Current News
Let’s learn/continue to learn Japanese at BU over the summer!
The BU Japanese Program offers LJ111 and LJ211 (Japanese 3) for the Summer Term I (May 20th – June 27th) and LJ112 for the Summer Term II (June 30th ~ August 8th).
There are some advantages to taking Japanese courses in the Summer Term:
- Since your schedule will be relaxed compared to the fall/spring semester, you can devote your time and energy to learning Japanese.
- Class sizes are small, so you can receive more individual attention from instructors in a relaxed atmosphere.
- There are no ‘Asynchronous Tuesdays’ during the Summer Term, so there will be less homework and more in-person practice.
- You don’t have to worry about retaining all summer what you have learned this semester.
- If you are taking Japanese courses for your requirements, you will need to take fewer classes (es) during the academic year.
- (If you are age 58 and up, you can audit these courses through the BU Evergreen Program (https://cpe.bu.edu/evergreen/) at a reasonable cost.)
Summer courses are fun! Join us!
Asian Pacific Fund
2025 Hsiao Memorial Social Sciences Scholarship
Deadline: Friday, May 2, 2025 by 11:59PM.
The Hsiao Memorial Social Sciences Scholarship was established in honor of Dr. Katharine and Dr. Liang-Lin Hsiao to support graduate students of Asian descent who are facing financial need. Dr. Katharine and Dr. Liang-Lin Hsiao, both former professors of economics at Indiana State University, dedicated the majority of their professional lives in academia.
As young graduate students from China, they struggled to obtain their education amid financial uncertainty. Despite these obstacles, they earned their PhDs from Columbia University and New York University, respectively. They devoted their entire careers to the academic field and committed to giving back to those in need, including lecturing in China upon their retirements to educate the post-Mao era of economists now leading the country.
Award Information
One recipient will be selected and awarded a one-time $1,000 scholarship.
Henry Lucy Foundation
The Luce Scholars Program
Deadline: September 15, 2025
(The online application portal is now open.)
“A Different Approach to Cultivating Global Leaders
Established in 1974, the Luce Scholars Program is a competitive leadership development fellowship that provides emerging leaders with immersive professional experiences in Asia. In partnership with The Asia Foundation, which has offices in each of the countries and regions where we place our Scholars, we aim to strengthen relationships across borders by offering Scholars opportunities to deepen their understanding of Asia’s countries, cultures, and people. Through this yearlong immersion, the Program equips scholars with knowledge and skills to address global leadership challenges and build a more interconnected world.” (From https://lucescholars.org/about-the-program/)
Please go to their website for more information.
The Infosys Prize endeavors to elevate the prestige of science and research in India and inspire young Indians to choose a vocation in research.
The award is given annually to honor outstanding achievements of contemporary researchers and scientists across six Prize Categories – Economics, Engineering & Computer Science, Humanities & Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, and Physical Sciences.
Each prize carries a prize of a gold medal, a citation and a purse of USD 100,000 (or its equivalent in Rupees). The prize purse is tax free in the hands of winners in India.
For more information, please visit the website or email Serene Kasim at serene_kasim@infosys.com.
Watch video of Author & Translator Event: Kaori Fujino & Kendall Heitzman
Watch the video below from the Boston University event on April 22, filmed inside the Boston University Riverside Room, for a sense of the tour.
Afro-Asian Diaspora and the Eaton Sisters at the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
Who Are the Eaton Sisters?
Edith and Winnifred Eaton—or the “Eaton Sisters”—were born in the late nineteenth century to Chinese and English parents. In their writing, which transcended genres including poetry, short stories, journalistic articles, and travel nonfiction, the Eaton Sisters faced marginalization due to their mixed ethnic identities. Today, however, they are widely known as foundational figures in Asian American Studies, and their papers and writings are held made publicly available through institutions like the New York Public Library and the Winnifred Eaton Archive.
Though the Eaton sisters worked primarily in Western Chinatowns and Japan, their writing traverses and crosses into various spaces. In particular, their time in Jamaica and exposure to Blackness while there informed how they understood and performed their own ethnic identities—an understanding that is reflected in their later works. This essay provides a glimpse into their diasporic travel, publishing works, and textual networks in Jamaica, which have not been given much focus to date.
(From the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library. Please see their website for the rest of the web publication.)
