issn 1472-6653 june 2002 number 4 new asian business .../file/june2002.pdfthe field of...

EastAsia@Sheffield 1

According to Dr Harukiyo Hasegawa,General Editor of Asian Business &Management and Director ofSheffield’s Centre for Japanese Studies,the journal will focus on analyses ofAsian business from within the region.

“The editorial team are committed tothe creation of a new paradigm thataccommodates social awareness in thestudy of business and management inAsia, encouraging the inclusion ofregional and global issues such aspolitical economy, culture/ethics, theenvironment, legislation, gender,labour movements, community andpeace/democracy.”

Publishing peer-reviewed research,the journal is designed as a keyresource for academics, researchers,policy-makers and those with aninterest in the dynamic forces shapingbusiness and management in Asia.Theinaugural issue includes articles on

Japan’s role in the East Asia politicaleconomy, post-crisis trends in Asianmanagement, the managementstrategy of Korean firms in China,Taiwanese firms in China and Japanesemultinational enterprises.

The journal, which will be publishedby Palgrave three times a year, has aninternational editorial board and isassociated with the Euro-AsiaManagement Studies Association, theJapan Society of BusinessAdministration, and the JapanAcademy of Labour and Management.Further information, including a freeon-line sample issue, is available atwww.palgrave-journals.com/abm

T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F S H E F F I E L D

ISSN 1472-6653 June 2002 Number 4

ContentsNew Asian business journallaunched 1

Masters student profiles 2

Distance learningNew Chinese degrees 3

Japan’s Ainu:Refusing to fade away 4

Studying in SheffieldA Chinese perspective 5

Recent graduatesWhere are they now? 6

Getting to know you...in Japanese and Korean 7

Rewriting the bordersKorean women’s literature 8

Voice of a woman wrongedThe role of traditional opera 10

Exchange visitors 11

Leverhulme fellow 11

SEAS Spring Ball 12

Why did I study...China, Japan, Korea? 13

The disabled in ChinaPolicy and practice 14

Korea symposium 15

Vodafone guest lecture 15

East Asian open days 16

East Asian Studies degrees 16

� Dr Harukiyo Hasegawa, general editor of Asian Business & Management, discussesa manuscript with the submissions editor,Mrs Susie Tranter.

The inaugural issue of Asian Business & Management! a new internationaljournal designed to promote interaction between academics in Asia andthose beyond the region! was published in April"

New Asian business journallaunched"""

Wang JinWang Jin is enrolledfor the MSc in EastAsian Business whichoffers in-depthanalysis of the EastAsian businessenvironment as well as advanced business

practice. Wang Jin graduated from theSchool of International Studies at PekingUniversity, generally recognised as China’sleading university, in 2000. Following hergraduation, she spent a year working for anon-governmental organisation, BusinessSoftware Alliance (BSA), which investigatescopyright protection for major multi-national software companies. Wang Jin sees her future career as being involved inChina’s foreign relations. (Wang Jin writesabout her experiences in the UK on page 5.)

Greg BraccoGreg is enrolled forthe MA in ChineseStudies, combiningintensive Chineselanguage study withcourses on Chinesepolitics and society.

He completed BA degrees in InternationalStudies and East Asian Studies atPennsylvania State University and a Masterof Liberal Arts degree at Lock HavenUniversity of Pennsylvania. He also tooksummer courses in Chinese language atPeking and Nanjing Universities, and spenta year at the International Institute ofChinese Medicine in New Mexico. Greg’smajor interest is in Chinese culture and hewould like to do postgraduate research andeventually teach in this area.

Nikki CrippsNikki is enrolled in the MSc inChinese Business/InternationalRelations.The degree includesintensive languagestudy, modules on

aspects of Chinese business and/orinternational relations, and summer study

at Nanjing University. A Sheffield HallamUniversity graduate in English literature,Nikki has had substantial teachingexperience both in the UK and China,where she spent eighteen months teachingEnglish at Bijie Teachers College in thesouth-western province of Guizhou. After graduation, Nikki hopes to use herChina-related skills in government or anorganisation such as the British Council.

CorneliusMedveiCornelius, anOxford graduate in French andGerman, isstudying for theMA in AdvancedChinese Studies.

