We envision an MA program that will build on ourcurrent undergraduate major, offering students anopportunity to further their expertise in Asian andMiddle Eastern languages and cultures.

Looking ahead to 2018-19, we are very pleased towelcome Dr. I Jonathan Kief as an assistant professor ofKorean Literature and Culture in fall. We welcomeRobin Visser, Pamela Lothspeich, and Fadi Bardawilback to campus after their research leaves. Robin willresume her role as associate chair and director ofundergraduate studies. I am very grateful to Li-lingHsiao for ably and efficiently filling Robin’s shoes duringthe past year. We are sorry to bid farewell to Chineseinstructor Jing Stimpson who has moved with herfamily to Michigan. Jing will be sorely missed.  Toensure ongoing, professional instruction in the Chineseprogram, we will be participating for the first time inthe Taiwan Economic and Cultural RepresentativeOffice (TECRO) fellowship program. The TECROprogram supports the hiring of highly qualified Chineselanguage instructors at American high schools,colleges, and universities in order to foster culturalexchange. Li-ling Hsiao invested considerable time andenergy this year to enable our participation in thisprogram, and we are hopeful that it will enrich ourChinese program for years to come.

Jan Bardsley will be on leave next year while serving asvisiting professor at the Institute for Gender Studies atOchanomizu University in Tokyo. Yaron Shemer,Claudia Yaghoobi, and Gang Yue will all be on researchleave during fall 2018, and Uffe Bergeton will serve as afellow at UNC’s Institute for the Arts and Humanities inspring.  It is a challenge to provide adequate coursecoverage when faculty are on leave, but opportunitieslike these for an extended period of research focus areindispensable to faculty scholarship. I am grateful to all my colleagues as well as our tireless staff—Ash Barnes, Lori Harris, and Angelika Straus—who make such leaves possible through their own hard work.

Sincerely, Nadia Yaqub Chair

When I reflect back on 2017-2018 I am amazed at allwe have accomplished despite limited resources andunexpected challenges. This year was particularlyproductive in both research and teaching. We set arecord for scholarly publications with four booksappearing this academic year. This is a stunningachievement by our relatively small tenure-trackfaculty. We are equally proud of the accomplishmentsof our students, which include Phi Beta Kappainductees, honors theses, and prestigious studyabroad and graduate studies fellowships. Ourstudents are winning awards for their research andperforming important service within local Asian andMiddle Eastern communities. More information aboutsome of the accomplishments of faculty and studentsis available in these pages.

This year we began implementing many of the goalswe set during our first external review. These includeexpanding the number of undergraduates who areexposed to courses on Asia and mentored researchopportunities for our majors. Toward these ends ourfaculty have created several introductory courseswhich serve the University’s goal of preparingstudents for futures in a globally connected world. Weanticipate that they will also expand interest in ourlanguage programs as well as in our major and minorareas of study. Our next step involves the creation ofcapstone experiences for our majors. I will be workingwith the associate chair and the curriculumcommittee to conceptualize this goal next year.

As the College revises its general educationcurriculum, Asian Studies is positioning itself as asignificant contributor to the new courserequirements. Faculty members have proposedcourses to be piloted in 2018-19 and developedconcepts for large team-taught interdisciplinarycourses that may be taught in the future. These effortsillustrate the intellectual dynamism of our faculty andits deep and ongoing commitment to high-qualityundergraduate education.

The Department is also moving quickly to implementits longtime goal of creating a graduate program.Faculty members Yaron Shemer, Morgan Pitelka, Li-ling Hsiao, and Ji-Yeon Jo have prepared a programproposal which I will continue to work on with relevantadministrators  through the summer.

DEPARTMENT OF ASIAN STUDIES 2 0 1 8 N E W S L E T T E R

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR D R . N A D I A Y A Q U B

Students admire lanterns during the Chinese Lantern Festival.

FACULTY HONORS

Jan Bardsley has been appointed as a visitingprofessor at the Institute for Gender Studies atOchanomizu University in Japan for the 2018-

19 academic year.

Uffe Bergeton has been awarded a UNCInstitute for the Arts and Humanities

fellowship for the spring 2019 semester.

Nadia Yaqub has been promoted to fullprofessor effective July 1, 2018.

Yuki Aratake has been promoted to teaching

professor effective July 1, 2018.

Doria El Kerdany has been promoted toteaching associate professor effective July 1,

2018.

