White text on red background reading "Global Shinto with Kaitlyn Ugoretz." Below are three circles with a Shinto priest on a laptop screen, headshot of Ugoretz, and a photo of torii gates. At the bottom are logos of sponsors.

Kaitlyn Ugoretz interviewed about Global Shinto for Beyond Japan Podcast

 

White text on red background reading "Global Shinto with Kaitlyn Ugoretz." Below are three circles with a Shinto priest on a laptop screen, headshot of Ugoretz, and a photo of torii gates. At the bottom are logos of sponsors.

EALCS Ph.D. candidate Kaitlyn Ugoretz recently sat down with the Beyond Japan podcast to discuss the global appeal of Shinto in the digital era. Kaitlyn introduces online Shinto communities as old as the internet itself, as well as the many international faces of Shinto, from official shrines in the USA to localised rituals and Marie Kondo’s brand of spiritualism. Click here to stream the podcast, or find it on your favorite podcast app.

Made in Taiwan: Lauren Interviewing Vicky

UCSB’s Lauren Lee Wins CTS Audio Interview Award!

We are delighted to announce the winner of the Center for Taiwan Studies Audio Interview Award for Winter 2022: Lauren Lee, a UCSB undergraduate student. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to CTS’s research project, Made in Taiwan—examples of interviews conducted by UCSB students of individuals who grew up in Taiwan.

Please check out Lauren’s interview of Vicky on the CTS Youtube channel here. The next CTS Audio Interview Award will be given in May 2022. For more details, visit website.

Banner for "Study and Teach in Taiwan - Vision Unlimited" Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles

Huayu Enrichment Scholarship 2022-2023

To encourage international students and individuals to undertake Mandarin Chinese language study in Taiwan, the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) established the MINISTRY OF EDUCATION HUAYU ENRICHMENT SCHOLARSHIP (HES) Program.  The application period is February 1 – March 1, 2022.

In addition to the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES) and starting this year, the Ministry of Education launched the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program (TFETP) to expand the recruitment of English teachers and teaching assistants.  Please see the links below for more information on both of these wonderful opportunities:

  1. HES Website Including Application Instructions
  2. Study & Teach in Taiwan — Vision Unlimited PDF
  3. 2022 HES Application Form
  4. 2022 HES Terms of Agreement
  5. Video clip of “The Taiwan Experience”
A folk religious festival in honor of Mother Chen, a goddess worshipped in southeastern China.

Mayfair Yang Interviewed about the Resurgence of Popular Religion in China

A folk religious festival in honor of Mother Chen, a goddess worshipped in southeastern China.

EALCS Department chair Mayfair Yang recently spoke with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for their “Soul Search” program about her recent book, Re-enchanting Modernity: Ritual Society and Economy in Wenzhou, China. Click here to listen to the whole interview: https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/soul-search/re-enchanting-china:-the-resurgence-of-popular-religion/13739254.

A close-up photo of Marie Kondo with eyes closed, head slightly bowed, and palms clasped together

Kaitlyn Ugoretz’s Op-Ed on Marie Kondo Featured in Washington Post

A close-up photo of Marie Kondo with eyes closed, head slightly bowed, and palms clasped together
Our very own Kaitlyn Ugoretz‘s op-ed on Marie Kondo has been featured in the Washington Post. Her piece is an insightful analysis into tidiness guru Marie Kondo’s spiritual eclecticism, and what it can tell us about Japanese religion more generally.
Congratulations, Kaitlyn!
Unhappy woman giving a thumbs down and holding a book

“The Worst Chinese Poetry” featured in The Current

“The Worst Chinese Poetry” event organized by Thomas Mazanec, Xiaorong Li, and Hangping Xu has been featured in the Current, UCSB’s general news outlet. Read the story here: https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2021/020304/lyrical-losers
An excerpt:
“By calling something ‘good,’ you are drawing a line, saying some things are good, some are bad,” Mazanec said. “That line was drawn differently in different times and different places. There are all sorts of considerations that go into drawing that line: aesthetic, moral, social and political standards that change with time. By investigating these standards, we can learn a lot about Chinese literary history.”