Category "Presentation Abstracts"
November 23, 2005
Workshop 4: Discussion Forum on International Developments and Japan
Friday, December 2nd 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. @ 1114 Social Sciences
Presiders/Organizers: Minako Fujitsuka (Political Sciences & Economics) & Hajime Miyauchi (Global Studies & Sociology)
Abstract
The Role of the U.S. and Japanese Funded Educational Programs for the World Development: A Case in Indonesia
Our 4th workshop will focus on the role of the U.S. and Japanese educational aids intending to support countries like Indonesia to develop their infrastructures and environmental conservation systems. Indonesia is an interesting case to study because of the large number of students studying in the US and Japan. We will introduce educational programs sponsored by the U.S. Fulbright and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. These two organizations provide scholarships to study at the higher educational institutions in the US and Japan. On the other hand, these organizations dispatch technicians to transfer their skills to the people within the borders of the country. Which method of training is more preferable to achieve the developmental goals? Moreover, we are concerned about whether training is done locally or abroad, these programs could be imposing interests of the more powerful nations on the less powerful. Some argue that this is a new form of an imperialist strategy to exploit the “have-nots” to keep the economic and political power of the “haves” in the world today. In our discussion forum, we will learn about the organizations and the effectiveness of their programs. We will discuss how the US and Japan could play roles in the development processes in Indonesia and the Global South, as well as the impact of the U.S. and the Japanese political and economic interests on international cooperation issues.
Posted by at 9:13 AM | Presentation Abstracts
Category "Presentation Abstracts"
September 20, 2005
Workshop 1: Thinking about Methodological Applications into Gender and Crime Studies in Japan
Friday, October 14th 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. @ 1114 Social Sciences
Presenter: Chie Michihiro (Public Policy)
Abstract
Criminal Court Response to Violence Against Women and Girls in Singapore: A Content Analysis of Newspaper Reporting, 2000-2003
My Japan Studies Workshop presentation will consider one methodological application into “Gender and Crime” studies in Japan. My research highlights the importance of understanding contexts of a specific society in analyzing criminal courts’ responses to violence against women and girls. I took Singapore – a politically “strong” nation-state with similarly traditional gender role and family expectations to Japan – as a case to analyze the relationship between domestic violence sentencing and victim’s marital status. An analysis of Singapore revealed that the Singaporean government utilizes the family values rhetoric that emphasizes maintenance of marriage in the discourse of nation building. The family values rhetoric and the punitive criminal justice system shaped how the criminal courts treat marital intimate partner violence. I conducted a quantitative analysis of crime news of violence against women and girls collected from a Singaporean newspaper from 2000-2003. The result with the Singaporean data indicates that the criminal court judges might believe that it was more important to protect marriage than to protect the victims. I discuss a possibility of applying this research methodology into “criminal court and violence against women” study in Japan and South Korea with the Japan Studies Workshop participants. Considering similarities of gender role expectations & family values, strong state initiatives in this area, and recent alarms from the international communities (e.g. the United Nation’s CEDAW) to the governments in Singapore and Japan, I predict similar historical trends in the criminal courts treatment of marital intimate partner violence in Japan.
Posted by at 11:58 AM | Presentation Abstracts
Category "Presentation Abstracts"
Workshop 2: Explaning the U.S. History with the WWII 'War Brides' from Japan
Friday, October 28th 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. @ 1114 Social Sciences
Presenter: Masako Nakamura (History)
Abstract
Disciplining and Integrating the Women of Racially "Ineligible for
Citizenship" into the Imagined "American Families": Brides Schools for
Japanese Wives of American Servicemen and the U.S. Occupation of Japan
Abstract is unavailable
Presentation Slide is unavailable
Posted by at 11:56 AM | Presentation Abstracts
Category "Presentation Abstracts"
Workshop 3: Learning about the Democratization Processes of South Korea and Japan
Friday, November 4th 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. @ 1114 Social Sciences
Presenter: Eunhye Yoo (Sociology)
Abstract
State, Intellectuals and Citizens in the Public Sphere During 1945-1950: Comparative Analysis on Korea and Japan
Using Habermas’s concept of “public sphere,” I take an alternative approach to explain the development processes of civil society in South Korea and Japan after World War II. My study draws special attention to cultural resources created by intellectuals in the South Korean and Japanese public spheres. Both South Korea and Japan similarly received mass flows of the American capitals and democratic political ideologies during the few years of the U.S. occupation following the war. However, Japan experienced a rather smooth transition to democracy, when South Korea faced challenges with political dictatorships. What socio-political conditions in history made these contrasting outcomes in the development of the public sphere for civil society? The public sphere is a critical condition in transition to democracy. However, few focus on the preconditions for the public sphere moving towards civil society. I argue that cultural resources in the public sphere are critical in explaining the development processes towards democracy. Extreme physical violence by the state paralyzed the audience-oriented communication among citizens, suppressing open and active discussions on a variety of issues, but particularly on politics during this period in South Korea. Due to this, South Korean intellectuals suffered from the lack of cultural resources. This repression from the state resulted in the failure of promoting democracy with their cultural resources in South Korea. More open and active discussions on politics in the public sphere created a great amount of cultural resources for citizens and intellectuals to engage in further elaborations on “their own democracy” in post-war Japan. In Japan Studies Workshop, I intend to elaborate the importance of incorporating the experiences (e.g. physical violence) in the private sphere into explicating the public sphere.
Posted by at 9:14 AM | Presentation Abstracts
Category "Presentation Abstracts"
September 3, 2005
CANCELLED Workshop 5: Finding Out the Role of Christian Imagery in the Japanese Animation
CANCELLED
Presenter: Keith G Coggshall (Anthropology)
Abstract
Reproduced Imagery of Christianity in the Japanese Animation: Anthropological Theories of Imagery and Culture
In my Japan Studies Workshop presentation, I will explore the role of Christian imagery within Japanese Animation films and TV programs. Christianity has always been a popular theme within the Japanese Anime from the films of a famous animation producer, Mamoru Oshii, whose projects includes Urusei Yatsura (1980s) and Innocance (2004) to a hit television series like Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995-). Intriguingly, this is the case despite the fact that less than one percent of the total population of Japan is Christian. What is the role of the Christian imagery in these popular animation projects - produced in Japan and broadcasted worldwide today? By examining the imagery of Christianity in popular Japanese animation, I will show how a western religious imagery illuminates stories in Japanese popular culture with anthropological theories of visual imagery and culture. What role do these images play within popular Japanese and American cultures today?
Posted by at 2:13 PM | Presentation Abstracts