I am thrilled to be joining the Asian Studies community this fall asan assistant professor. I received my Ph.D. in modern Korean andcomparative literature from Columbia University in 2016 and Ispent the past two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Universityof Michigan and the University of Southern California. My researchfocuses on North and South Korean literature and culture of themid-twentieth century, exploring how words, texts, and imagestraveled between the two Koreas despite – as well as because of –the ongoing state of war and division on the peninsula. My workalso highlights the transnational, diasporic, and multi-lingualdimensions of these inter-Korean exchanges in order to thinkcritically about what they can tell us about the broader Cold Warcontext and Asia's place within it.

I am extremely excited about moving to Chapel Hill, getting toknow the Department's wonderful faculty, and contributing to therapidly expanding Korean program at UNC. In my teaching, I planto combine literature, film, and popular culture to help studentsexplore the depth, diversity, and dynamism of modern andcontemporary Korean culture. Through courses like “TransnationalKorea: Literature, Film, Popular Culture,” “Body Politics in ModernKorean Literature,” “Gender and Sexuality in North and SouthKorean Screen Culture,” and “Imagining the City in Modern Korea:Text, Image, Space,” I hope to encourage students to thinkcreatively about modern Korea, its many voices and perspectives,and their place in the world. I also hope to offer students a way togo beyond the images they see in the news and learn tounderstand North Korea from a more nuanced and historicallyinformed perspective.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone in the Department andto many fruitful collaborations.

MEET OUR NEW FACULTY

I Jonathan kief

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DEPARTMENT OF ASIAN STUDIES WOWS STUDENTS DURING WEEK OF

WELCOME

ARABIC PROGRAM OFFERS A NEW

ONE-CREDIT COURSE: “THE LANGUAGE OF

REFUGEEISM”

This fall the Department of Asian Studies hosted morethan 300 students who came to New West to explorethe Department’s cultural and academic offeringsduring Carolina’s Week of Welcome. For two hours onthe Sunday before classes began, the halls werecrammed with students attending mini-sessions oncalligraphy, learning and watching dance, music, andvideo, and tasting regional delicacies while also learningabout the department’s language offerings and majorand minor areas of study. Many thanks to Hebrewinstructor Hanna Sprintzik who organized the event andthe many faculty members who contributed their time,knowledge and cooking expertise to ensure the eventwas a success. Asian Studies looks forward to continuingits participation in Week of Welcome as part of its workto encourage more Carolina undergraduates to studyAsia and the Middle East.

In fall 2017 the Arabic program offered anew one-credit language course designedto assist students in developing languageskills relevant for refugee work. Based onauthentic Arabic materials and enrichedwith numerous guest speakers, the coursecontextualizes the current refugee crisis,discusses medical and administrativerequirements of refugees, culturalacclimatization, and outreach andassistance. The Arabic program looksforward to continuing to offer this courseand is exploring the possibility of creatingadditional one-credit offerings in languageinstruction for the professions.  

Shuyi Lin, Jan Bardsley, and Nadia Yaqub staff theWOW event.

Bud Kauffman, instructor of the new Arabic course.

DR. YAGHOOBI'S STUDENTS

DEMONSTRATE EXCELLENCE

Assistant Professor Claudia Yaghoobi’sstudents, Dhalia Mohamed, StephanieCales, Michael Myers, Gregory Sanders,and Jessica Glass, presented theirfindings at UNC’s Celebration ofUndergraduate Research. They won anaward for the presentation of their topic,“Modernity Versus Tradition in FatimaMernissi’s Dreams of Trespass.”

Another of Dr. Yaghoobi's students, RainTiller, had their work accepted bySprinkle: An Undergraduate Journal ofQueer and Feminist Studies forpublication. Their work was entitled, “AForbidden Act: Illicit Sex and the ColonialHeterosexual Matrix.”

Dr. Yaghoobi and her students with Dean Guskiewicz.

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ASIAN STUDIES FACULTY PUBLICATIONS

Women's transgressive behaviors and perspectives arechallenging societal norms in the Arab world, giving rise toanxiety and public debate. Simultaneously, however, otherArab women are unwillingly finding themselves labeled"bad" as authority figures attempt to redirect scrutiny fromserious social ills such as patriarchy and economicexploitation, or as they impose new restrictions on women'sbehavior in response to uncertainty and change in society.Bad Girls of the Arab World elucidates how both intentionaland unintentional transgressions make manifest the socialand cultural constructs that define proper and improperbehavior, as well as the social and political policing ofgender, racial, and class divisions.

