Both in and out of the classroom, the art, culture, history and languages of the Far
East are engaging more and more students.
Last fall, twenty-eight students did a term abroad in Japan or China, participating in exchange programs with Kansai Gaidai University (Japan), Yonsei University (Korea), and Nanjing Normal University (China), and in the spring three undergraduates took part in the first term abroad in Vietnam (see sidebar).
On campus, the breadth of the interest is reflected in the breadth of academic offerings, including anthropology (with a course that explores Japanese society and culture), economics (a course called “East Asian Development and Society” examines economic growth in nine countries), history (more than ten courses), language (introductory, intermediate, and advanced language courses in Chinese and Japanese), East Asian literature and cinema, philosophy (“Buddhist Ethics” and “Zen and Tibetan Buddhism”), art history (see sidebar), and political
science (with courses such as “Pacific Rim Politics” and “China Revolution and Reform”).
And the annual Chinese New Year celebration, sponsored by East Asian Studies, the Asian Students Union, and Thurston House, has become a campus staple.
What explains this growing interest?
For one thing, studying the Far East isn't as exotic as it used to be, says Ted Gilman, associate professor of political science. “I think that's good,” he says. “Students see it as just one more area they can study and learn about. It's really no harder to get on a plane to Japan or China or Vietnam than to go to Europe, and e-mail and websites make it that much easier.”
Linda Patrik, associate professor of philosophy and director of the East Asian Studies program, points to economics as another reason. “The grants we have been getting have a lot to do with the economic relationship between U.S. investors and China. There is also growing interest in meditation. Not that they're mutually exclusive-people are finding out that applying Buddhist ethics to international business can make business profitable as well as more humane.”
A recent $1.2 million grant from the Freeman Foundation is enabling the program to take a major leap. One of the more experimental sides of the grant will involve using the Internet and possible videoconferencing so that students can interact in real time. Thus, for example, students in a history class examining World War II in the Pacific could talk with students on a term abroad in Japan.
Joyce Madancy, associate professor of history, says that the arts, and especially film, are great ways to get students involved. Asian pop culture includes anime, a genre of film animation for adults in which the Japanese excel, and which a number of Union students are excited about. “For students who can't go to Asia, at least they can get a window on Asian art through technology we have available,” Madancy says. “The goal is not only to make the courses here more interesting and relevant, but to get students more interested in going on terms abroad.”
For more information about the College's East Asian
Studies program, visit www.union.edu/PUBLIC/EAS/CKJ