Past events
Selected seminars, conferences, lectures, film screenings, exhibitions, and workshops in Asian Studies (2015 -).
Asian Studies Seminar Series
Each semester, Asian Studies welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present an evening seminar on their research.
The topics span fields as diverse as film and media, literature, religion, society and politics in China, Japan, Korea and, more broadly, East Asia.
Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.
Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.
|
Date |
Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 17 March 2021 | Ritual and Practice in South Korean Shamanism | Simon Mills (Durham University) and Kyoim Yun (University of Kansas) |
| 20 January 2021 | New Approaches to Empire in East Asia: Agriculture and the Environment | David Fedman (University of California, Irvine) and Peter B. Lavelle (Temple University) |
| 2 October 2020 | Games and Gaming in the East Asian Studies Classroom |
|
| 4 March 2020 | Imagining the origins of poetry: narratives of script and genre in medieval Japanese commentaries | Dr Jennifer Guest (University of Oxford) |
| 2 March 2020 | North Korea at the Center: Kim Jong Un’s Strategy to Reset The Regional Order in Northeast Asia | Scott A. Snyder (Council on Foreign Relations) |
| 12 February 2020 | On Smashed Eggs and Statecraft: Landscape and Ritual Warfare during the Reign of the Fifth Dalai Lama | Dr Martin Mills (University of Aberdeen) |
| 5 February 2020 | The Siberian Internment of Japanese Servicemen in the Context of Trans-Eurasian Forced Migrations, 1939-1956 | Dr Sherzod Muminov (University of East Anglia) |
| 29 January 2020 | A Brief Cultural History of the Korean-Chinese Diaspora | Dr Jerôme de Wit (University of Tübingen) |
| 22 January 2020 |
Has PRC Counter-Terrorism in Xinjiang Evolved into State Terror? |
Dr Joanne Smith Finley (Newcastle University) |
|
15 January 2020 |
Social Justice in the Developmentalist City? Contesting the nexus between urbanism and developmentalism in East Asia | Dr Jamie Doucette (University of Manchester) |
| 26 November 2019 | The Emperor’s Secrets: How Muslims Interpreted Chinese Rule in Xinjiang (1759-1960) - Co-hosted with the Edinburgh Centre for Global History | Dr Eric Schluessel (University of Montana) |
| 20 November 2019 | Cyborg's Paradise and Well-lit Shopping: Digital Places in Chinese Art | Dr Angela Becher (University of Liverpool) |
| 14 November 2019 | Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue (see also Film Screenings) | Miki Dezaki |
| 13 November 2019 | To No One's Satisfaction: Between Neoliberal and Corporate Expertise in a Korean Office | Dr Michael Prentice |
| 6 November 2019 | A Glimpse Behind the Noh Mask | Dr Rachel Payne (University of Canterbury) |
| 30 October 2019 | Tibetan Buddhist Identity and the Way of the Bodhisattva | Professor Mario Anguilar |
| 23 October 2019 | The Inebriating City: Nagai Kafū in Shanghai and the 'othering' of Space | Dr Gala Follaco (University of Naples “L’Orientale”) |
| 16 October 2019 | Metamorphosis of a Butterfly: Xiyadie's Queer Papercutting Art | Dr Hongwei Bao (The University of Nottingham) |
| 9 October 2019 | Directing Girls: Korean Independent Cinema and Woman Filmmakers | Dr Jinhee Choi (King's College London) |
| 2 October 2019 | Feelings Without Words: Growing Up in the Cinemas of Postwar Japan, 1945-1968 | Dr Jennifer Coates (University of East Anglia) |
| 25 September 2019 | Korea and Japan: Partners from Past to Present and into the Future | Dr James B. Lewis (University of Oxford) |
| 18 June 2019 | The Making of Global International Relations | Professor Amitav Acharya (American University, Washington DC) |
| 22 May 2019 | Recent books | Professor Aaron Moore, Dr Christopher Rosenmeier and Dr Daniel Hammond (University of Edinburgh) |
| 26 March 2019 | Locating Fey Mou(s): The Topos of Chinese Film Theory | Dr Victor Fan (King’s College London) |
| 19 March 2019 | Aspects of Law and Ideology in Chosŏn Korea: Social Status, Gender and the Body | Dr Anders Karlsson (SOAS, University of London) |
