UK undergraduates featured in Asian Studies conference

By Richard LeComte 

LEXINGTON, Ky. --- Eight University of Kentucky undergraduates will present papers at the annual Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, which will be held from Friday, Jan. 24, to Sunday, Jan. 26, on the UK campus. 

The students will present at 9 and 10:45 a.m. Jan. 26 at the Gatton Student Center. UK’s Global Asias Program is sponsoring two panels. A faculty member mentors each student. 

The panels are: 

Global Asias and Asian Film: 9 a.m.   

Chair: Akiko Takenaka, professor of history and director of the Global Asias Program.  

Discussant: Michelle Sizemore, associate professor of English and director of the Gaines Center for the Humanities. 

Participants: 

  • Nate Barker, "Discomforting Realities: The Case of Lixin Fan's ‘Last Train Home.’" Mentor: Miyabi Goto, assistant professor of Japan Studies. 

  • Maire Birdwell, "Capturing Reality: Ashes to Honey and the Influence of Documentaries on Environmentalist Movements in Japan and Beyond." Mentor: Goto. 

  • Charlotte Lawson, “Whispers of Grief: An Analysis of the Environments in ‘The Murmuring’ (1995).” Mentor: Goto.  

  • Jessica Khoury, “Sympathy and Scorn, The Complexity of Close-Ups.” Mentor: Goto. 

Conflict and Resistance in Global Asias: 10:45 a.m. 

Chair: Takenaka 

Discussant: Emily Mokros, associate professor of history. 

Participants: 

  • Grace Yi, “This Man is Your Friend: The Role of the American Home Front in Redefining Chinese Stereotypes During World War II.” Mentor: Takenaka. 

  • Andrew Chan, “The Red Guard Party of San Francisco and Its Diverging Doctrine: 1969 Asian American Identity Defined by Difference.” Mentor: Takenaka. 

  • Malissa Bouakham, “Clustered Legacy: The Developmental Consequences of UXO in Laos.” Mentor:  Marro Inoue, professor of Japan Studies.  

  • Jeff Edwards, “Dressing for a Gendered Reality: Androgynous Dress as Resistance in Contemporary Japan.” Mentor: Joannah Peterson, assistant professor of Japan Studies.  

 

The panels are free to UK faculty and students. For more information, go to https://www.sec-aas.com/conf.