Annual Report 2014-2015
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WEATHERHEAD EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2014–2015 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY COLUMBIA 2014–2015 REPORT INSTITUTE ANNUAL ASIAN EAST WEATHERHEAD ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 Weatherhead East Asian Institute Columbia University International Affairs Building, 9th Floor MC 3333 420 West 118th Street New York, NY 10027 Tel: 212-854-2592 Fax: 212-749-1497 www.columbia.edu/weai 2115_cvr.indd 1 8/10/15 12:21 PM TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR 1 2 THE WEATHERHEAD EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE 2 3 THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY 3 4 PUBLICATIONS 32 5 RESEARCH PROGRAMS OF THE WEATHERHEAD EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE AND AFFILIATED COLUMBIA CENTERS 36 6 PUBLIC PROGRAMMING 41 7 GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES 50 8 STUDENTS 52 9 ASIA FOR EDUCATORS PROGRAM 56 10 STAFF OF THE WEATHERHEAD EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE 58 11 FUNDING SOURCES 59 12 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MAP: MORNINGSIDE CAMPUS & ENVIRONS 60 2115_cvr.indd 2 8/10/15 12:21 PM 1 LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR During my first year as director of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, I have had the privilege of engaging directly with our scholars, students, alumni, and supporters. I have also enjoyed witnessing the Institute’s lectures, workshops, and educational outreach open new roads of inquiry and research about East Asia. Looking back on the 2014–2015 academic year, I am particularly proud of the Institute’s slate of world-class events and of the inauguration of our Dorothy Borg Research Program, which will make Columbia a leader in the transnational study of East Asia and the United States. Beginning with World Leaders Forums featuring HE Shinzo Abe, prime minister of Japan, HE Benigno S. Aquino III, president of the Republic of the Philippines, and 2012 Nobel Laureate in Literature Mo Yan, this year abounded with extraordinary events. A centerpiece of our 2014–2015 programming was “Birds of Metal in Flight: An Evening of Poetry with 5+5” (see p. 48) at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where artist Xu Bing’s breathtaking Phoenix installation—a pair of giant phoenixes fabricated from construction debris—hung by cables in midair. To an audience of around 500 people, five renowned Chinese poets and five eminent American poets joined together to read poems inspired by the soaring sculpture. In addition, WEAI organized an array of all-day and multiday academic conferences, including one concerning Thailand’s current political climate (p. 46) and another celebrating the scholarship and mentorship of my distinguished colleague Madeleine Zelin, the Dean Lung Professor of Chinese Studies (p. 45). We also presented expansive lecture series that addressed such topics as modern Taiwan, human rights in East Asia, and the digital humanities. An especially popular series featured prominent museum professionals and art historians who discussed the collection and exhibition of East Asian material culture (p. 42). I am pleased to note that our research initiatives in 2014–2015 proved to be just as ambitious as our events programming. This year, I was thrilled to help establish the Dorothy Borg Research Program (p. 37). Named in honor of Professor Dorothy Borg (1902–1993), a groundbreaking scholar of U.S.–East Asia relations at Columbia, this program offers postdoctoral positions, collaborative grants, and graduate fellowships that will generate scholarship and pedagogy examining the linkages between East Asia and the United States in ways that cross geographic, temporal, and disciplinary boundaries. I look forward to reporting on the new research, course offerings, and scholarly collaborations that this program will engender. This year was also notable for the accolades received by our faculty. I congratulate Charles Armstrong, the Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies in the Social Sciences, for winning the 2014 John K. Fairbank Prize from the American Historical Association for his book Tyranny of the Weak: North Korea and the World, 1950–1992. I am also pleased to report that Carol Gluck, the George Sansom Professor of History, was honored with the 2014–2015 Cleveringa Professorship at Leiden University. And I would like to recognize Jim Cheng, director of the C. V. Starr East Asian Library, who was appointed vice president/president-elect of the Council on East Asian Libraries, and Shang-Jin Wei, N. T. Wang Professor of Chinese Business and Economy, who was appointed chief economist of the Asian Development Bank. Finally, I am happy to announce that Robert Barnett, director of Modern Tibetan Studies, has been named a senior research scholar. This year saw several additions to the WEAI community. We welcomed Takatoshi Ito, a noted economist, who joined Columbia as a professor of international and public affairs (p. 6). Additionally, we were excited to have Jonathan M. Reynolds, a professor of art his- tory at Barnard College and an