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New York
Third Annual Chinese Medieval Studies
Workshop
On December 10, 2005, the
Third Annual Chinese Medieval Studies Workshop at Columbia
University was held. Over the past three years, this annual
gathering of scholars from across the United States to present
on current research and to discuss scholarly issues of the
medieval field has generated much excitement about the field
and its new directions and approaches. It has also been
successful in bringing about the formation of a network of
scholars working on the medieval period and collaborative
projects among the participants. This year’s meeting of
scholars working on medieval literature, history, art history,
and religion has proven to be yet another fruitful
event.
Over the course of this
one-day workshop, five speakers presented papers on new
research and discussants responded to these papers. The
participants and papers presented are as follows: Robert Campany, “Adepts and
Their Communities (pre-350 C.E.)” (Discussant: Michael Puett);
Alan Berkowitz, “Social and Ethical
Dimensions of Reclusion in Early Medieval China” (Discussant: Robert Ashmore); Jack Chen,
Poetic
Insignificance (Discussant: Paula Varsano); Wendy Swartz, "New
Approaches in Tao Yuanming Studies in the Ming and Qing”
(Discussant: Tian Xiaofei); Eugene
Wang, “Patterns
Above and Within: Palindromes, Astral
Pictures, and Ring Compositions in
Medieval China” (Discussant: Robert
Ashmore). The
workshop concluded with a special presentation of the Angel Island
Poetry Inscriptions by Charles Egan. The workshop was attended
by a number of Columbia faculty members and graduate students,
as well as colleagues and students from other
universities.
Hualian, Taiwan
The Fourth International Junior Scholars
Conference on Sinology
Sponsored by the CCK Foundation, the Ministry of Education, the
Council of Indigenous Peoples, and the Council for Cultural
Affairs in Taiwan, the fourth
international junior scholars conference on sinology was held
from November 18 to 20 at Donghua University in Hualian, Taiwan.
It was a resounding success, with twenty-one foreign scholars
from a dozen of countries and approximately one hundred local
participants who engaged each other in a most friendly and
productive environment. The conference covered a rich diversity
of topics on multi-ethnic approaches to sinology, ranging from
genetics and cultural anthropology to such subjects as
comparative philosophy, religious studies, minority discourse,
ethnicity and politics, linguistics, music and drama
performances, writing about the Other, and so forth. Olga Lomova
from Charles University opened the conference with a series of
questions on a new novel and a best-seller in China, The Wolf
Totem. Her keynote speech, “Is Wolf Better than Dragon,” set
the tone for the eight panels to follow, and scholars pursued
the problematic further by examining alternative ways in which
sinology could be conducted in more dynamic and responsive
manners. To open up dialogues, three professors from China lead
discussion in heart-felt fashion about the possibilities of
sharing life experiences as well as research results. Paul
Anderer, Associate Vice President of Columbia University, also
briefed on the platforms enabling trans-national networks of
cooperation and exchange to be established. The three day event
reached its climax with an aboriginal picnic along the shore in
the second evening. In the round-up session, four distinguished
scholars highlighted the power and limitations of multi-ethnic
approaches as revealed by the twenty-five papers. Enlightened
and inspired, everyone seemed not only better but happier than
dragon after the conference.
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