Witnessing War: Ogawa Kazumasa and Visual Culture in Early Twentieth-Century Japan (at Bowdoin College Art Museum, through Dec. 15, 2024)
This exhibition explores the social, cultural, and political changes taking place in Japan during the Meiji Restoration (1868–1912) through the work of Ogawa Kazumasa. One of Japan’s most prolific early photographers and publishers, Ogawa’s oeuvre included rural landscapes, geisha in Tokyo, lush flowers, ancient temples, and international conflicts—a visual record that documented the tensions of a society in transition. This exhibition focuses on a 32-volume photographic album Ogawa published featuring scenes from the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Featuring selections that show field hospitals, prisoners of war, exploding cannon-fire, troops on campaigns, and more, Witnessing War explores the connections between photography, propaganda, mass media, More
Defying Boundaries Women in Japanese Art (at the RISD Museum, Providence RI, until November 4, 2024)
Defying Boundaries: Women in Japanese Art April 27 - November 4, 2024 Asian Gallery Japanese Prints (RA 602A) Rhode Island School of Design Museum, 20 N Main St, Providence, RI 02903 This exhibition addresses often-overlooked histories and stories of women in Japanese art. Marginalized in modern and historical accounts that focused on men, these women were nevertheless very much present in Japanese visual culture. From warriors and poets memorialized in prints to pioneering Japanese artists, these works offer glimpses of those who broke boundaries and inspired generations of artists and illustrators. Also portrayed in this exhibition are famous performers of female roles, or onnagata 女方. When... More
The Art of Knowing in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Himalayas (at the National Museum of Asian Art, Wash. DC, ongoing)
The Art of Knowing brings together highlights from our collections to explore religious and practical knowledge across time, space, and cultures. Featuring stone sculptures, gilt bronzes, and painted manuscripts from India, Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia, this exhibition illuminates the critical role of visual culture in conveying Buddhist and Hindu teachings from the ninth to the twentieth centuries. From Ganesha, the god of beginnings, to goddesses who personify wisdom, the artworks on view tell individual stories and reveal ways of knowing our world. The Art of Knowing asks how artists and objects shape wisdom traditions. How do shared images and... More
Do Ho Suh: Public Figures (Contemporary Korean art exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art, Washington DC, April 27, 2024–April 29, 2029)
To usher in the next century of the National Museum of Asian Art, artist Do Ho Suh (b. 1962, South Korea) was commissioned to create a special edition of his work Public Figures to be installed in front of the museum and facing the National Mall in Washington, DC. Internationally recognized for his large-scale installations, Suh was among the earliest contemporary artists featured in the museum’s groundbreaking Pavilion exhibition series and his work will be the first new sculpture to be installed outside the historic Freer Gallery of Art in over three decades. As an artist living and working between his familial roots in South Korea... More
Occasional Papers on Asia No. 6: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at Ten: The World According to China, and China According to the World, by Rebin Najmalddin (Pardee School, Boston University)
We are pleased to present the latest volume in our BUCSA series, Occasional Papers on Asia. In this volume, Rebin Najmalddin (Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University) provides an excellent summary of the presentations and panel discussions from the October 12-13, 2023 conference, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) at Ten: The World According to China, and China According to the World, co-organized by Grant Rhode (Pardee School, Boston University) and Andrew Wilson (US Naval War College). You can read this new Occasional Papers here and you can read more about the series of past presentations and conferences around the topic... More
“Hallyu! The Korean Wave” exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, opens March 24, 2024
From tradition to trendsetting Today, South Korea is a cultural superpower—a global trendsetter producing award-winning films like Parasite, riveting dramas like Squid Game, and chart-topping music by K-pop groups such as BTS and BLACKPINK. But behind the country’s meteoric rise to the world stage—a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave, or hallyu—is the story of remarkable resilience and innovation. Just a century ago, Korea was in search of a new national identity, following its occupation by Japan and the Korean War. Harnessing cutting-edge technology, the country has rapidly transformed its economy and international reputation. At the same time, its creative outputs are deeply rooted... More
New exhibition “Performance and Court in Indonesia” showcases Indonesian shadow puppets (Yale Art Gallery, New Haven)
“Performance and Court in Indonesia” is a new display for the Yale Art Gallery's Indo-Pacific department featuring Indonesian shadow puppets (“wayang kulit”) from the Dr. Walter Angst and Sir Henry Angest Collection. At the center of the gallery is a screen where a selection of puppets depicts scenes from the Indic epic “Mahabharata,” which is popular in Javanese performances. Currently on view is a scene from the play “Irawan Rabi” (Irawan’s Wedding). Arjuna, shown at left, is accompanied by his two wives, Sumbadra and Srikandhi. They have come to tell Abimanyu, Arjuna and Sumbadra’s son, that he cannot marry his beloved... More
Kimono Couture: The Beauty of Chiso (A virtual exhibition by the Worcester Art Museum)
Experience the world of traditional kimono design and artistry still practiced by Chiso, the 465-year-old, Kyoto-based kimono house in our virtual exhibition, Kimono Couture: The Beauty of Chiso Click here to enter this free virtual exhibition.
Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE (at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC, June 21- Nov. 13, 2023)
This is the story of the origins of Buddhist art. The religious landscape of ancient India was transformed by the teachings of the Buddha, which in turn inspired art devoted to expressing his message. Sublime imagery adorned the most ancient monumental religious structures in ancient India, known as stupas. The stupa not only housed the relics of the Buddha but also honored him through symbolic representations and visual storytelling. Original relics and reliquaries are at the heart of this exhibition, which culminates with the Buddha image itself. Featuring more than 140 objects dating from 200 BCE to 400 CE, the exhibition... More
What’s Behind the Boom in Christianity in China? A Conversation with Eugenio Menegon and Daryl Ireland
(From The Brink: Pioneering Research at Boston University) What’s behind Boom of Christianity in China? Theology scholars and a global network of researchers are using big data to map religion’s history in China and explain its rapid growth FEBRUARY 2, 2023 by MARC CHALUFOUR , photo by CYDNEY SCOTT From https://www.bu.edu/articles/2023/why-is-christianity-growing-in-china/ Over the past four decades, Christianity has grown faster in China than anywhere else in the world. Daryl Ireland, a Boston University School of Theology research assistant professor of mission, estimates that the Christian community there has grown from 1 million to 100 million. What led to that explosion, centuries after the first Christian missionaries arrived... More