The works collected here address the experiences ofwomen from a range of ages, classes, and educationalbackgrounds who live in the Arab world and beyond. Theyinclude short pieces in which the women themselvesreflect on their experiences with transgression; academicarticles about performance, representation, activism,history, and social conditions; an artistic intervention; andafterwords by the acclaimed novelists Laila al-Atrash andMiral al-Tahawy. The book demonstrates that women'stransgression is both an agent and a symptom of change, asite of both resistance and repression. Showing howtransnational forces such as media discourses, mobility andconfinement, globalization, and neoliberalism, as well asthe legacy of colonialism, shape women's badness, BadGirls of the Arab World offers a rich portrait of women'svaried experiences at the boundaries of propriety in thetwenty-first century.

Nadia Yaqub

In Grounding in Chinese Written Narrative DiscourseWendan Li offers a comprehensive and innovative accountof how Mandarin Chinese, as a language without extensivemorphological marking, highlights (or foregrounds) majorevents of a narrative and demotes (or backgrounds) othersupporting descriptions. Qualitative and quantitativemethods in the analysis and examinations of authenticwritten text provide extensive evidence to demonstrate that various types of morpho-syntactic devices are used in a wide range of structural units in Chinese to mark thedistinction between foregrounding and backgrounding. The analysis paves the way for future studies tosystematically approach grounding-related issues. Thetypological viewpoint adopted in the chapters serves wellreaders from both the Chinese tradition and otherlanguages in discourse analysis.

Wendan li

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Millions of ethnic Koreans have been driven from the Korean Peninsula overthe course of the region’s modern history. Emigration was often thepersonal choice of migrants hoping to escape economic and politicalhardship, but it was also enforced or encouraged by governmentalrelocation and migration projects in both colonial and postcolonial times.The turning point in South Korea’s overall migration trajectory occurred inthe late 1980s and early 1990s, when the nation’s increased economicprosperity and global visibility, along with shifting geopolitical relationshipsbetween the First World and Second World, precipitated a migration flowto South Korea. Since the early 1990s, South Korea’s foreign-residentpopulation has soared more than 3,000 percent.

Homing investigates the experiences of legacy migrants—later-generationdiaspora Koreans who “return” to South Korea—from China, theCommonwealth of Independent States, and the United States. Unlike theirparents or grandparents, they have no firsthand experience of theirancestral homeland. They inherited an imagined homeland throughmemories, stories, pictures, and traditions passed down by family andcommunity, or through images disseminated by the media. When diasporaKoreans migrate to South Korea, they confront far more than a new livingsituation: they must navigate their own shifting emotions as theirexpectations for their new homeland—and its expectations of them—confront reality. Everyday experiences and social encounters—whetherwelcoming or humiliating—all contribute to their sense of belonging in theSouth.

Homing addresses some of the most vexing and pressing issues ofcontemporary transnational migration—citizenship, cultural belonging,language, and family relationships—and highlights their affectivedimensions. Using accounts gleaned through interviews, author Ji-Yeon Josituates migrant experiences within the historical context of each diaspora.Her book is the first to analyze comparatively the migration experiences ofethnic Koreans from three diverse diasporas, whose presence in SouthKorea and ongoing relationships with diaspora homelands have challengedand destabilized existing understandings of Korean peoplehood.

Ji-yeon jo

The early modern Ottoman poet Mihrî Hatun (1460–1515)succeeded in drawing an admiring audience andconsiderable renown during a time when few women wereaccepted into the male-dominated intellectual circles. Herpoetry collection is among the earliest bodies of women’swriting in the Middle East and Islamicate literature,providing an exceptional vantage point on intellectualhistory. With this volume, Havlioğlu not only gives readersaccess to this rare text but also investigates the factors thatallowed Mihrî to survive and thrive despite her cleardeparture from the cultural norms of the time. Placing thepoet in the context of her era and environment, Havlioğlufinds that the poet’s dramatic, masterful performance andsubversiveness are the very reasons for her endurance andacclaim in intellectual history. Mihrî performed in a waythat embraced her marginal position as a woman andleveraged it to her advantage. Havlioğlu’s astute andnuanced portrait gives readers a fascinating glimpse intothe life of a woman poet in a highly gendered society andsuggests that women have been part of intellectual historylong before the modern period.

