Lily Iserson
A&E Editor
In early August, The College of Wooster announced its annual forum topic for 2014: East Asia. The catchall title will address the diverse cultures of China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea through a variety of lectures, alongside a special art exhibition pertaining to the region’s traditional and contemporary works that will extend through Sept. 28.
As of Sept. 4, the lecture component of the East Asia forum has begun following Michael Berry’s lecture “Chinese Cinema With Hollywood Characteristics.” Berry is a professor at the University of California Santa Barbara in its department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies. His research touches upon Chinese cinema, translation studies, and popular culture in modern China.
The series will resume Thursday, Sept. 25 with Michael Puett’s lecture “Understanding the Rise of China from the Perspective of World History.” Puett is a professor in the department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University; his research follows the intersections of philosophy, religion, history, and anthropology in world cultures. He is also the author of two books, that approach concepts of innovation and cosmology in early China.
Beloved Chinese-American writer Amy Tan will discuss “The Heart of a Writer” on Tuesday, Sept. 30. Her works include The Joy Luck Club and The Kitchen God’s Wife, among other novels, as well as several non-fiction works. She is well regarded for her efforts in illuminating the intergenerational Chinese family experience, as well as mother-daughter relationships.
College of Wooster alumna Susan Q. Stranahan will discuss a book she co-authored on Japan’s recent nuclear disaster in “Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster and its Aftermath” on October 14. Stranahan is a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and has written for a variety of publications, including TheWashington Post and TheRolling Stone and was awarded a Distinguished Alumni Award from the College in 1996.
On Thursday Oct. 30 Eleana Kim, an anthropologist at the University of Rochester, will discuss her research in “Making Peace With Nature: The Ecological Value of the Korean DMZ.” Her topic aims to discuss the unintentional haven of biodiversity created in between the border of North and South Korea.
Leslie Chang will conclude the forum series on November 4th with “The Lives and Loves of a Chinese Factory Girl” which will concern her novel Factory Girls: From Village to City in Changing China, discussing how intense urbanization has impacted Chinese women throughout the country.