| 12 March 2019 | Japan’s imperial underworlds: intimate encounters at the borders of empire | Dr David Ambaras (North Carolina State University) |
| 5 March 2019 | War, the state, and the formation of the North Korean industrial working class, 1931-1960 | Dr Owen Miller (SOAS, University of London) |
| 26 February 2019 | Slow Way Home: How the Japanese Have Preserved a Universal Walk to School System | Professor Leonard Schoppa (University of Virginia / Nissan Institute, University of Oxford) |
| 12 February 2019 | Divination and Digital Humanities: On the Construction and Utilization of a Database of Taiwanese Temple Oracles | Professor Philip Clart (University of Leipzig) |
| 5 February 2019 | Kingdom of Pines: State Forestry and the Making of Korea, 1392-1910 | Dr John S Lee (University of Manchester) |
| 22 January 2019 | 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio': Monstrous Bodies in Liaozhai zhiyi | Dr Sarah Dodd (University of Leeds) |
| 27 November 2018 | The politics of violence, glue-sniffing, and liberation: making 1968 in Japan | Professor William Marotti (University of California at Los Angeles) |
| 20 November 2018 | Learning pronunciation utilizing “Japanese Pronunciation for Communication” | Professor Takako Toda (Waseda University) |
| 13 November 2018 | Understanding China’s Belt and Road Initiative | Dr Jinghan Zeng (Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| 6 November 2018 | Opening the Door to Change: Developing a sustainable future for Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea | Dr Virginie Grzelczyk (Aston University) |
| 1 November 2018 | Searching for sight, sound, and heart: writing an English-language noh on the suffragette Emily Wilding Davison | Dr Ashley Thorpe (Royal Holloway, University of London) |
| 18 May 2018 | The future of Korean democracy: heterarchical democracy and overcoming non-simultaneity | Hyug Baeg Im (Korea University and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)). |
| 16 May 2018 | Ends and Beginnings: Japan’s Railways in the Wake of War | Professor Andrew E. Barshay (University of California at Berkeley) |
| 29 March 2018 | Nuclear Ontologies in post-apocalyptic Japan | Dr Jennifer Clarke (Robert Gordon University) |
| 27 March 2018 | Defining the Northern Coast: Cartography and Maritime Governance in Seventeenth Century China | Dr Ronald C. Po (London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| 27 February 2018 | Towards a Visual History of Occupation in Wartime China: Tracing the Visual culture(s) of the Wang Jingwei regime, 1940-1945 | Dr Jeremy Taylor (University of Nottingham) |
| 13 February 2018 | Between France, India, and Japan: Paul Richard and pan-Asianism as an anti-secularist imaginary | Professor Hans Martin Krämer (Heidelberg University) |
| 30 January 2018 | 50 Shades of Grey: The Emergence of ‘Smog Art’ in China | Dr Thomas Johnson (University of Sheffield) |
| 25 January 2018 | Looking at the forest instead of the trees: What’s behind Zen at War and the Buddhist–Rohingya conflict in Myanmar? | Dr Brian Victoria (author of Zen at War) |
| 14 November 2017 | Penetrating Knowledge: Cognition and Cosmic Flow in Early and Medieval Chinese Philosophy | Dr Curie Virág (University of Toronto) |
| 31 October 2017 | Korea's quest for economic democratization: Globalization, polarization and contention | Dr Youngmi Kim (University of Edinburgh) |
| 17 October 2017 | Knowing What Not to Know in Contemporary China | Dr Margaret Hillenbrand (University of Oxford) |
| 3 October 2017 | Religious Subjectification and Social Transformation in Contemporary China | Dr Adam Chau (University of Cambridge) |
| 19 September 2017 | Student radicalism and its contexts in post-occupation Japan | Dr Kenji Hasegawa (Yokohama National University) |
| 3 April 2017 | War, Work and Witnessing: aesthetics and ideology in Shindō Kaneto’s cinema | Dr Lauri Kitsnik (Sainsbury Institute) |
| 22 March 2017 | Chinese Discourse on Historiography, Nationalism, and Non-Chinese Peoples in the 1900s to 1920s | Dr Julia Schneider (University of Göttingen) |
| 17 March 2017 | Japan’s Security Conundrum | Professor Rikki Kersten (Murdoch University) |
