood out for their willingness to go the extra mile for us.

The awards only confirm what we already know: we’ve got a great program. Congratulations to Dr. Hegel and to Dr. Copeland and Dr. Marcus!

– Suzanne Kauer (MA ’02)
 

Nominations: Elizabeth Oyler and Rebecca Copeland (Japanese literature) and Fred Wu (Chinese language) were among the 43 deans, professors, and teaching assistants nominated for the annual Faculty Awards Recognition. Driven by undergraduate student vote, the awards recognize Arts and Sciences faculty and administrators who make a difference in the lives of students on the campus.

Successful teaching may be measured by successful students. This year EAS has had its share of exceptional students.

Krystél Mowery received the "Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence for 2000-2001. This award recognizes superb performance by a graduate teaching assistant in the instruction of Arts and Sciences undergraduates. Krystél was the TA for "Japanese Civilization" in the Fall semester, assisting Dr. Copeland, and for "Introduction to Buddhism" in the Spring, assisting Dr. Grant. In addition to grading papers, Krystél also lead weekly discussion sessions. In her evaluations, students noted that—among other thing—they enjoyed hearing of her many adventures and experiences in Japan—from her study of the tea ceremony to her jobs in hostess clubs. A former Washington University undergraduate herself, Krystél provided a wonderful role model.

EAS MA student Suzanne Kauer will be serving as co-vice president of the Graduate Student Senate next year.

JoAnn Achelpohl, East Asian Studies Administrative Assistant, has received her 15 years of service award. She has spent time in the office of Development, University College, and most recently East Asian Studies. Congratulations JoAnn for surviving this long with good humor and sanity still in tact!

Graduate Student Senate: You know all those email messages and flyers you’ve been getting all year? Many of them are from the Graduate Student Senate – and they’re worth a look!

The GSS is an organization doing its best to make your graduate student experience the best it can be. This year I’ve been the representative from East Asian Studies and I’ve been amazed at how eager these people are to please you. They are the ones who put together orientation in the fall, the Graduate Student Symposium to showcase your work during the winter, faculty mentor awards designed to recognize and encourage good mentoring, happy hours, receptions, peer mentoring, workshops, and anything they can think of. They are begging to hear your complaints so they can champion graduate school causes to the administration. The GSS can be a valuable resource for all us.

If you haven’t been to any of their activities, you should go. Nothing that interests you? Let us know. Next year I have the privilege of being co-vice president of the GSS, and I’ll be there with the rest of the senate: doing whatever we can to make your WU experience memorable. Please check the website for all sorts of helpful information, calendars, etc. at: artsci.wustl.edu/~gss/

– Suzanne Kauer (MA ’02)
 
 

Krystél’s Art Museum Internship: This semester I had the opportunity to intern at the Saint Louis Art Museum and work with Steve Owyoung, Curator of Asian Arts. While joining the museum’s staff, I was simultaneously researching Tibetan thangka scrolls for Dr Grant. Luckily for me, Steve was hunting down several thangkas in SLAM’s collection for loan to another museum for its upcoming exhibit on Tibetan art. This fortunate development afforded me the chance to delve into the art museum’s warehouses in search of two elusive thangkas. I was able to verify the existence of one scroll in question and confirmed the assumption that SLAM did not possess the second one. I also was allowed to study, first-hand, two thankgas of the Tibetan deity, Green Tara. The opportunity to work with these thangkas increased my appreciation of this art. Compared to glossy photos, the real thing is so much more vivid.
Another interesting project has been helping Steve research the inter-state tea trade between Korea and China. This project has given me the chance to learn about Korean ceramics and history, something I didn’t know anything about. Overall, the experience at SLAM has provided me valuable insights into the workings of a museum under the direction of a gifted curator, but most memorable has been the hands-on work with objects of Asian art.

