Current News
Recruiting Participants for the Mansfield-Luce Asia Scholars Network (Application Deadline: Aug. 23, 2023
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation is pleased to announce the recruitment of the third group of scholars for the Mansfield-Luce Asia Scholars Network. The vast geographic size and diversity of East Asia have created unfortunate divides between Northeast and Southeast Asia specialists. Given the complex nature of the region and its growing integration, these divides serve as an obstacle to understanding the complexities of contemporary Asia as a whole. They also compromise efforts to create cohesive and sustainable U.S. policies to advance its vital national interests across a region that will decisively shape the 21st century. This initiative, supported... More
Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor (Worcester Art Museum, through Feb. 2024)
Samurai, members of Japan's warrior class, ruled the country for nearly a millennium, from the 12th through the 19thcentury, and continue to be revered as symbols of bravery, loyalty, and honor. While they initially rose to power due to their military prowess, they maintained their elevated positions through political, financial, and cultural acumen. They were expected to hold administrative positions within their military government. In addition, and in contrast to the brutality of their profession, they also became highly-cultivated individuals, practicing and supporting the arts, such as calligraphy and painting. The elaborate arms and armor of the samurai thus speak... More
Spirits: Tsherin Sherpa with Robert Beer (Exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum, on view Feb 4 to May 29, 2023)
The Peabody Essex Museum invites you to view the new exhibition Spirits: Tsherin Sherpa with Robert Beer On view February 4 to May 29, 2023 Tsherin Sherpa, Lost Spirits, 2014. Pale gold leaf, acrylic, and ink on cotton. Private Collection, Hong Kong. Explore the captivating paintings of one of the most renowned Himalayan artists of our time. Tsherin Sherpa’s works are grounded in the traditional Buddhist art of his training but stretch, bend, reconfigure, and repurpose its forms to explore contemporary concerns. The exhibition’s paintings and sculptures trace the evolution of his Spirits series whose subjects resemble Tibetan Buddhist deities transformed by the modern world. Dislocated... More
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
Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 26-July 26, 2023)
Taking a new approach to the work of the ever-popular Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), this major exhibition explores in detail his impact on other artists—both during his lifetime and beyond. Throughout a career of more than 70 years, Hokusai experimented with a wide range of styles and subjects, producing landscapes such as the instantly recognizable Great Wave and Red Fuji (both about 1830–31), nature studies known as “bird-and-flower pictures,” and depictions of women, heroes, and monsters. The exhibition brings together more than 100 woodblock prints, paintings, and illustrated books by Hokusai with more than 200 works by his teachers, students, rivals, and admirers. These unique... More
Kimono Couture: The Beauty of Chiso (A virtual exhibition at 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.
“Global China and India in a Post-Liberal World” Post-Doctoral Fellowship opportunity (ICI The New School, applications due May 15, 2023)
The India China Institute (ICI) of The New School seeks applications for a one-year position in 2023-24 as Postdoctoral Fellow in our “Global China and India in a Post-Liberal World” research cluster. The fellow will be in residence at ICI for the 2023-24 academic year. Application Deadline: May 15, 2023 This theme of the 2023-24 postdoctoral fellowship is motivated by global challenges to the Western-led liberal order and the influence that India and China have in bringing changes to existing regimes or creating alternatives to the liberal world order. ICI welcomes applications from those whose research focuses on emerging alternative orders in geopolitics; authoritarian governance domestically... More
Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program 2024-25 Competition Awards to India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore now open (Application deadline Sept. 15, 2024)
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program 2024-25 competition is open! Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards give opportunities to U.S. citizens to teach, research and carry out professional projects around the world. Through Fulbright awards, participants advance their professional and academic interests, promote mutual understanding, and collaborate with partners around the world. At a time when we face many global challenges, international engagement is more important than ever. Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program 2024-25 Competition Awards to India The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program 2024-25 competition is open! Fulbright U.S. Scholar Awards give opportunities to U.S. citizens to teach, research and carry out professional projects around the world. Through Fulbright... 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
Study Mandarin in Taiwan with a Huayu Enrichment Scholarship! (application due April 28, 2023)
Students are encouraged to apply for a Huayu Enrichment Scholarship to study Mandarin Chinese language in Taiwan. The award period may be 2, 3, 6, 9, or 12 months from July 2023 to August 2024. The scholarship provides a monthly stipend of NT $25,000, which equals approximately US $860. Here are some details: R.O.C. Ministry of Education 2023 Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES) Education Division, TECO-Boston 1/17/2023 Purpose The Ministry of Education (MOE) in the Republic of China (Taiwan) established the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES) program to encourage international students (except Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao SAR students) to undertake Mandarin language courses in... More