REALC News
May, 2016
Beloved Lecturer Wan-Li Ho Retires
REALC and East Asian Studies faculty and staff bid farewell this semester to Chinese Senior Lecturer Wan-Li Ho. She was honored with memorial speeches and letters from former students and colleagues at a REALC faculty luncheon, but it remains difficult to put her legacy into words. As an instructor of Chinese language, as well as courses focusing on Chinese women and religion, Wan-Li earned the reputation as a passionate, dedicated teacher and a mentor to her students. During her fifteen years at Emory, she inspired generations of undergraduates to pursue studies, and eventually careers, in Chinese language or related fields. In 2014, Wan-Li received the Emory College Language Center Excellence in Teaching Award for her outstanding teaching record, evidence of innovation in teaching, and evidence of appreciation by peers and students as a model teacher. Wan-Li ended her career at Emory on an especially high note with the publication of her first book, Ecofamilism: Women, Religion, and Environmental Protection in Taiwan.
In addition to her many professional successes, Wan-Li will be remembered by her colleagues and students at Emory for her kindness, her sincerity, and her selflessness. We wish her much happiness in her richly deserved retirement!
CONGRATULATIONS REALC GRADUATES, SPRING 2016!
April, 2016
Emory's East Asia Collective Hosts East Asia Week, April 11 - 14
March, 2016
Cheryl Crowley's Innovative Class Culminates in Woodruff Library Exhibition
Above: A photograph of a 19th-century Japanese doll, from the Oxford College Collection of Asian Artifacts, Emory University. Photo credit: Paige Knight, Emory Libraries.
“Learning from the Empire: Japan in the Archives of Oxford College and Emory University,” opens March 9 in the Level 3 rotunda in Emory University’s Robert W. Woodruff Library. The exhibit will showcase research by Emory undergraduate students who were enrolled in the Fall 2015 course “Literary and Visual Culture in Japan.” Culled from the Oxford College Collection of Asian Artifacts, the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library and the Pitts Theology Library, the exhibit includes exquisite ceramics, sculptures, and photographs of dolls too fragile to be displayed, as well as rare photographs from Japan, China, and Korea.
Cheryl Crowley's class of 18 students studied the objects to help create a finding aid for future library users. Through their research, the students discovered documents and photographs from the same period in the Rose Library and the Pitts Theology Library’s Special Collections that add context to the objects in the Oxford College Library’s collection. “The chance to work with objects, particularly objects that haven’t been curated or researched already, is an amazing experience for students,” said Crowley. “Their perspectives enriched whatever I might have been able to do myself in trying to identify these objects. It’s been a great collaboration.”
October, 2015
Wendy Fu Leads Conversation about Top-Secret Malaria Research in China
Youyou poses with Chinese officials after the announcement of her Nobel Prize. China Daily China Daily Information Corp - CDIC/Reuters
New REALC faculty member Jia-Chen (Wendy) Fu was asked to pen an article for online journal The Conversation in recognition of an historic moment in the history of Chinese medicine. Monday, October 5 Tu Youyou, 84, became the first citizen of the People’s Republic of China to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences for discovering artemisinin, a drug that is now part of standard antimalarial regimens. Begining as a top-secret military project in 1967, the pioneering research leading to the drug's discovery combined Eastern and Western medical traditions to explore the healing properties of native plant life. Despite Youyou's accomplishments as the head of the malarial research group at the Bejing Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fu notes that a certain amount of controversy exists in the Chinese media over her Nobel Prize award due to its privileging of individual achievement over group endeavors. Fu ends the piece with a prompt for further discussion:
"During the Cultural Revolution, it mattered that science proceed along revolutionary lines. It mattered that scientific advances resulted from collective endeavor and drew from popular sources. Does it still?"
CLICK HERE to read Fu's article, "The Secret Maoist Chinese Operation that Conquered Malaria – And Won a Nobel," and join the conversation.
September, 2015
Wan-Li Ho Brings Taiwanese Youth Ambasadors to Emory
Senior Lecturer Wan-Li Ho worked in collaboration with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta and Emory's Taiwanese American Student Association to organize a major Taiwanese cultural event at Emory. On the afternoon of September 8, Emory students met with an international delegation of Taiwanese youth ambassadors to exchange ideas and information. The meeting was followed by a performance entitled "Energetic New Taiwan" in which performers introduced a packed house to the arts and culture of Taiwan. The twelve-act performance was organized around six main themes: the natural environment, healthy and sustainable living, cultural heritage, cuisine, cultural creativity, and warmth of the Taiwanese people. The student ambassadors delighted the audience with creative presentations and acrobatic dances, and communicated something of the spirit of Taiwan to the people of Atlanta.