– Krystél Mowery (MA ’01)
 

First American Experience: In early August 2000, I flew half way around the world to attend Washington University. I was amazed to find the campus so beautiful and quiet. The collegiate ambiance of ivy-covered buildings, elaborate sculptures, and the rustling of the leaves soothed my anxiety. The new semester brought challenges in adjustment and coursework. Overall, my first year in EAS has been an enriching and rewarding experience filled with joy, surprises, and a sense of achievement. Having lived in the "open-minded" cosmopolitan city of Shanghai for twenty-two years I didn’t expect the variety of experiences and arguments presented by my multi-national classmates.

Although the course work is demanding I’ve found the study environment conducive to learning. I am encouraged to talk with professors and always benefit from their advice. I have also received encouraging support from my classmates. Our study group in the first semester to discuss the readings from the Core Seminar is an unforgettable experience. I took much more away from the Core Seminar because we had that study group, which helped to solidify my confidence at this new school. The study group also made outside excursions and had heated discussions during which I got to understand "real" American culture.

Over our discussions I came to realize the variety of experiences that my friends had while living in China and it made me aware of everyday Chinese things that I had taken for granted. For me it was like understanding China anew from the American perspective.

The American perspective of China is an interesting one. Both before, and during, my stay in America some people asked me things like whether green tea is a cure-all medicine or if China has credit cards and ATMs? These questions made me realize that there is a need for more cultural exchange between our two countries. Conversely, I was delighted to meet with the EAS people who are really interested in China, love its culture, and are enthusiastic about its studies. In them I find a more realistic understanding of China, instead of that exoticized, romanticized version of mysterious China that is portrayed in popular literature.

– Xin Xu (MA ’02)

Japanese Section Party: The Japanese Section held its second annual end-of-the-year party at Alumni House on April 20, to great success. A very "musical" event, Emi Suzuki (MA ‘01) played the koto and members of the St. Louis Osuwa Taiko at Washington University contributed a lively performance of taiko. Among the performers were: Leonard Liaw (MA ‘01) and Abby Shelton (Japanese major). The Taiko Troupe was led by Misako Suzuki sensei. After the performances, students enjoyed a game of CC Line Contest. Dorothy Hoffman, a third-year student, still remembered a line she learned two years ago! Then, a group of Second-Level students (Joanna Chen, David Holloway, Michael Lu, and Sang Ho Rhee) performed a skit parodying class. Itomitsu sensei (a good sport if ever there was one!) played the part of the bewildered student, while Sang Ho Rhee demonstrated his skill at imitation. But what’s music and laughter without good eats! Fujiwara sensei provided some amazing croquettes and local sushi chef, Seki-san, prepared the fixings for delicious temakizushi. A veritable feast for all senses.

See the party pictures at:www.artsci.wustl.edu/~japanese/party/Party01/htm
 
 

New EAS/ANELL Lounge: This year the Odd Chair Lounge has fallen on hard times as EAS and ANELL graduate students have moved into a new lounge on the opposite end of the first floor of Busch Hall. The lounge has a refrigerator and other cooking amenities. Comfortable setting has also been provided in the form of couches and chairs.
 
 

Students regularly eat their lunch in the lounge and have in-depth discussions on topics such as the prevalence of "orientalism" in Woody Allen’s films (clever!). The best discussion was on the variables of imported Southeast Asian rice and its impact on the consumption of American-Chinese/Japanese food. On dull days Suzanne thrills us with the most recent exploits of that Aussie hunk – Russell Crowe (sorry Suzanne, I had to). The lounge is also host to fortnightly "Happy Hours" for graduate students and friends (read: Professors).

– Lane Harris (MA ’02)
 
 

St. Louis Blues Hockey Game: Dr. Elizabeth Oyler arranged for students from EAS and ANELL to attend a St. Louis Blues hockey game on April 3^rd. The Blues played the Carolina Hurricanes to a three all tie, and as resident hockey aficionada Dr. Oyler declared, "the Blues played like a team that knew it had already secured a playoff position."

The "Washington University Busch Hall" contingent was made up of 40 students, faculty, and staff, with EAS representing the largest sub-set in the group and a good time was had by all.
 
