The 16th Annual Graduate Student Symposium
UCLA Paul I. and Hisako Terasaki
Center for Japanese Studies

Not all people exist in the same now   – Ernst Bloch

Idealism and the desire for totalizing perfection is a motif that can be found across centuries and in every genre of Japanese cultural production; and yet each manifestation of ‘utopia’ embodies its own specific socio-historical moment, and similarly contains within it a specific socio-historical critique. Previous Terasaki Center Graduate Student Symposiums have focused on translation, space, politics, aesthetics, and history.  By exploring topics related to the conception of utopia and the social imaginary in Japan, we hope to create a dialogue that employs a different lens through which to view the idea of Japan. Under this broad and overarching theme, we encourage papers treating the engagement of a utopian mentality with relation (but not limited) to:  aesthetics, architecture, film, historiography, imperialism, literature, Orientalism, protest movements, religious movements.

The symposium will be held on Saturday, October 22nd at UCLA. The Center for Japanese Studies will provide round-trip airfare within the United States, two nights of lodging at UCLA guest housing, and most meals for selected participants.

Please send abstracts, an abbreviated Curriculum Vitae, and any questions, to symposium organizers Tanya Barnett (tanyab13@ucla.edu) and Emi Foulk (emi.foulk@gmail.com).  Abstracts should be approximately 200 words, and must be submitted by June 12th, 2011.

This is an announcement for an upcoming conference at the University of California San Diego about US-Japan Immigration.

Conference Title:  Immigration at the National and Local Level: The Impact on Future Economic Growth and Community Relations in Japan and the United States

Date:  Friday, May 6, 2011 and Saturday, May 7, 2011

Location:  The Institute of the Americas the Weaver Center at UC San Diego http://sciencestudies.ucsd.edu/Flyers/IOA-directions-map-1.pdf

More information can be found at: http://irps.ucsd.edu/media-center/conference-materials/japan-immigration/

To RSVP for the conference, please go to:  http://irps.ucsd.edu/media-center/events/events_2011041442260.htm

Mya Fisher
Lecturer
Department of Sociology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
8128 William H. Sewell Social Sciences Building
1180 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1393
mfisher@ssc.wisc.edu