August, 2015
REALC Welcomes Seven New Faculty Members
The Department of REALC is thrilled to welcome two new additions to its core faculty!
Jia-Chen (Wendy) Fu is our new Assistant Professor of Chinese History. Having earned a M.Phil and Ph.D in History from Yale University, she comes to Emory after holding positions at the University of California at Berkeley and Case Western Reserve University. Her primary research focuses on how new scientific disciplines and practices shaped conceptions of the Chinese physical body and diet. Her teaching interests include modern Chinese history, science and society in modern China, history of the body, food and culture, and East Asian martial arts.
Seth Goss joins REALC as an Assistant Professor of Japanese Language and Linguistics. Seth completed his Ph.D. in 2015 at Ohio State University and has received training in Japanese language pedagogy both in the US (SPEAC Program at Ohio State) and Japan (Research Institute for Japanese Language Education). His research interests include production of speech prosody; individual differences in the ability to perceive word accent; and most recently, the effects of native language phonology on second language word recognition. His current work focuses on the acquisition of second language idioms and collocations and the effects of form- versus meaning-focused instruction of kanji in the Japanese classroom.
Five new language instructors will also join REALC this year:
Kui Deng is a Chinese Language instructor. She earned a Masters degree in Linguistics & Applied Linguistics and a Ph.D. in Comparison Linguistics at Nankai University in China. She is interested in Chinese pedagogy and linguistics, phonetics, and technology in language teaching.
Rui Gao is a Chinese Language Instructor. She comes to Emory by way of Beijing Language and Culture University where she studies linguistics and applied linguistics. She is working on the completion of her dissertation entitled, "Study on Modality for the Mood Words of Modern Chinese."
Binna Kim is a Korean Language Instructor.
Hyunae Yun is a Korean Language Instructor. Hyunae is currently working toward her Ph.D. at Yonsei University in Korea. Her research interests include writing and teaching language in discourse-based L2 acquisition.
Xiaomei Zu is a Chinese Language Instructor.
April, 2015
Eight Faculty Members to Depart REALC
Today the Department of REALC bid farewell to eight of its faculty members. Lili Fan, Chenghong Liao, Xiaoqin Lin, and Yuan Liu from the Chinese program; Aya McDaniel and Izumi Johno from the Japanese program; and Jihye Eo and Hakyoon Lee from the Korean program are all leaving to pursue various personal and professional opportunities.
Aya McDaniel, whose six-year career at Emory makes her the most senior faculty member of the group, taught Japanese language from beginning through advanced levels. She will continue to teach Japanese language at Georgia Tech, where she currently works as a part-time Lecturer (click HERE for her contact information). Her contribution to the Japanese program at Emory cannot be overstated. Aya was an active participant in Emory’s “Domain of One’s Own” website initiative, designing websites for a number of her classes throughout the years. She co-founded the highly popular Japanese Happy Hour discussion groups, organized demonstrations of student video projects, and oversaw a haiku workshop that she also presented at a number of conferences. Her enthusiasm and dedication in and out of the classroom contributed to the creation of an energetic, creative, and highly successful group of Japanese students in the Department of REALC. Aya will be missed by her many friends, students, and colleagues at Emory.
Chenghong Liao will leave Atlanta for Beijing with her new husband. There she will teach Chinese at the University of International Business and Economics as she did before coming to Emory.
Yuan Liu will be leaving the US for China in June to enjoy her new baby and reunite with her family there. She will also continue to teach Chinese language in China.
Jihye Eo plans to return to Seoul to finish her PhD dissertation at Yonsei University. She writes, “I absolutely enjoyed every single moment with all of my lovely students and supportive colleagues. They have all been so much more than students and colleagues to me for the past two amazing years at Emory. I really appreciate you, and will miss you a lot!”
Xiaoqin Lin spent four years at Emory as a visiting instructor of Chinese. She will return to China to continue teaching at East China Normal University, but hopes to visit Emory again one day. “The four years I worked her were a joy,” she says. “Emory gave me many sweet memories, enough to last a lifetime.”
Lili Fan has accepted a position at UGA teaching Chinese langauge.
Korea Week Schedule Announced:
February, 2015
The Confucius Instute of Atlanta Announces Its Spring Speaker Series:
December, 2014
REALC Bids Farewell to Popular Japanese Language Instructor
Above: Mika Yamaguchi with her Japanese 101 classes
The students, faculty, and staff of REALC are saddened to learn that Mika Yamaguchi will not be returning for the Spring 2015 semester. She has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Languages at Michigan State Univeristy, effective January 2015. She began teaching Japanese language at Emory during the Fall 2012 semester, and quickly became a favorite among students and co-workers alike. "I'll miss my wonderful colleagues and students," she writes. "I truly enjoyed every class I taught and every event activity I did with my students. Also, I'll miss the mild winters in Atlanta and sudden school closings due to snow (like this year), because schools remain open no matter how much snow they may have in Michigan!"