 

THE FACULTY
 
 

The Chinese section was glad to welcome Jingjing Chai, Visiting Lecturer in Chinese, for the past year. Tz’u Chiang had this to say about Ms. Chai, "She is such a dedicated teacher that she really benefits her students." Ms. Chai will be returning to Taiwan this summer and we hope that she will come back in the future.
 

Tz’u Chiang, Senior Lecturer in Chinese, reports that the Chinese department is "trying to compile new teaching material for the first-year heritage students. We hope it will help those students learn characters – we expect to use some new materials next semester as an experiment." Ms. Chiang will return to Taiwan this summer and spend part of her time meeting with WU students who are one their way to Beijing for the summer.
 

Rebecca Copeland, Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Literature and EAS Director, has spent the last year in between books. Her study of nineteenth-century Japanese women writers, Lost Leaves: Women Writers of Meiji Japan, was published last August by University of Hawaii Press. Her next book, The Father-Daughter Plot: Japanese Literary Women, is scheduled for publication by University of Hawaii Press in September.

"In the first book, I challenge the claim that the Meiji Period (1868-1912) was devoid of women writers but for the brilliant exception of Higuchi Ichiyô (1872-1896) by examining the lives and literary careers of three of Ichiyô's peers, Miyake Kaho, Wakamatsu Shizuko, and Shimizu Shikin. The second book is a collection of essays, which I have co-edited with Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen of University of Michigan. The twelve essays in this volume concern the relationship between women writers and their Fathers --both biological and cultural. This summer I plan to return to Tokyo, enjoying once again the hospitality of Kokugakuin University, where I will begin exploring the dynamic world of detective fiction, focusing primarily on the best-selling author, Miyabe Miyuki. In August, I’ll head to Berlin, Germany for the International Conference of Asian Scholars. And then it’s off to Edmonton, Canada for a conference on Japanese Women Writers at the University of Alberta. By the time the fall semester begins, August 22, I’m sure I will be at least ten time zones behind schedule."
 

Emi Fujiwara, Senior Lecturer in Japanese, taught Fourth and Fifth Level language courses this year, in addition to the First Level reading/writing course. She attended the ACTFL conference in Boston and plans to attend the Virginia Regional Workshop on Japanese Pedagogy in June. She reports: "As I do every spring, I interviewed nine prospective graduate students either on the phone or in person. This year, I have had another good group of students. This summer I am returning to Tokyo to teach in the summer course at International Christian University. I also am looking forward to seeing my nephew and niece, who are two and one."

Beata Grant, Associate Professor of Chinese and Chair of the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures Department, has been kept busy this year with teaching and administrating. However, an article entitled "Behind the Empty Gate: Buddhist Nun-Poets in Late-Ming and Qing China" is due to appear in August in the volume, Cultural Intersections in Later Chinese Buddhism, edited by Marsha Weidner and published by University of Hawaii Press. Next fall, she will be on leave at Harvard University working on a collaborative project on women in Chinese literature with Dr. Wilt L. Idema as well as her own research on women and religion in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

John O. Haley, School of Law, just published a new book (February 2001) titled Antitrust in Germany and Japan: The First Fifty Years (Seattle: UW Press). This summer Professor Haley will be traveling to Japan to teach an introductory course in US contract law to graduate students at Aoyama Gakuin. Professor Haley will also be attending the "Conference on Competition Policy in APEC" this summer in Tokyo.
 
 

Robert E. Hegel, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature and Chair of Comparative Literature, has been teaching the Chinese Civilization course this semester for the first time. To mesh this together with his current research, he introduced some testimony from murder case files held in the Qing imperial archives in Beijing. When students responded positively to the idea, he applied for and received a Kemper Grant for course improvement. The next time he teaches it, there will be more of these cases, prepared with the help of faculty in the School of Law and the Department of Political Science. Hegel gave two invited talks this year, "Sarcasm in the Dock: Voices in Qing Legal Documents" at the Harvard University China Humanities Seminar in December, and "Weeping Over a Text: Emotional Elements in Records of Qing Criminal Investigations" at the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies in March. He is preparing a volume of translations from these archival materials for eventual publication, probably as textbook material.

