We are pleased to announce the publication of our Fall 2020 Newsletter (vol. 13). In addition to reports from the programs and centers that are associated with the Department, we are proud to present two new faculty members, reflections on major academic and artistic events, our wonderful undergraduate and graduate students’ achievements, and our faculty members’ accomplishments along with numerous other contributions.
The East Asia Center has announced its Online Speaker Series from October 2020 through January 2021. Please join us for these virtual events!
The Worst Chinese Poetry: A Virtual Workshop
April 5–9, 2021
Organized by Thomas Mazanec, Xiaorong Li, and Hangping Xu
Call for Papers
Good poems are all alike, but every bad poem is bad in its own way. Poems may fail according to aesthetic, formal, political, social, moral, and other criteria. There are failures of innovation and imitation, of quantity and quality, of ambition and cowardice. The purpose of this virtual workshop is to explore what was thought to be the very worst poetry written in Chinese and to understand why it was regarded so poorly. We want to know who considered it bad, and according to what criteria. By examining the “worst” poetry and the harshest judgments on it from antiquity to the present, we hope to offer a literary history as seen through failure.
The workshop will introduce and discuss primary texts that address the question of why a poem might be called “bad.” Participants are invited to submit up to 10 pages (inclusive of English translation) of “bad” Chinese poetry or critical writings on it from any historical period, accompanied by 5–10 pages (1250–2500 words) of critical introduction. Texts should highlight important moments in the history of bad poetry and how they relate to aesthetic, political, social, and conceptual norms. During the workshop, participants will meet on Zoom for several half-days to discuss the contributions.
Our definition of badness is broad. The awkward, the ugly, the wild, the immoral, the vulgar, the boring, the didactic, the unusual—all may be considered bad. Poetry that’s good in one context is often bad in another. Some topics that participants may wish to consider addressing include (but are not limited to):
Contributions will be collected, reviewed, and edited for publication as part of The Worst Chinese Poetry: A Critical Anthology. Abstracts of up to 250 words describing a Chinese text and its relevance to bad poetry are due by October 15, 2020. Full contributions will be due January 31, 2021. The workshop will convene the week of April 5–9, 2021.
Inquiries and proposals may be submitted to the organizers, Thomas Mazanec (mazanec@ucsb.edu), Xiaorong Li (lixiaor@ucsb.edu), and Hangping Xu (hangping@ucsb.edu).
Japanese Language Placement Test
The Japanese placement tests for Fall ’20 will be conducted in September on GauchoSpace and Zoom. Please go to our website below for more details.
http://japaneselanguage.eastasian.ucsb.edu/about/placement.htm
If you have any questions, please contact Yoko Yamauchi yokoy@eastasian.ucsb.edu
During the 2019-2020 academic year, our graduate students enjoyed great success winning awards, fellowships, and grants. We are truly proud of their academic achievements and offer them our warmest congratulations!
Carl Gabrielson, a Ph.D. candidate researching on contemporary Japan, was awarded a number of grants and fellowships: 1. UCSB Graduate Scholars Program Mentoring Grant; 2. UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Mellon Engaging Humanities Fellowship; 3. Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Short-Term Fellowship for Research in Japan (Project Title: “Orienting the Troops: Militarizing the Interpersonal in the U.S.-Japan Alliance”); and 4. Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship.
Elizabeth Kataoka, a Ph.D. candidate specializing on modern Japan, was awarded a Fulbright Open Study Research Award and a 2020 Japan Foundation/UCSB Graduate Division Research Accelerator Award. She will continue researching for her dissertation project on “Assimilating Identity? Education, Epistemologies, and Ainu Consciousness in the Twentieth Century.”
Joseph Lovell, a Ph.D. candidate working on modern China, was awarded a highly competitive doctoral fellowship by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. Joe’s dissertation project is titled “The Maoist Soundscape: The Usage and Reception of Amplified Sound in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1976.”
Yiming Ma, a first year Ph.D. student, won a 2020 Japan Foundation/UCSB Graduate Division Research Accelerator Award, which will enable him to conduct preparatory archival research for his dissertation project on underground trans-war networks of Japanese and Chinese leftwing intellectuals and artists in Tokyo and Shanghai.
Keita Moore, a Ph.D. candidate working on contemporary Japan, received Japan Society for the Promotion of the Sciences (JSPS) Doctoral Fellowship for Research in Japan for his dissertation project titled “Grand Designs: Videogames, Societal Time, and Developer Agency in Contemporary Japan.” In addition, Keita also won the 2020 Koichi Takashima Graduate Research Award.
Kaitlyn Ugoretz, a Ph.D. candidate working on Shinto, received a number of important grants. She was awarded the Japan Foundation Doctoral Research Fellowship, a Social Sciences Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellowship (SSRC-IDRF), and a 2020 Japan Foundation/UCSB Graduate Division Research Accelerator Award for her dissertation project, “World-Wide Shinto: The Globalization of ‘Japanese’ Religion.” In addition, she received a GSA Excellence in Teaching award and is currently in the final stage of consideration for a Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant.
Congratulations, all!
The 2019 Department newsletter is now available for download. Though delayed due to the pandemic, we are excited to tell you about many of the wonderful achievements of our students, alumni, faculty, staff, and programs.
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