Congratulations, Mika! The Department of REALC wishes you well in your new career. You will be missed.
November, 2014
Confucius Institute Announces Scholarship
The Confucius Institute scholarship was established with funding support from the Confucius Institute Headquarters/Hanban. The scholarship is awarded through the Confucius Institute in Atlanta at Emory University (www.confucius.emory.edu). These awards, at $500 each, provide financial assistance towards study abroad related expenses for participants in Emory Chinese Studies Program. Recipients of the Confucius Institute Scholarship are selected based on the quality of application materials submitted and will receive a living expense stipend during the first four weeks at Nanjing University. The study must be completed within calendar year of 2015.
CLICK HERE FOR SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS
October, 2014
China Colloquium Highlights the work of Emory, UGA Professors
Dr. Karin Myhre (pictured above), Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia, and Dr. Maria Franca Sibau, Assistant Professor of Chinese Literature at Emory presented their work at the first in a series of colloquia co-sponsored by the Department of REALC. Titled "Literary Spectacle of Filial Piety," the colloquium was thematically centered around issues of loyalty, duty, and heroism in late Ming and early Qing dynasty Chinese literature.
Dr. Myhre discussed the thematic significance of Confucian morality in the northern dramas Orphan of Zhao 趙氏孤兒 and Meng Liang Steals the Bones 趙氏孤兒. The duties of children to parents that constrains and compels central choices of main characters in certain early dramas illustrates the idea that the moral necessity of filial piety as a social and political organizing principle.
Dr. Sibau presented her anaylsis of the tale of Wang Yuan. Texts such as this, she maintains, can be read as attempts to cope with deep anxiety over the absence of authority figures, the dismemberment of family units, and the complex interplay between ostensibly perennial moral values and rapidly transforming socio-political circumstances.
The next China Colloquium, taking place November 19, will feature Dr. Eric Reinders' presentation, "Lexicons of the Unreal: Lord of the Rings and Journey to the West."
September, 2014
Hong Li Named ECLC Director
Dr. Hong Li, Professor of Pedagogy of Chinese in the Department of Russian and East Asian Languages and Cultures, has been named the new Director of the Emory College Language Center (ECLC) for the three-year period 2014-2017. In the words of outgoing ECLC Director Dr. Hiram Maxim, "Dr. Li will bring her wealth of experience as a pedagogical innovator, an instructional technology whiz, a seasoned administrator, and a veteran of Emory policies and practices to the ECLC and help guide the Center in its mission to support and promote language studies at Emory."
April, 2014
Senior Lecturer Wan-Li Ho Honored with ECLC Excellence in Teaching Award
The Excellence in Language Teaching Award recognizes one language faculty member who has a minimum of six years on the Emory College faculty, an outstanding teaching record, eveidence of innovation in teaching and interest in continued professional development, evidence of appreciation by peers and students as a model teacher, involvement in language teaching at the various levels, extended service to her/his own language program (on-campus activities, study abroad) and to the Emory language community at large, and involvement with students both inside and outside the classroom. We are thrilled to announce that Wan-Li Ho was chosen to receive the award this year! In addition to her lengthy track record as a brilliant instructor of Chinese language, Wan-Li works tirelessly to promote her students' achievements at Emory, and has organized a number of educational and cultural events for the Chinese community in Atlanta. Congratulations Wan-Li! This recognition of your work is richly deserved!
REALC's Korean Studies Program Presents Emory's 2nd Annual Korea Week
February, 2014
REES Faculty Discuss the Controversies Surrounding the Sochi Winter Games
On February 5, 2014, several members of the Russian, East European, and Eurasian (REES) faculty hosted "The Olympic Games in Sochi: Behind the Hype," a roundtable discussion timed to coincide with the highly anticipated Winter Games in Russia. Media coverage leading up to the games was hardly celebratory in nature, however, focusing instead on Russia's controversial anti-gay laws, problems with journalists' housing in Sochi, and the looming threat of terrorism. It was this last point that prompted much of the discussion. Associate Professor of History Matt Payne led the roundtable, offering a brief history of Caucasian terrorism and Circassian genocide. Drs. Juliette Apkarian, Vera Proskurina, Oleg Proskurin (all from REALC), and Hubert Tworzecki (POLS) joined in the lively discussion.