IplanYale: East Asia

IplanYale (a next generation enhancement of E-Assisted Planning - East Asia, which was developed with a generous grant from the Richard U. Light Foundation and in concert with the Richard U. Light Fellowship Program at Yale) has been designed to assist current and prospective Yale University students in effectively finding, documenting, and following through on a wealth of opportunities and resources related to languages and cultures across the globe. By selecting the region of East Asia, IplanYale provides a central portal for students and faculty to efficiently access a wide range of resources about East Asian studies and activities at Yale University. No other tool at Yale exists that offers this kind of comprehensive detail for East Asian studies.

Yale CEAS Occasional Publication Series

The Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University is pleased to announce the publication of "This Sporting Life: Sports and Body Culture in Modern Japan" edited by William W. Kelly (Yale University) with Sugimoto Atsuo (Kyoto University). The spring 2007 publication marks the inauguration of Yale CEAS Occasional Publications in the spirit of scholarly exchange and international cooperation. This book series is published by the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University to present scholarship about the East Asian region based on activities sponsored by the Council. The spring 2008 publication is entitled “Japan and the World: Japan’s Contemporary Geopolitical Challenges – A Volume in Honor of the Memory and Intellectual Legacy of Asakawa Kan’ichi,” edited by Frances Rosenbluth (Yale University) and Masaru Kohno (Waseda University). The forthcoming publication in the Series is a volume of scholarly works produced during the international conference on "Esoteric Buddhist Tradition in East Asia: Text, Ritual and Image." This conference, coordinated by Youngsook Pak (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London), took place at Yale University in November 2007 with the generous support from The Korea Foundation. For more information regarding these published volumes, please contact eastasian.studies@yale.edu.

Japan & Yale Twenty-First Century Initiative

The Japan & Yale Twenty-First Century Initiative has been developed as part of the centenary celebration in 2007 of the appointment of Professor Kan’ichi Asakawa (1873-1948) to the faculty of Yale University in 1907. Professor Asakawa went on to teach Japanese history and civilization at Yale for 35 years. Throughout his career, Professor Asakawa sought peace and understanding between Japan and the United States.

In spring 2005, the Chair of the Council on East Asian Studies, Professor Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan (History of Art) appointed a committee to review the state of the Japan program and to consider ways to enhance its visibility on campus and beyond. The meetings resulted in the implementation of a new initiative — Japan & Yale Twenty-First Century Initiative — to promote exchange between Yale and Japan while keeping in mind the legacy of Japan-U.S. relations established at Yale during the tenure of Professor Kan’ichi Asakawa in the 1930s and 1940s. The committee is co-chaired by Professors Gustav Ranis (Economics) and William Kelly (Anthropology) and works closely with the Office of the President and the Office of International Affairs. One of the highlights on the agenda for the 2005-2006 academic year was a presidential visit to Tokyo.

During the spring of 2007, the Council on East Asian Studies hosted an international conference at Yale University on "Japan and the World" that highlighted Professor Asakawa's lifetime goals and activities with a focus on world peace and international friendship. There are also future plans for a bi-national symposium organized by Professor William Kelly on the theme "Professional Baseball in Japan and the United States: National Pastimes, International Futures." For more information on upcoming events, please visit the event calendar of the Council on East Asian Studies.

In addition, the Asakawa Garden Project at Yale University has been established to recognize the achievements and legacy of Professor Asakawa. The construction of the garden, located in the courtyard of Saybrook College on the Yale campus, was completed in August 2007 and a formal dedication will take place on October 12, 2007. For more information on this important project, please CLICK HERE. To view the architectural plans for the garden site, please CLICK HERE. To view photos of the finished garden, please CLICK HERE.

The Council on East Asian Studies is also pleased to cooperate with Tokyo University through The Todai-Yale Initiative. At a meeting in May 2006, The University of Tokyo President Komiyama and Yale University President Levin agreed to establish a University of Tokyo laboratory within Yale, and in September 2007, The Todai-Yale Initiative was created as a university-wide center. The main aims of the Initiative are to enhance academic and administrative exchange between the universities and to organize events to energize Japanese Studies and Japan-related research in the United States. The Todai-Yale Initiative, in collaboration with the Council, will hold several workshop series, seminars and symposiums within Yale University.

Korea Program Development

The Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University recognizes the pivotal importance of a robust Korea program and seeks to develop a permanent Korean studies component in its programming and curriculum. The Chair of the Council on East Asian Studies worked closely with the Development Office, the Provost's Office, and the Office of International Affairs to secure funding from the Korea Foundation to support a three-year program bringing distinguished visiting professorships of Korean studies to campus. The Council also sponsors a postdoctoral associate, visiting fellows, and research affiliates in Korean studies and supports Korean language curricular development in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures. In the coming years, the Council will continue to focus on securing permanent faculty positions in Korea studies.

The Korea Studies Committee is a faculty advisory body to assist the Council in promoting scholarly research and teaching of both Koreas (ROK and DPRK) at Yale. Composed of faculty from both the humanities and social sciences, the Committee takes an interest in curriculum, faculty and postdoctoral associate appointments, Korea Colloquia, study abroad, library acquisitions and fund-raising. The Committee can reached by contacting the Council.

Silk Road Studies Project

Study of the history and cultures of the Silk Road regions has become an important component of East Asian Studies at Yale. Professor Valerie Hansen, in particular, has been active in developing Silk Road studies at Yale and is joined by a number of faculty in art history and religious studies with a shared interest in the transregional networks linking the cultures of East Asia with those to the west in Central and South Asia. Looking forward, we see important new initiatives for Silk Road studies that build upon the strong foundation we already possess.

In 2006, CEAS conducted a six-week, multi-university faculty site seminar, led by Professor Mimi Yiengpruksawan (History of Art), in Gansu, Ningxia, and Xinjiang Provinces followed by an academic conference and publications. There have also been faculty site seminars in Sichuan and Yunnan during the summer of 2007, a visit to Liao Dynasty sites in Shanxi, Liaoning, Hebei, and Inner Mongolia during the summer of 2008, and a program along the Tarim Basin and in northern Xinjiang during the summer of 2009. Our goal is to facilitate exchange of ideas among specialists on-site and in the company of local experts, enhance curriculum development, and develop a database of imagery for use in the classroom. This program also includes bringing Chinese, Korean, and Japanese specialists to Yale as part of our ongoing commitment to scholarly exchange in Silk Road studies. These activities have been supported by the Council's National Resource Center Title VI Grant from the United States Department of Education.

Tibetan Studies is a new and growing field at Yale University and also an important component in the Council on East Asian Studies' Silk Road Studies Project. Over the longer term, we are confident that Silk Road studies will contribute significantly to our understanding of the interplay of global and local cultures in the East Asian setting.