| 8 March 2017 | Rebels in Power: Shandong and Shanxi in China's Cultural Revolution | Professor Felix Wemheuer (Cologne University) |
| 2 March 2017 |
Textual performance of truth in early Chinese Philosophy |
Professor Joachim Gentz (University of Edinburgh) |
| 15 February 2017 | Chinese Gardens: History, Design and Meanings | Dr Alison Hardie |
| 8 February 2017 | A Reconsideration of Nishida Philosophy and Japanese Nationalism | Professor Kan Sakurai (Nihon University) |
| 23 November 2016 | Inter-Group Violence in Upland Southwest China, 1800-1950s | Dr Joseph Lawson (University of Newcastle) |
| 2 November 2016 | Chinese Intellectual Life amid Censorship and Commercialization | Dr Chaohua Wang (University of California) |
| 12 October 2016 | On Feeding the Masses: The Politics of Regulatory Failure in China | Professor John Yasuda (Indiana University) |
| 5 October 2016 | Fragrance (xiang) and its Cultural Meanings in Ming and Qing Literature | Professor Paolo Santangelo |
| 23 March 2016 | Literary Translation and Contemporary Sino-African Relations | Dr Kathryn Batchelor (University of Nottingham) |
Korean Studies Distinguished Lecture Series
This series from the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies has been running since 2020, latterly in collaboration with our Korean Studies PhD reading group “Korea and Its Neighbours”.
Previous lecture topics have included Korean literature, poetry, and cinema, North Korean development, East Asian international relations, Korean history and society, and queer Korea.
Often, speakers will present on recent publications, and audiences have the opportunity to participate in question and answer sessions after their presentations.
Selected lectures have been recorded and uploaded to the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies’ YouTube channel and Facebook page.
Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.
Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.
| Date | Title | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 31 March 2021 | Queer Korea | Professor Todd Henry (UC San Diego) |
| 24 March 2021 | Hegemonic Mimicry Korean Popular Culture of the Twenty-First Century | Professor Kyunghyun Kim (UC Irvine) |
| 10 March 2021 | "Warm Robots" for Autistic Children? The thermodynamics of humanity, sociality, and techno-society in South Korea | Assistant Professor Hyaesin Yoon (Central European University) |
| 3 March 2021 | The Cost of Belonging: An Ethnography of Solidarity and Mobility in Beijing’s Koreatown | Assistant Professor Sharon Yoon (University of Notre Dame) |
| 24 February 2021 | North Korea and the Geopolitics of Development | Professor Kevin Gray (University of Sussex) |
| 11 February 2021 | East Asia in the World: Twelve Events that Shaped the Modern International Order | Professor David Kang (USC) and Professor Stephan Haggard (UC San Diego) |
| 4 February 2021 | A Memory of student movement in 1980s as a female participant | Young-Mi Choi (poet) |
| 28 January 2021 | Understanding the Trilateral ties among South Korea, China, and Japan | Dr Sookeun Woo (Concordia University) |
Conferences and symposia
The Yun Posun Memorial Symposium
The Yun Posun Memorial Symposium was established in March 2013 to foster new partnerships between the UK and Korea, promoting longer-term understanding and the growth of contemporary Korean studies and culture in Scotland.
It is jointly organised by the Yun Posun Institute for Democracy and the University of Edinburgh.
The symposium is named after Yun Posun, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1930 and ultimately became the father of the modern democratic movement in Korea.
Typically, the conference comprises a mix of panel sessions, keynote plenaries, workshops and networking opportunities. Topics covered have included political economy, international development co-operation, and US-China relations.
The 2018 conference in Edinburgh incorporated cultural performances from Korea and Scotland, an exhibition of new art inspired by the conference theme, a film screening, and a guest lecture with the Asia Scotland Institute on Digital Disruption.
Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.
| Dates | Theme | Venue | Keynote speakers and discussants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 and 3 November 2021 | A New Agenda for South Korea-UK Cooperation in the COVID19 Era | Online (Zoom; YouTube) | Tae-sik Lee (Former Ambassador to UK and US); Dr Youngmi Kim (University of Edinburgh); Professor Chan Wook Park (Seoul National University); Professor Ihn-hwi Park (Ewha Womans University) |
| 17 October 2019 | A New Partnership between ROK and UK in the 21st Century | Seoul | |
| 8 and 9 October 2018 | Inequality in Global Cities, Seoul in Comparative Perspective | Playfair Library, University of Edinburgh |
More conferences and symposia
Dates: 2 and 3 September 2021
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Keynote speakers: William A. Callahan (London School of Economics and Political Science); Bruce Cumings (University of Chicago);Namhee Lee ( University of California); Rana Mitter (University of Oxford)
In brief: A two-day conference for graduate students and Early Career Researchers undertaking research relating to East Asia in any academic discipline.
Read more about the conference on Edinburgh Forum on Korea's blog
Date: 29 January 2021
Venue: Online (Zoom)
Events series: The Social Science Korean Studies European Network (SoKEN) Conference
Keynote speaker: Professor Victor Cha (Georgetown University)
In brief: Hosted by the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies, this event focused on Korea’s future under a new US administration.
Date: 4 to 6 September 2019
Venue: Various, University of Edinburgh
Keynote speakers: Dr Alexander Bukh (Victoria University); Professor Heonik Kwon (Trinity College, University of Cambridge); Jessica Batke (ChinaFile).
In brief: A major, three-day, triennial meeting of scholars of Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, and cross-regional and intra-regional issues in East Asia. The event comprised three keynote lectures, nine panel sessions, film screenings, workshops for postgraduate researchers, mentoring sessions, a roundtable discussion on climate change, and an exhibition.
Dates: 13 and 14 December 2018
Venues: 7 George Square, University of Edinburgh; L’Institut français d’Ecosse
Keynote speakers: Professor Nobuko Akiyama (Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo); Professor Nobuko Anan (Kansai University); Professor Fuhito Endo (Seikei University, Tokyo)
Organisers: Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce (University of Edinburgh); Dr Akihiko Shimizu (Cardiff University)
In brief: A two-day international conference in comparative literature on representations of the face in Japanese and Western European art, literature and theatre from the Early Modern period to the present. Comprising 13 papers over five sessions, and three keynote lectures, the event was supported by the DAIWA Foundation (UK), L'Institut Français Écosse and LLC.
Date: 19 and 20 June 2018
Venue: Confucius Institute for Scotland
In brief: A two-day conference critically examining the series of political, social, and technological revolutions that shaped the contours of modern China in the realm of the senses. Comprising seven panel sessions and a roundtable discussion, the event brought together 14 internationally-recognised scholars from Asia, Europe and America. It was funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange; the School of Humanities and Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University of Edinburgh.
Date: 4 and 5 October 2017
Venue: McEwan Hall, University of Edinburgh
Keynote speaker: Gordon Brown
Host: Confucius Institute for Scotland
In brief: A two-day conference bringing together 30 leading business and academic speakers to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with China's 'Belt and Road' initiative, the largest economic development programme in the world. In addition to a plenary on finance, the event included workshops and Q&As on energy, green buildings and infrastructure, smart data and mobility, and water.
Dates: 1 to 3 September 2016
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Keynote speakers: Professor Alan Williams (University of Manchester); Professor Arvind Pal Mandair (University of Michigan)
In brief: A three-day AHRC-funded conference exploring the relationship between 'translation' and 'religion'. Comprising two keynote presentations and panel sessions, the event formed part of the Conversion, Translation and the Language of Autobiography research project and brought together scholars from different disciplines to investigate theories, concepts and methods.
Date: 25 February 2016
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Keynote speakers: Professor Shino Watanabe (Sophia University); Professor Ayako Kusunoki (International Research Center for Japanese studies); Professor Yuko Adachi (Sophia University)
Discussants: Professor Juliet Kaarbo; Dr Kristen Hopewell; Dr Lauren Richardson; Professor Urs Matthias Zachmann
In brief: A symposium bringing together three visiting Japanese experts on international relations to explore Northeast Asia's continuing strategic reconfiguration. Jointly hosted with the School of Social and Political Science, the event comprised talks on China's Belt and Road initiative, Japan's Foreign and Security Policy in the Post-Cold War period, and Russia’s energy pivot to Asia, followed by a roundtable discussion.
