Natalya is carrying out her dissertation research on the initiatives to sustain the production of the ramie textile Miyako Jofu, which is made through an intricate process that begins with harvesting the ramie plant, extracting the bast fibers by hand, and connecting them one by one into fine thread. She is wearing a Miyako Jofu kimono and obi at the kind invitation of the craftspeople who own the pieces. Miyako Jofu was designated as a traditional craft of Japan by the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry in 1975 and is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its designation this year. It was further recognized as an Important Intangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government in 1978. As part of her dissertation fieldwork, Natalya has been learning the hand-spinning and twisting method for making the ramie thread for Miyako Jofu. The activities of the Miyako Textile Industry Association can be viewed on Instagram @miyakojoufu.
Meagan is in Tokyo to conduct archival and ethnographic research for her dissertation on contemporary TV period drama production practices inherited from the traditional kabuki theater. She visited the Miyako Jofu exhibition as a lover of fiber arts and to support both Natalya and the craftspeople. You can follow Meagan’s research journey on Instagram @jidaigeki.kenkyu and her (upcoming) website, jidaigeki-kenkyu.com.
EALCS graduate student Raymond Chung published an article titled, “Making War-Ravaged Voices Heard in the Present” (戦禍の声を現代へ) in the June 2024 issue of The Institute of Politics and Economics’ Japanese-language journal Seiji Kenkyū Jihō (Politics and Economics Newsletter／経済研究時報). In the article, Chung describes his experiences interning at the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage for six weeks in summer of 2023, noting both the emotional resonance that connected his research on medieval Japanese religion to exhibitions at the Center and expressing his perspective that the work of Center has become ever more relevant in light of current conflicts around the globe. Scroll down to page 15 for Chung’s article: https://www.
We are pleased to announce that EALCS professor Mayfair Yang has published a new edited volume, titled Anthropology of Ascendant China: Histories, Attainments, and Tribulations (Routledge, 2024). Please visit the book’s website for more details.
Additionally, Prof. Yang was recently elected President of the Society for Anthropology of Religion (SAR), a Section of the American Anthropological Association. Congratulations!
We’re forwarding information about a new reading group initiative, “The Archives & Bodies Reading Group.” It critically examines and reimagines the roles archives play in humanities research and explores intersections between archival practices, embodiment, and marginalized histories – topics that may be of interest to many in our research community. It is part of an event series organized by the Collective for Archival Research of Embodiment (CARE), a UC-wide multicampus graduate student working group, which includes our colleagues Yiming, Uudam (RG ST), Diandian (MUSIC), Tinghao (FAMST), and other UC grad students. Other CARE events include archival writing workshops and an end-of-year performative exhibition. For more information, please take a look at the attached flyer and reach out to the contact people.
The inaugural session details are below:
Theme: “Mnemonic Bodies: Affective Archives, Memory, and Care”
Date&Time: Saturday, November 9, 6:30 PM (PST)
Platform: Zoom
Reading Materials:
Registration: https://tinyurl.
Access to readings: https://tinyurl.com/
This open-to-all reading group is organized by the Collective for Archival Research of Embodiment (CARE), a UC-wide graduate student working group. It’s sponsored by the UC Humanities Research Institute, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at UCSB.
For questions, please contact: Yiming Ma (UCSB): yimingma@ucsb.edu; Tianyun Hua (UCD): tyhua@ucdavis.edu
Prof. Thomas Mazanec was recently appointed to serve as the East Asia section editor of JAOS (Journal of the American Oriental Society). Founded in 1842, the AOS is the oldest learned society in the United States devoted to a particular field of scholarship, and its associated Journal is known as one of the premiere publications in the study of premodern Asia and North Africa.
The first issue for which Prof. Mazanec served as editor (144.3) is now online.