This new degree, introduced in September2001, allows students who have alreadycompleted a ‘conversion’ MA in Chinese orequivalent language study to further theirChinese studies. Following his graduationin 1999, Cornelius spent eighteen monthsin China studying Chinese and teachingEnglish – first in Changzhou and then atthe Southeast University in Nanjing. Aftercompleting his Masters degree, he wouldlike to return to China to utilise hisChinese-language and related skills.

Daniel EvansDaniel is enrolledin the MA inAdvanced JapaneseStudies which isdesigned to raise toadvanced level thelanguage skills, as

well as academic knowledge of Japan, of those who have already learnt asubstantial amount of Japanese. Whilestudying English language and literature atLiverpool University, Daniel travelledwidely in Europe. Following his graduationin 1998, he went to Japan on the JET(Japanese Exchange and Teaching)programme, where he ‘discovered a passionfor learning Japanese’ and stayed for threeyears. After completing his Masters degree,he hopes to work in the area of interpretingor translation.

2 EastAsia@Sheffield

masters student profiles

Congratulations to"""Chou Chiener (Music Department)

who was awarded her PhD –

Sheffield’s first ever doctorate in

the field of Ethnomusicology –

in February.

Dr Chou’s disseration was entitled:

‘Nanguan in Contemporary Taiwan: An

Ethnomusicological Study of Learning,

Performance and Identity’.

� Chou Chiener

New degree inInternationalPolitics and EastAsian StudiesA new three year BA degree inInternational Politics and East AsianStudies will be introduced in October*. The degree is a collaborative venturebetween the Department of Politics andthe School of East Asian Studies.

Students taking the degree will have thechance to combine their interests inbroad political issues with morespecialised study of East Asia. The degreewill include a range of units on thetheory and practice of internationalpolitics, as well as units examining thepolitical development of China andJapan, and of the region as a whole.

Enquiries to Dr Hugo Dobson([email protected],tel: 0114 222 8437)

* Subject to formal University approval.

New Chinese Masters degrees by

Distance learningTwo new Masters degrees by distance learning will be introduced in October*� The MSc in Chinese Language, Business and International Relations will give

students the opportunity to study Chinese to intermediate level, as well as tospecialise either in Chinese business or in China’s international relations.

� The MSc in Chinese Business and International Relations will offer a widerange of modules on Chinese business and international relations within theirEast Asian context. Students have the option to do some elementary Chineselanguage study if they wish to do so.

The new degrees will be taught through a combination of text and interactivelearning materials, supplemented by on-line seminars and face-to-face teachingduring residential courses.They will utilisethe expertise in distance delivery built upby the Distance Learning Centre duringthe development of its prize-winning MAin Advanced Japanese Studies and MA inJapanese Language and Society.

According to Alison Churchill, ProgrammeDirector of the Distance Learning Centre:“We already have students all over theworld: mostly in Japan, but also in the UK,Europe,Thailand and even Nepal! The MScin Chinese Language, Business andInternational Relations is designed forthose who wish to learn MandarinChinese, as well as develop theirknowledge of Chinese business orinternational relations.The MSc in ChineseBusiness and International Relations willenrich the knowledge of people, forexample in Southeast Asia, who want toparticipate in regional and global businesswith China.”

The two new Chinese Studies degrees willbe distance versions of the on-campus MScin Chinese Language, Business andInternational Relations and the MSc inChinese Business and InternationalRelations, and will be taught by the same

Chinese Studies staff members incollaboration with the Distance LearningCentre. Nikki Cripps, one of this year’sstudents in the language-oriented on-campus degree, commented:

“Much of our time is spent studyingChinese – quite intensively! Thelanguage tutors are all very able,enthusiastic and approachable. Andthe diverse areas we study –economics, politics, society andculture – ensure students areequipped with a lot of relevantknowledge by the end of thecourse.”

For further details, seewww.seas.ac.uk/DistanceLearning/index.shtml or contact Sali Morris, DistanceLearning Centre, School of East AsianStudies, University of Sheffield S10 2TN.Tel: 0114 222 8428, Fax: 0114 222 8432,Email: [email protected]

* Subject to formal University approval.