Masayuki Itomitsu, Lecturer in Japanese, has been developing materials for third-year Japanese. In addition, he has been active in many conferences this year, including: the ACTFL in Boston, the LTRC/AAAL in St Louis, and the ATJ Conference in Chicago, where he presented a paper entitled "Evaluating Performance: Oral Interview Test at Washington University." This summer Mr. Itomitsu plans to teach at the SPEAC Program at Ohio State University and the Japan TJFL Program at Bryn Mawr College.

Xia Liang, Lecturer in Chinese, taught at WU and UM-St. Louis this past academic year. She taught Level 1, 2, and classical Chinese Reading. She also offered a Guided Reading class, which had 16 students. She attended two conferences: the ACTFL last November and the "Princeton University Conference on Chinese Language Instruction: Material and Pedagogy" at the end of April. At the Princeton Conference Ms. Liang presented two papers on teaching advanced level Chinese. This coming summer she will return to China and work with the Princeton in Beijing Summer Program. She will be the lead teacher of the Level 4 Chinese course. She is also looking forward to seeing her family and enjoying real Chinese food.

Ginger Marcus, Senior Lecturer in Japanese and Coordinator of the Japanese Language Program, taught First-, Second- and Third-Level Japanese this past year. She attended the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language annual conference in Boston, gave a presentation at a conference at the Japan Foundation in Santa Monica on teacher certification, and attended the annual Association for Asian Studies conference in Chicago.

As Coordinator of the Japanese Language Program, Ms. Marcus filed this report: "Please check out our website (http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~japanese) for detailed information about us! In the fall semester we offered three sections of First-Level Japanese with a total of 45 students enrolled. In the spring semester we usually see approximately half of the First-Level class drop, but this year we were happy to see 38 students stick with it. This year’s itinensee were a remarkable group of hardworking students! We had a relatively large Second-Level class with 20 students in two sections. Out of these 20, six will be going to Japan in the fall to study at the Kyoto Center for Japanese Studies or to Waseda University. Two students will be returning from the Kyoto Center to continue their Japanese studies in our Fourth- and Fifth-Level classes."

Marvin Marcus, Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Literature, taught an EAS home-based course on the nativist and traditionalist elements in modern Japanese society and culture and will teach an EAS home-based course in the fall.

On the research front Dr Marcus continues to work on researching early 20^th-century Japanese literary reminiscence and memoir, focusing on the works of Shimazaki Tôson and Natsume Sôseki. "In this connection, I gave a talk on a body of writings by Tôson that reflect upon his three-year stay in France (1913-16). I’ll be back in Tokyo later on this May to continue my research projects, taking up residence at Kokugakuin University." Dr. Marcushas also published a series of entries in Asia-related literary encyclopedias.

Judy Mu, Lecturer in Chinese, will change gears this summer after the past two semesters. She will be directing the Duke-WU summer program in Beijing between mid-June and mid-August. Dr. Mu reports that there will be ten WU students attending the program this year and that they look forward to the hot Beijing summer and, of course, lots of new learning experiences in a completely different setting.

Steven Owyoung, Visiting Lecturer in East Asian Studies, curated exhibitions and programming at the Saint Louis Art Museum this past year. The show Unchanging Heart: The Art of Zen Buddhism included lectures by Stephen Addiss, Tucker Boatwright Professor in Humanities, University of Virginia at Richmond and Fukushima Keido, Chief Abbot and Zen Master at Tofukuji Temple, Kyoto. In conjunction with the premier of the opera Tale of Genji by Opera Theater of St. Louis, Steven curated Reflections of the Tale of Genji in Japanese Art at the Museum. This spring he was guest curator for the exhibition In the Shadow of Dragons: The Robert Kresko Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes at the Trammel and Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas.

