Recent Events

2009 Symposium in Beijing

“Columbia and China: Past and Future”
Sunday, May 31
1:00 – 8:30 PM
Treasury Ball Room,
Westin Financial Street
Beijing, China

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2009 Symposium in Tokyo

“Columbia and Japan: A Celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute”
Wednesday, June 3
10:15 AM– 7:45 PM
Quarante B Room
Academy Hills, Roppongi
Tokyo, Japan

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2009 Symposium in Seoul

“Global and Local Korea: Korean Studies in a Changing World”
Wednesday, June 10
6:00 – 10:00 PM
Orchid Junior Ballroom
Westin Chosun Hotel
Seoul, Korea

For a complete listing of all upcoming events, please visit our calendar

NEWS

Papers published from a WEAI-sponsored conference in honor of Henry Dewitt Smith II



The Weatherhead East Asian Institute is pleased to announce that a publication has resulted from the May 2007 conference in honor of Japanese history Professor Henry DeWitt Smith II. Papers from the conference, some of which are written by WEAI faculty members Greg Pflugfelder and Kim Brandt, appear as a special issue of Impressions, the journal of the Japanese  Art Society of America. The title of the issue is "Pictures and Things: Bridging Visual and Material Culture in Japan.”

The 2007 event was sponsored by the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture, and the Hiroshi Nitta Fund.

To order Impressions, click here.

Weatherhead East Asian Institute Undergraduate Photography Exhibition Fall 2009

Click here for more information

Recent Faculty in the Media

REUTERS
Japan opposition leader quits ahead of election

May 11, 2009

Japanese opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa resigned on Monday in a move that is likely to improve his party's prospects in a looming election, after a fundraising scandal dampened its hopes for victory. … "It is a necessary step toward fixing the image problem. Now the question is whom do they chose, how do they chose him and how does he perform," said Gerry Curtis, a Columbia University professor and expert in Japanese politics.

TIME MAGAZINE
Scandal Forces Japan's Opposition Leader to Quit

May 11, 2009

At a Tokyo press conference on May 11, Ichiro Ozawa, leader of Japan's main opposition party, looked refreshed and smiling. Someone in the crowd yelled, "Don't quit!" but everyone gathered at the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Japan knew that Ozawa, who has led the DPJ since April 2006, had already made up his mind. After a few moments the 66-year-old party president took the podium to announce that he will step down as early as May 13. "I made up my mind that I'd like to solidify the unity at the DPJ and to strengthen it further by stepping down," said Ozawa. "To win is the reason for my decision." Did the LDP orchestrate Ozawa's downfall? Says Gerald Curtis, a political professor at Columbia University who has written extensively on Japan: "If that's what they wanted, they succeeded."

EAST-WEST CENTER
Indonesia’s Young Democracy Thriving, But Challenges Remain

May 6, 2009

Indonesia is among several countries participating in a UN program to curb emissions of greenhouse gases caused by deforestation. It will host the 2009 World Ocean Conference in May, said Salmon, the keynote speaker at the meeting last week, which was organized by the Hawai‘i chapter of the Indonesian Student Association in the U.S.

 “Definitely, the U.S. has an interest in Southeast Asia, and I think Indonesia is going to be an important partner because it has the biggest Muslim population in the world, it’s the biggest market in Southeast Asia, and it’s actually now quite ironically the best functioning democracy” in the region, said Michael Buehler, a postdoctoral fellow in Modern Southeast Asian Studies at Columbia University in New York.

For more Faculty in the Media, click here.