Ambassador toJapan visitsSheffieldSir Stephen Gomersall, HMAmbassador to Japan, presenteda lecture on 22 January in the2001-2002 UK-Japan BusinessSeminar series. The series isorganised by the UK-Japan BusinessResearch Centre, a joint activity of theInternational Trade Centre of SouthYorkshire (ITCSY) and Sheffield’s Schoolof East Asian Studies, and arranged byITCSY’s East Asia Adviser, Mrs YoshimiMcLeod.

Sir Stephen was welcomed to Sheffieldnot just as HM Ambassador to Japan butas a former student in the School of EastAsian Studies. After graduating fromCambridge and entering the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1970, SirStephen studied Japanese at Sheffield in 1971-72 before taking up his firstdiplomatic posting at the British Embassyin Tokyo. His distinguished diplomaticcareer has included two further postingsto Tokyo: as Economic Counsellor in1986-90 and, since 1999, as HMAmbassador. He has also served asDeputy Permanent Representative at theUK Mission to the United Nations, and asDirector of International Security at theForeign and Commonwealth Office.

Sir Stephen spoke on UK-JapanRelations in the 21st Century to a largeaudience which included Mr MakotoKakebayashi (Director General, JETRO,London), Mr Nigel Tomlinson (ChiefExecutive of the Sheffield Chamber ofCommerce and Industry), Mr HaruhikoKuramochi (Minister at the JapaneseEmbassy, London), Mr Masahiko Goda(CEO for Europe, Japan Airlines) and DrHarukiyo Hasegawa (Director of theCentre for Japanese Studies, Universityof Sheffield), whose organisationssponsored the event.

7

� Daniel Liao, Coordinator for Web-basedLearning, and Alison Churchill,Programme Director of the DistanceLearning Centre, discuss the use of interactive language-learningtechnology for the MSc in ChineseLanguage, Business and InternationalRelations.


� Sir Stephen Gomersall.


Whenever I mention that my main areaof research concerns the Ainu people ofJapan, a common response is: ‘Oh really.But there are hardly any pure Ainu left’.Despite the Social Darwinist assumptionsof ‘racial extinction’ inherent in suchcomments, the Ainu certainly do exist –and they are making their presence felt.

Why should we listen to the Ainu? First,however marginal they may appear, theyhave a story of their own that deservesto be told. Secondly, consideration of thisstory can also tell us much about Japan.In particular, I would argue that theannexation and colonisation of Hokkaidoand its original inhabitants is not just aminor sub-theme within the narrowconfines of ‘Japanese history’ but can be located within much broaderinternational contexts of nation andempire building in the late nineteenthcentury. A third, more contemporaryreason for considering the Ainu is forwhat they can tell us about ethnicity,culture and politics in a post-industrialJapanese society too often seen, evennow, as homogeneous.

The Ainu are an indigenous people wholive on the island of Hokkaido, withsmall communities in Tokyo and othermajor Japanese cities. In their languagethe word ‘Ainu’ means ‘human being’.Today they number around 25,000 and,while their situation has improvedconsiderably since the 1970s, theyremain an impoverished andmarginalized population within a highlyaffluent Japanese society. Surveys sincethe 1960s show that Ainu are generallypoorer than their Japanese neighboursand are disproportionately employed infarming, fishing and tourism. Levels ofalcoholism and divorce, oftenexacerbated by economic stress,remain high. Their rate of educationaladvancement is lower (though

improving) while reliance on welfareremains over double that of otherHokkaido residents.

The current situation of the Ainu peopleis a direct consequence of thecolonisation and settlement of theirhomeland by the Japanese state after1869. Their history reads like that ofother indigenous peoples around theworld – dispossession, marginalisationand despair under a colonial regime.Hokkaido is a colony however much thepast is disguised through narratives ofkaitaku (development) and the pioneerspirit taming the ‘wilderness’.What waswilderness for the immigrants was hometo the Ainu.