In addition to giving a number of invited lectures at universities and museums across the United States, Steven is currently working on an annotated translation of the Chajing (Book of Tea), the treatise by the eighth century poet and connoisseur Lu Yu. Recent publications include "The Connoisseurship of Tea: A Translation and Commentary on the ‘P’in-ch’a’ Section of the Record of Superlative Things by Wen Chen-heng (1585-1645)" Kaikodo Journal and the forthcoming "Drinking from the Dragon’s Well: The Art of Tea in Ming China," Beverages in Early Modern Japan: Their International Context, 1660s-1920s.

Elizabeth Oyler, Assistant Professor of Japanese Language and Literature, has been kept busy with conference presentations. "I delivered a paper entitled ‘Biwa Hôshi at the Crossroads: Founding Legends, Heike Biwa, and Guild Identity in Medieval Japan’ at the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting in March in Chicago. In April, I presented a paper entitled ‘Tomoe, Woman Warrior’ at the Midwest Japan Seminar at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky."

Laurence A. Schneider, Professor of Modern Chinese History, has been dividing his time during the past academic year between teaching courses and completing a book. Dr. Schneider’s courses included: "The Chinese Revolution Through Chinese Eyes," which emphasized primarily autobiography and fiction by writers who lived through the revolution from 1900 to the early 1950’s. Dr. Schneider also taught advanced seminars on the development of Chinese Communism and on the New Culture Movement of the 1920s.

Dr. Schneider’s manuscript is called "Crossing-over: The Transfer of Genetics & Evolutionary Theory to Modern China, 1920-1990." Hopefully, it will appear in print before the end of 2002. Dr. Schneider describes the book as follows: "It is a case study of how Western and Soviet science was established in China and the difficulties that science had developing - mostly because of political and ideological reasons."

"Next fall, I will be offering a new survey course that deals with the problem of science in modern China: ‘History 327: Science & Technology in China.’ There are no prerequisites for this course - you won’t have to be a rockecientist to enjoy it."
 

Michele Shoresman, Assistant Dean for Graduate and Joint Degree Programs, School of Law, and Adjunct Associate Professor of East Asian Studies applied for and was awarded a Fulbright grant for International Educators. Unfortunately, as Dr. Shoresman said, it is to Germany, not to East Asia!

Misa Suzuki, Lecturer in Japanese, taught mainly Second-Level Modern Japanese courses and team-taught First- and Third-Level Modern Japanese this year. She also coordinated the departmental pedagogy session. Ms. Suzuki attended the ACTFL annual conference which was held in the fall, the Annual Conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics which was held in St. Louis in February, and she will a present a paper at the Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Workshop in May.

Fengtao (Fred) Wu, Lecturer in Chinese, returned from Beijing in the fall where he worked as a co-director for the Duke-WU program. This summer he will return to Middlebury College for 9 weeks where he teaches Level 4 Chinese.
 
 

GRADUATE STUDENTS
 
 

Lane J. Harris (MA ’02) will be spending the summer continuing his research on the Baojia (collective responsibility) system in Republican China, writing book reviews for submission, rewriting a historiographical paper on Republican China, and studying Japanese history. In his spare time Lane will continue his Chinese language study and begin learning classical Chinese. Lane is also working for the East Asian Studies Program this summer editing the newsletter and assisting with the production of the Proceedings of the Association for Japanese Literary Studies. As usual, Lane will face east every morning to welcome the shining face of the Great Helmsman (editor’s note: that’s Mao to the uninitiated).
 
 

Suzanne Kauer (MA ’02) will be running away for a few weeks in May to try and hit as many national parks in the West as possible before diving into her thesis research in June. The rest of the summer Suzanne will be studying up on the Japanese Health Education curriculum, working to pay the bills, and helping the Grad Student Senate put together New Student Orientation for August.
 
 

Leonard Liaw (MA ’02) will spend his summer doing his thesis research. Due to his research topic, educational reform in Taiwan, it is also likely that Leonard will spend a few weeks in New York City where resources are more available. "As for the rest of the summer, I will probably stay in St. Louis working on a digitizing and file-making project at the WU Language Lab. In this high tech world, one simply cannot afford to ignore new high tech skills. In other words, I need the money and they pay well. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, I will be done with my preliminary thesis research, have learned a couple new high tech skills, and be loaded with cash. How’s that for a summer?!"
 