Didem Havlioglu

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On Sunday, February 18, Professor Afroz Tajand John Caldwell conducted their 20thannual Religions of India field trip.  With over150 students from ASIA 164, ASIA 59, HNUR306, and other classes, they visited the SikhGurudwara in Durham, the Hindu Bhawan inMorrisville, and the Raleigh Islamic Center. The participants got to experience threemajor South Asian religions as practiced inNorth Carolina, and enjoyed a tastycomplimentary lunch ("langar") at the SikhGurudwara.  At each site members of theSikh, Hindu, and Muslim communities gave abrief introduction to the basic elements oftheir faiths, followed by intensive questionand answer sessions.  As Dr. Taj pointed out,"The main takeaway of the field trip is thatdespite radical differences in these religions,they share a common message of tolerance,tradition, and community."

Afroz and John also celebrated the 20thanniversary of the UNC Summer in Indiaprogram this year, establishing it as one ofthe longest-running faculty-led programsoffered to college students across thecountry.  

TWENTY YEARS OF SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES AT UNC

Students listen to presentations during the 20th annual Religions of India field trip.

JAPANESE PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Sean Jung, a sophomore studying fourth-yearJapanese here at UNC, participated in the

annual Duke Speech Contest in March. The title of his speech was “We Who are Lost.”  He

received first prize.

Our Japanese teaching faculty (KatsuhikoSawamura, Fumi Iwashita, Yuki Aratake, and

Yuko Kato) also presented a paper regardingExtracurricular Cultural Activities at the 32nd

Annual Southeastern Association of Teachers ofJapanese conference.

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SHAC'S MANDARIN INTERPRETERS HELP THE CAROLINA COMMUNITY

When the Student HealthAction Coalition (SHAC) campusclinic noticed an uptick inMandarin-speaking patients in2016, SHAC’s leaders contactedCarolina’s Department of AsianStudies and asked if there wereany students who would beinterested in providinginterpreting services at theclinic. The response was swift.Within a week, more than 30students had expressed theirwillingness to get involved anddesire to learn more.

Jimmy Chin, a senior majoringin Asian studies and economics,was one of the students whoanswered the call.

“I don’t necessarily have an interest in medicine, but I thought this was a cool idea, an opportunity to serve thecommunity, and a chance to practice my Chinese,” Chin said. Jessica Blanks, a senior studying biology and Asian studies, said she’s hoping to pursue a masters in public health aftergraduation and ultimately go to medical school.

“I was really inspired by the mission of SHAC and the commitment to providing care for all people and fighting healthcare inequality,” Blanks said.  She went on to add, “The patients that we see are so thankful.  When they realize there issomeone there who can speak with them in Mandarin, you can see them relax.”

Anecdotally, many of the Mandarin-speaking patients are family members of visiting scholars at Carolina or othersurrounding universities. Word of SHAC’s free services has spread through the community by word of mouth and thepatients value SHAC as a place they can take their children for checkups, school physicals and vaccinations. “I’ve observed that many of the Mandarin-speaking families that come to the clinic seem to know each other, orreference someone who told them about SHAC,” said Kyle Riker, the leader of SHAC’s interpreting services. “This is a community that’s very engaged and in constant communication.”

As the need continues to grow, Riker credits Blanks, Chin, Zheng, Guo, and their team of interpreters.

“They’ve done so much work on their own to build this team,” said Riker. “They have so much energy, are so excited, and have really allowed us to provide a great service.”

SHAC’s Mandarin interpreting leaders [L to R]: JackyZheng, Jessica Blanks, Alyssa Guo, and Jimmy

Chin. Photo by UNC Health Care.

ASIAN STUDIES HONORS COLLOQUIUM

Three Asian Studies students (shown at left withAmerican Studies students) wrote and defended honorstheses and presented their research in the annual jointcolloquium.  Their theses are as follows:

"Rethinking Images of Violence: Abounaddara and theRight to Dignity" Sam Barber

"Making Space and Women's Activism in the ArabWorld" Marisa Breathwaite

"Confronting Modernity in Kawabata Yasunari'sLiterature" Quade Robinson

[L to R]: Sam Barber, Quade Robinson, Mackenzie Kwok,Morgan Vickers, Marisa Breathwaite, and Chris Garcia.

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DID YOU KNOW?

THE ASIAN STUDIES

DEPARTMENT

PROUDLY

SUPPORTS...

14 Arabic majors and 44 minors70 Chinese majors and 89 minors

3 Hebrew minors6 South Asian Studies majors and

11 Hindi-Urdu minors32 Japanese majors and 42 minors

34 Korean minors8 Persian minors (that's doubling

last year's number!)2 Middle Eastern Languages

minors16 Interdisciplinary Asian Studies

majors and 23 minors...in addition to thousands of otherCarolina students who enroll in our

language and culture courses!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUPPORT US?