Dates: 17 to 18 July 2015
Venue: Old College, University of Edinburgh
In brief: A two-day, international symposium marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Asia-Pacific War. Comprising five sessions, each featuring papers by two speakers, the event brought together leading scholars from Japan, the United States, and Europe for informal discussion, reflection and debate on issues relating to history, collective memory, and contemporary understanding.
Lectures, talks, discussions and readings
Date: 6 March 2023
Venue: 50 George Square
Organiser: Scottish Centre for Korean Studies
Discussants: Beatriz Lopez (Commissioning Editor for Politics at Edinburgh University Press); Professor Natascha Gentz (Chair of Chinese Studies, University of Edinburgh)
In brief: Presentations by and a discussion between Beatriz Lopez and Professor Natascha Gentz on the subject of transforming a thesis into your first book. Beatriz discussed choosing the right book publisher and writing your book proposal, as well as the review and publishing processes. Natascha offered a brief introduction to publishing in Asian Studies, followed by discussion of the Edinburgh East Asian Studies series and the Modern Chinese Literature and Culture journal. She then provided a brief overview of the series editor role and the benefits of publishing as part of a book series for early career researchers.
Their presentations were followed by a Q&A and a practical exercise on book proposal writing.
Date: 19 November 2020
Venue: Online (Teams)
Events series: Edinburgh Buddhist Studies - In conversation
Speakers: Dr Ian Astley (University of Edinburgh); Dr Paulus Kaufmann (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich)
In brief: A free online discussion between Edinburgh Buddhist Studies member Dr Ian Astley and guest Dr Paulus Kaufmann discussing why they became involved in studying Shingon Buddhism - one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan - and what they see as its principal value for Buddhist Studies.
Date: 16 October 2019
Venue: Playfair Library, University of Edinburgh
Events series: Inaugural Lectures at the University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Professor Aaron William Moore (University of Edinburgh)
In brief: A free public lecture marking Aaron W. Moore becoming Handa Chair of Japanese-Chinese Relations at the University of Edinburgh. In the lecture, Professor Moore focused on the relationship East Asian modernity shared with the personal diary, which came to both reflect and contribute to phenomena such as 'total war' mobilisation, revolution, and the experience of childhood.
Date: 23 May 2018
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series
Speaker: Professor Catherine Vance Yeh (Boston University)
In brief: A free public lecture focusing on Mei Lanfang's pioneering works in dance in Peking opera, tracing links with Japanese and Western dance performers, and their impact on non-realistic modern performance styles.
Date: 23 May 2018
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series
Speaker: Professor Rudolf G. Wagner (Heidelberg University)
In brief: A free public lecture tracing the trends, transcultural connections, and political agenda of the Chinese school of yigu - or ‘doubting antiquity’ - and the ‘believing antiquity’ narrative.
Date: 25 April 2018
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series
Speaker: Professor Sheldon Lu (University of California)
In brief: A free public lecture considering two approaches in contemporary Chinese literary, cultural, and film studies: one to de-centralise, de-territorialise, and pluralize the object of China; the other to re-territorialise and re-centre China, making China proper the object and subject of critical inquiry.
Date: 20 February 2018
Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Lesley Downer
In brief: A free public lecture, hosted in collaboration with the Japan Society of Scotland, by the journalist, historian, and author of the The Shogun Quartet of novels.
Date: 15 February 2018
Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Professor Joan Judge (York University, Canada)
In brief: A free public lecture exploring to what extent new concepts on science, illness, and the natural world became integrated into the everyday lives of poorer urbanites and lower-level local elites in 19th century late Qing and Republican China.
Date: 28 November 2017
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Joonkook Hwang
In brief: A free public talk on Korean history, economic and political development by the Korean Ambassador to the UK.
Date: 27 November 2017
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Professor Ian Gow OBE
In brief: A talk by the former Chairman of the Japan Society of Scotland (and Scotland’s first professor of Japanese Studies) marking the centenary of the dispatch of Imperial Japanese Navy ships to protect British ships under attack from German submarines in the Mediterranean during the First World War.