 

Krystél Mowery (MA ’01) started this year under the impression that this would be her second and final year in the MA program. However, in March that proved to be untrue. With Dr. Copeland’s encouragement Krystél applied, and was accepted, for a six-month stint at Tsukuba University outside Tokyo. While at Tsukuba, Krystél intends to pursue independent research in Japanese art as well as continue her studies in Chinese. She is looking forward to the challenge of learning Chinese in Japanese. Thus, Krystél will finally end her stay at WU when she returns in the spring of 2002. (Best wishes!)
 
 

Emi Suzuki (MA ’01), whose scholarly interests are minorities in Japan, educational equality, moral education, and Japanese pop culture, is graduating. Emi spends her free time composing songs with other musicians on the koto, cooking, traveling, and working with children with congenital birth defects. Emi’s immediate post-graduate plans are to go to Springfield, IL, to help plant a church. When asked what is most important to her Emi responds, "God, the Bible, God, the Bible." Emi also wanted to commend the EAS professors on their dedication to teaching and making the program great.
 
 

Daniel Shapiro (JD/MA ’02) will be a summer associate with the firm of Paul Weiss in Beijing this summer. Dan is planning undisclosed mischief in Beijing with Walter Hutchens (JD/MA ’99), who also works for Paul Weiss.
 
 

Susan J. Taylor (MA ’02) will return to her beautiful home state of Montana this summer where she will work in the state capitol on some research projects. In her spare time Susan will continue to pursue her interest in Chinese history by doing independent research. When not busy with work or study Susan will be attending weddings, playing in the mountains, and searching for Chinese language partners.
 
 

UNDERGRADUATES
 
 

Chris Berresford (BA ’03) will be working for LaForce and Stevens Public Relations in New York this summer and preparing to leave for the Duke Program in China at Capital Normal University in Beijing this fall. This past year Chris was the manager of the Washington University Photography Association, inducted into the Golden Key Honor Society, and photographer for the Hatchet Yearbook. As a photographer for the Hatchet Chris attended the Presidential Debate that was held at Washington University last fall.
 
 

Stephen Ehlers (BA ’04) is one of our newest majors having declared less than a month ago! Stephen said he choose a major in East Asian Studies because "I love the Japanese language courses I’m taking now, and I think an East Asian Studies major will be a perfect complement to the business degree I am pursuing."

Cara Hamaguchi (BA ’01) is becoming a Second Lieutenant on May 17, just before graduation, and will be working at the WU ROTC for a few weeks this summer before she goes to train new recruits in Fort Knox. After that Cara will be moving to Fort Gordon, GA, for six months and then take up her permanent duty station in Germany. Excited to be living abroad, Cara notes, "It’s a lot of moving over the next year, but that’s the Army for you."
 

Kristi Kleiboeker (BA ‘01) is getting married on June 30^th in St. Louis and will honeymoon in Jamaica. She and her fiancé are applying to graduate schools, she in law and he in engineering, but they have decided to postpone their schooling and move to Japan for a year to teach English as a second language for the Japanese Exchange Teaching Program. She is hoping to be placed in a rural area so that she can really improve her Japanese. When they return Kristi and her husband, Nate, will attend schools either in Colorado or California.
 
 

Laura Spillman (BA ‘02) has been living in Tokyo and attending classes in the Kokusaibu of Waseda University since January. "I’ve found living in Tokyo to be an intense but rewarding experience." She has been living with a host family and appreciates their making her feel welcome. Laura has been taking pottery classes, tea lessons, and spending time with her Japanese and international friends. " When I leave Tokyo I will take with me the lasting relationships with the wonderful people I’ve met."
 
