REALC News
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.