Date: 24 November 2017
Venue: Chrystal Macmillan Building, University of Edinburgh
Speakers: Frank Fan; Chantal Bertalanffy
In brief: The presentation of doctoral work in progress by PhD in Japanese students Frank Fan (To understand the development of Kaidan (怪談) in Tokugawa Japan as a vehicle for the transmission of Buddhist, Confucian and Kokugaku (National learning 國學) ideologies) and Chantal Bertalanffy (“3.11”, trauma and gender).
Date: 10 November 2017
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Dr Youngmi Kim (University of Edinburgh)
Host: The Islamic Society, University of Edinburgh
In brief: A free public talk offering insights into the Myanmar Rohingya Crisis, giving some context and explaining the changes the country was experiencing at the time.
Date: 5 April 2017
Venue: New College, University of Edinburgh
Events series: Khyentse Lecture in Buddhist Studies
Organiser: Asian Religions Network
Date: 23 March 2017
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Events series: South East Asian Studies Seminar Series
Speakers: Professor Yamamoto Nobuto (Keio University, Tokyo); Dr Elizabeth Chandra (Keio University, Tokyo)
In brief: The presentation of two papers by guest speakers from Keio University, Tokyo:
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Security vs Human Rights: Comparative Refugee Crises in Southeast Asia (Professor Yamamoto Nobuto)
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A More Wholesome Holmes: Translating Detective Stories in Colonial Indonesia (Dr Elizabeth Chandra)
Date: 20 March 2017
Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Professor Stephen Sarrazin (Paris 8 University)
In brief: A talk proposing a chronology of events that may have led to the reduction in the emergence of new film directors from Japan since 2005.
Date: 20 May 2016
Venue: Confucius Institute for Scotland
Speaker: Dr Adam Smith (University of Pennsylvania)
In brief: A free public lecture, Q&A and reception - held as part of the Backside of the Bones research project - focusing on the early origins of writing in China.
Date: 17 March 2016
Venue: Business School, University of Edinburgh
Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series
Speaker: Professor Yuri Pines (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
In brief: A free public lecture, followed by a Q&A and reception, on the repercussions of China's transformation from monarchy to republic, reassessing its political and cultural consequences.
Date: 5 May 2015
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Professor Kenji Aramaki (University of Tokyo)
In brief: A lecture on Japan's 'Lost Decades' of tepid economic growth, analysing the mechanisms of stagnation, and exploring what should be (or should have been) done to address the problems the Japanese economy has faced in the last 20 years.
Date: 30 March 2015
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Professor Chris Berry (King’s College London)
In brief: A lecture on how Cao Fei's films (RMB City, Haze and Fog, Whose Utopia and Hip Hop Guangzhou) respond to contemporary Chinese urbanisation, proposing four hermeneutic frameworks to analyse the works themselves.
Film screenings and festivals
Dates: 9 to 24 February 2023
Venue: 50 George Square
Organisers: Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh and the Japanese Studies department at the University of Edinburgh
In brief: Free screenings of contemporary Japanese film, accompanied by short explanatory talks from a series of relevant speakers, including staff and students from our Japanese department.
- Little Lights, Little Love アイネクライネナハトムジー (Rikiya Imaizumi, 2019)
- Key of Life 鍵泥棒のメソッド (Kenji Uchida, 2012)
- Neko Ninja 猫忍者 (Takeshi Watanabe, 2017)
Dates: 18 to 23 November 2019
Venue: Edinburgh Filmhouse
Events series: London Korean Film Festival - UK tour (Edinburgh)
In brief: A collaboration between Korean Studies and Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Filmhouse, and the Korean Cultural Centre UK to screen three films as part of the 14th London Korean Film Festival's UK tour. Selected from the Festival's 'Century of Korean Cinema' and 'Cinema Now' strands, the films were:
- Aimless Bullets 오발탄 (Yu Hyun-mok, 1961)
- Grass 풀잎들 (Hong Sangsoo, 2017)
- The Devil’s Stairway 마의 계단 (Lee Man-Hee, 1964)
Date: 14 November 2019
Venue: Adam House, University of Edinburgh
In brief: A public screening of Miki Dezaki's debut film and Q&A with the director exploring the debates around Japan's 'comfort women' and the hidden intentions of both supporters and detractors. The event was co-hosted jointly by Asian Studies and Film Studies as part of seminar series in both subject areas.