 

Nikki Stromberg (BA ‘02) is wrapping up her time abroad. Nikki spent the spring semester at Temple University, Tokyo. When not in class she was visiting places like Kyoto, Hakone, Kamakura, and Yokohama, which she said were "breathtaking sites offering invaluable experiences." She is presently in Bali enroute from Thailand, then after a final stopover in Japan, is off to New Zealand and Australia. Describing her time in Southeast Asia Nikki said, "This is paradise! Elephant trekking, parasailing, white beaches and mint green sunsets!" (Life’s rough)
 
 

ALUMNI SIGHTINGS
 
 

Tara Adrian (MA ’99) got engaged this year and then traveled to Paris and Amsterdam for business. Tara and her fiancé Brian will be married June 30^th in Philadelphia. Working for the Scholten Japanese Art gallery, Tara is preparing for New York’s Asia Week and is finishing up the gallery’s exhibit "Delicate Divide: The Art of the Japanese Screen" while "basking in the wonderful press we are receiving from not only the New York Times, but other magazines as well." Tara also conceived a 12-part (monthly) Lecture Series "The Aesthetics of Edo" and has had overwhelmingly positive response from collectors, dealers, scholars, and enthusiasts in the area. The gallery has been lucky enough to host such speakers as Timon Screech, John Carpenter, Christine Guth, Donald Jenkins, and Elizabeth de Sebato Swinton.
 
 

Sarah Cao (MA ’00) immediately after completing her MA last spring found a position with the JFK School of Government at Harvard University. Although her departmental base has since changed, Sarah is still working at Harvard and is enjoying life in Boston.
 
 

William Collazo (MA ’00) is teaching Japanese and an introductory course in philosophy and current affairs for the International Baccalaureate Program at Deerfield Beach High School. William had this to say about his teaching, "I LOVE my work. My students have won honors in Japanese language competitions for the District. Fujiwara-sensei and Marcus-sensei will be proud to know I have been doing oral JSL-like drill sessions with my students. They love them. I’ve even turned a number of my students on to Japanese literature and cinema. I am currently working toward my professional certificate in teaching, but I plan to enroll in a Ph.D. program in the next two or three years. I’ll let you know how that goes."
 
 

"Lori is doing well. She started her own wedding consulting & event planning business and loves being self-employed."
 
 

But the best news is: "We’re having a baby! Our beautiful little bundle of joy is due around Labor Day (how fitting!)."
 
 

Heather Eaton (JD/MA ’00) is now in San Francisco. Having taken the California Bar Exam she is awaiting the results, and she reports: "The waiting is harder than the actual exam!"
 
 

Kevin Ho (BA ‘00) is wrapping up his MA course at the School of Oriental and African Studies. This summer Kevin is looking for an internship with the Democrats or the American Bar Association, or just relaxing. Kevin will be attending the UC-Berkeley Law School in the fall.
 
 

Walter Hutchens (JD/MA ’99). After a year in New York City, Walter is working in the Beijing office of Paul Weiss. An article he wrote about recent amendments to China’s law on pharmaceuticals will appear in the April-May issue of China Law & Practice. An article on China’s first law on trusts is forthcoming in the same issue. Walter said that WU alum Zhang Chenbo works for a firm in the same office complex and the two have gotten together a few times for unofficial Beijing alumni chapter meetings. Walter reports seeing law school registrar Collen Ecker and her husband while they were in China for the premier of the Chinese movie "Gua Sha," which was filmed in St. Louis and features Collen’s husband. The Eckers were kind enough to invite Walter to a dinner with several members of the film’s cast.
 
 

Georgina McCaughan (BA ’97). After working for Sony Music Asia in Hong Kong for two years Georgina moved back to the United States and is currently finishing her second year of law school at the Washington College of Law, American University in Washington D. C. and is a volunteer and board member of the APALRC.
 
 

Jennifer Millman (BA ‘99) has switched jobs from a shareholder service representative to Financial Assistant at Discovery Communications, Inc. At Discovery, Jennifer does contract analysis, subscriber variance follow-through, and financial application for the Travel Channel, The Learning Channel, Animal Planet, and the Discovery Channel. "My job is unique in that I am able to appreciate the legal and financial aspects behind the cable industry." Although her job keeps her busy Jennifer plans to enroll in a conversational Chinese class next fall.
 