expert on Japanese visual culture and architecture, join the WEAI faculty (p. 11). We were also pleased to have Chuck Wooldridge, a historian of China at Lehman College, enter our community of research scholars (p. 23). I am sad to report that this year saw the passing of our Harriman Institute colleague Catherine Nepomnyashchy, the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Russian Literature and Culture at Barnard College. Last summer, Professor Nepomnyashchy co-led the Global Scholars Program (p. 52) with Charles Armstrong. We also mourn the loss of Irene Liu, who served as director of the Chinese Language Program in EALAC for many years. We will long remember their contributions to the Columbia community. Finally, I am pleased to report that, beginning this year, we are able to offer a new scholarship to master’s degree students in both the MARSEA program and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. Thanks to the generosity of the Chynn Family Foundation, the K. York Chynn Scholarship (p. 53) will provide financial support to American students of Chinese descent who seek a deeper understanding of their heritage. I hope you enjoy learning more in the following pages about the people, events, and research that have made this a remarkable year. Eugenia Lean Director 1 2 THE WEATHERHEAD EAST ASIAN INSTITUTE Since its establishment in 1949 as the East • To advance the general understanding DIRECTORS OF THE Asian Institute, the Institute has been the and knowledge of East and Southeast WEATHERHEAD EAST center for modern and contemporary East Asia, both inside and outside the ASIAN INSTITUTE Asia research, studies, and publication at University, through meetings, confer- Columbia, covering China, Japan, Taiwan, ences, publications, and otherwise. Sir George Sansom 1949–1953 Hong Kong, Korea, Mongolia, Tibet, and, Faculty and scholars at the Institute are Hugh Borton 1953–1958 increasingly, the countries of Southeast distinguished by their interdisciplinary and Asia. In 2003, the Institute was renamed C. Martin Wilbur 1958–1964 multinational focus. Resources available to the Weatherhead East Asian Institute to the Institute community include Columbia James W. Morley 1964–1967 honor the generosity of the Weatherhead University’s renowned C. V. Starr East John M. H. Lindbeck 1967–1970 Foundation. Asian Library and the Institute’s extensive James W. Morley 1970–1973 The faculty members of the Institute ties to the business, diplomatic, legal, and are members of Columbia’s Schools of media communities in New York City, the Gerald L. Curtis 1973–1975 Business, Law, International and Public nation, and abroad. The Institute is also Myron L. Cohen 1975–1976 Affairs, Arts and Sciences, and Barnard one of the leading centers for develop- College. Annually, the Institute hosts a ing K–12 teacher resource and training Gerald L. Curtis 1976–1984 diverse group of visiting scholars, profes- programs in the United States. James W. Morley 1984–1987 sionals, and students from the United The importance of East Asian studies at Gerald L. Curtis 1987–1991 States and abroad. Columbia is recognized by a wide variety Andrew J. Nathan 1991–1992 The mission of the Institute is: of funding sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, which, since Madeleine Zelin 1992–1993 • To bring together faculty, research 1960, has designated Columbia as an scholars, and students in an integrated Andrew J. Nathan 1993–1995 East Asian National Resource Center and program of teaching and research on provides 3 percent of the Center’s annual Madeleine Zelin 1995–2001 East, Southeast, and Inner Asia; to train funding needs. students to understand the countries, Xiaobo Lü 2001–2003 peoples, and cultures of East and Through its research projects, conferences, Charles Armstrong 2003–2004 Southeast Asia in order to enable them and seminars, the Institute creates an to function with knowledge of East and international forum on economic, political, Xiaobo Lü 2004–2006 Southeast Asia in academic teaching and security issues facing East Asia. Myron L. Cohen 2006–2014 and research, in government service, in Eugenia Lean 2014– business, in journalism, and in nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations. 2 2115_txt Rev.indd 2 8/10/15 4:33 PM 3 THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY the Weak: North Korea and the World, 2008, is an expert on rural China. His FACULTY 1950–1992 (Cornell University Press, courses included “Chinese Politics,” “Life 2013) won the 2014 American Historical Cycle of Communist Regimes,” and “Major Association John Fairbank Prize for East Dictators of the Twentieth Century.” Since PAUL ANDERER Asian History, and the second edition of retiring, he has participated in workshops his book The Koreas (Routledge, 2007) and conferences in the United States and Mack Professor of was published in early 2014. He is also Europe concerning rural China, China and Humanities and writing the Modern East Asia volume for human rights, and China in the interna- Professor of Japanese the Wiley-Blackwell series Concise History tional arena. Literature, Department of the Modern World, to be published Professor Bernstein is working on a book, of East Asian in 2016.