Dates: 16 to 21 November 2018
Venue: Edinburgh Filmhouse
Events series: London Korean Film Festival - UK tour (Edinburgh)
In brief: A collaboration between Korean Studies and Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Filmhouse, and the Korean Cultural Centre UK to screen three films as part of the 13th London Korean Film Festival's UK tour. The films were:
- Little Forest 리틀 포레스트 (Yim Soon-Rye, 2018; introduced by Hannah McGill)
- Microhabitat 소공녀 (Jeon Go-Woon, 2018; introduced by David Sorfa)
- The poet and the boy 시인의 사랑 (Kim Yang-He, 2017; introduced by Hannah McGill)
Dates: 26 January to 23 February 2018
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
In brief: A collaboration between Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh and the Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh to screen four films (a mixture of animé, comedy and drama) over four consecutive Fridays. The films were:
- Dr Junod (Shinichiro Kimura, 2010; introduced by Fabian Arribert-Narce)
- Yôjû mameshiba (Tôru Kamei, 2009; introduced by Helen Parker)
- Nobody to Watch Over Me (Ryoichi Kimizuka, 2008; introduced by Aaron William Moore)
- Thermae Romae (Hideki Takeuchi, 2012; introduced by Akihiko Shimizu)
Dates: 12 October to 9 November 2017
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
In brief: The screening of a selection of films rediscovered as part of Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema: Recovered and Restored project, led by King’s College London and SOAS, and jointly supported by the Ministry of Culture of the ROC (Taiwan), King’s College London and the Taiwan Film Institute (previously Chinese Taipei Film Archive). The films were:
- The Best Secret Agent (1964) - with an introduction by Teresa Huang, Taiwan Film Institute
- Early Train from Taipei (1964)
- Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (1968)
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Dangerous Youth (1969)
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Brother Wang and Brother Liu Tour Taiwan (1959)
Dates: 26 and 27 May 2016
Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh
Events series: Chinese Independent Documentary
Speaker: Xu Xing
Organiser: Confucius Institute for Scotland
In brief: Two days of documentary film screenings and Q&As with award-winning novelist and film maker Xu Xing.
Exhibitions, workshops and performances
Date: 6 April 2022
Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh
Speaker: Tea Master Soju Nakazawa (Gakushuin Women’s College)
In brief: A lecture and demonstration of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony by a visiting tea master from Japan. The event was supported by the Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh.
Date: 11 November 2019
Venue: Various, University of Edinburgh
Performers / speakers: Munenori Takeda; Fumiyuki Takeda; Dr Ashley Thorpe; Dr Gemma McGregor; Dr Helen Parker
In brief: An introduction to mugennō, a unique style of playwriting devised for the classical Japanese musical drama noh in the fourteenth century. The event comprised an introduction by Dr Helen Parker, a performance by noh master Munenori Takeda, and a roundtable discussion on International Perspectives on Noh Drama featuring visiting noh masters in conversation with a scholar-playwright and a composer.
Date: 6 October 2017
Venue: Appleton Tower, University of Edinburgh
Speakes: Professor Nozomi Fukasawa (Kanazawa University)
In brief: A hands-on workshop exploring a new type of speech activity - Biblio Battle - followed by a discussion of public speaking and how this skill is taught in Japanese language education.
Date: 5 April 2017
Venue: Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh
Organiser: Asian Religions Network
In brief: A roundtable discussion bringing together scholars from the School of Divinity, Edinburgh College of Art, and Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
Date: 18 to 20 May 2016
Venues: Confucius Institute for Scotland (Day 1); National Museum of Scotland (Days 2 and 3)
Speakers: Dr Adam Smith (University of Pennsylvania); Antoine Ruchonnet (University of Edinburgh)
In brief: A three-day introduction to the reading of oracle bone inscriptions from the collections of the National Museum of Scotland. Held as part the Backside of the Bones research project, the event included multiple reading sessions, a talk on the research (Antoine Ruchonnet), and a free public lecture (Dr Adam Smith).