 

Melissa Parrish (BA ’99) has been working as Director of Marketing for Global Minds, Thunderbird’s e-learning start-up. Melissa reports: "Every day is something new as we ride the start-up and stock market roller coasters! It has been difficult to find funding because of the downturn. . . so who knows how long I will be here!" Ever optimistic, Melissa has settled comfortably into life in Phoenix. "The yin and the yang in my life right now are bowling and yoga. Monday nights I bowl on a league and Tuesday nights I do yoga, which is all peace, love and happiness! Too funny!"
 
 

Heather Peck (JD/MA 99) had been considering a trip to Japan when suddenly she won a free ticket. "Can you believe my luck?!" Heather continues to work at Greenberg Traurig, LLP, doing corporate mergers and acquisitions and securities work. She also says "I am a member of the Japan-America Society of Georgia, as well as the Young Professionals Group from that organization, and am meeting some great people in the process." Heather is also making use of her music minor playing saxophone in the Atlanta Lawyers’ Orchestra, which performs on average one concert every two months at venues around Atlanta. "I am happy in my job and things are going well for me and my husband Anand in Atlanta."
 
 

Owen Rosa (BA ‘99) is living in Hanamaki, Japan as a CIR in the International Exchange Office in the Hanamaki City Hall. "I can’t say the work is stimulating, but life outside the office is what keeps me going. Skiing, golf, and karate are my real life, and of course, we can’t forget my Japanese studies."
 
 

Bert Scruggs (MA ’96) continues to live in Yokohama where he attends the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Study and is working on his Ph.D. at Penn on free will and cultural identity in Taiwanese colonial literature, Bert reported, "My latest inspiration comes from a former Japanese colonist’s remark that ‘Taiwan is Japan’s new Japan.’"
 
 

Brett Tande (BA/BS ’00) has been living in Chicago and working for KPGM Corporate Finance as an analyst. He works within the Industrial Markets group and advises on mergers and acquisitions. Brett’s travels have taken him as far as Zurich, but he hopes to get some projects "to my favorite part of the globe - East Asia."
 
 

Fred Tsai (BA/BS ’00) immediately after graduation, Fred flew to China for a brief trip along the Silk Road in Xinjiang where he had the chance to live with Kazak and Uighur locals. Recently, Fred has been working in San Francisco in the "tumultuous world" of Technology Investment Banking "where the Nasdaq’s daily ups and downs control your life." Fred is looking forward to spending more time traveling, working and/or studying in China before going on to continue his studies in either East Asian Studies or International Relations.
 
 

Fred strongly endorses his EAS studies noting: "It’s funny, but now that I’m out of school, I’m finally realizing how much I really enjoyed East Asian Studies courses, especially compared to my BSBA focus (which is of little value in the real world.) So if any student out there is still concerned about careers in Business and how EAS might not be applicable to the ‘real world,’ send them to me. I’ll set them straight." You can contact Fred at: fhtsai@hotmail.com
 
 

Kristen Wanner (MA ’00) has taken a position with Cheng and Tsui in Boston. Her responsibilities include book editing/production, some marketing, some translation and basically learning how to do everything "because it’s a small company!"
 
 

Jia Wu (MA ‘00) is now a Ph.D. student in Accounting Information Systems at Rutgers University. Jia Wu’s major is an integration of accounting and computer science. Jia Wu was awarded a generous TAship and fellowship for next year and has been assigned to maintain the website for the American Accounting Association this summer.
 
 

Washington University

East Asian Studies, Box 1123

One Brookings Drive

St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

eas@artsci.wustl.edu

DATES TO KEEP

August 13: GSAS Orientation for New Graduate Students 1:00-4:00. Reception, 4:30-6:00
 
 

August 14: International Student Orientation
 
 

August 15: The East Asian Studies Orientation, all newly matriculating students are expected to attend. Returning students and faculty members are invited to

join. The Orientation will be followed by a reception with members of the EAS Community.
 
 

August 17: Placement Examinations for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.