The situation of the Ainu today is notone of a ‘traditional’ culture facing thethreat of extinction. There are no

isolated or shrinking enclaves of Ainustubbornly persisting in hunting andgathering. In fact, Ainu culture has neverreally existed in total isolation and hasbeen deeply influenced by contacts withthe Japanese. Modern Ainu share theirancestral homeland with around fivemillion descendants of Japaneseimmigrants. The modernisation andindustrialisation that have made Japan so successful has ensured that the‘traditional’ lifestyle of the Ainu has been destroyed as thoroughly as the‘traditional’ customs of their Japaneseneighbours. On the surface,Ainu nowlive in the same way as their Japaneseneighbours and speak Japanese.

Nevertheless, many Ainu do not feel‘Japanese’ and seek the expression oftheir difference through areinterpretation of their cultural heritage– crafts, dance, ceremonies, language – in a form suitable for the contemporaryage. This expression of cultural identityis explicitly linked to the new Ainupolitical movements which have arisensince the 1970s and, in common withthose of indigenous peoples elsewhere,are demanding land rights or other formsof compensation for their dispossession.

In 1997, the government passed the Ainu Cultural Promotion Act, officiallyrecognising Japan as a multiculturalsociety. Despite being greeted as an‘epoch-making’ event, though, the effectsof this legislation have been to derail thepolitical movement and to restrict Ainuwithin the confines of the state versionof ‘authentic’Ainu culture – astereotyped ‘traditional’ niche thatthreatens to deny them a contemporaryexistence.

to fade away� Ainu participants in the Ashiri Chep Nomi (Ceremony to Welcome

the New Salmon), Sapporo.

� The Ainu delegation to the United NationsWorking Group on Indigenous Populations,Geneva, 1993 (UN Year of the World’sIndigenous People). (From left) GiichiNomura (Chairman of the Ainu Associationof Hokkaido), Richard Siddle (reading thestatement), Noboru Yoshida.

Japan�s Ainu: Refusing to fade away

Dr Richard Siddle is alecturer in Japanese Studies"He is the author of Race!Resistance and the Ainu ofJapan (Routledge) and iscurrently editing! withProfessor Glenn D Hook!Japan and Okinawa:Structure and Subjectivity!which will be published byRoutledge later this year"

Joanna EElfving#Hwangreceives PPeter CCarnellMemorial AAwardThe second Peter Carnell Memorial Awardhas been awarded to Joanna Elfving-Hwang, a PhD student in the School ofEast Asian Studies. The award waspresented by Peter Carnells’ widow, Mrs Jean Carnell, on 30 January at aceremony in the University Librarian’sOffice. Joanna used the award in February-March to support a research trip to Koreaas part of her PhD research onrepresentations of the ‘feminine’ in 1990sSouth Korean women’s literature. (Joannadiscusses her research on page 8.)

The biennial Peter Carnell Memorial Awardwas founded by colleagues and friends ofthe late Peter Carnell, a senior member ofthe Sheffield University Library staff,following his untimely death in 1996. Itsaim is to support and encourage youngermembers of the University in theirresearch interests or in undertaking aparticular project, an aim very much inkeeping with Peter’s reputation.

Peter’s career in the Sheffield UniversityLibrary began in 1962, as a SCONUL(Society of College, National and UniversityLibraries) graduate trainee. After qualifyingin librarianship, he returned to work in theCataloguing Department. By the timeautomated systems were introduced,Peter was already Chief Cataloguer withsupervisory responsibilities in the areas ofacquisitions and periodicals, as well ascataloguing and classification.

It is particularly appropriate that the awardshould have been offered this year withinthe School of East Asian Studies. As ChiefCataloguer, Peter was a driving forcebehind the development of the Japaneselibrary collection from the early days ofthe Centre for Japanese Studies, and tookon the same role with the Koreancollection when Korean Studies begansome years later. Peter was the type ofperson for whom no enquiry was toomuch trouble, as early East Asian Studiesstudents attest.

� (From left) Professor Tim Wright (Chair of the School of East Asian Studies),Mrs Jean Carnell, Joanna Elfving-Hwang,Mr Michael Hannon (Sheffield UniversityLibrarian).

Living and studying in Sheffield:A CChinese pperspectiveWang Jin

This is the first time I’ve been awayfrom China. Before I arrived, I couldonly imagine what life would be like in a different country. And when theplane landed at Heathrow, I knew that my imagination would soonbecome reality.

I can clearly remember my first weekendin Sheffield. I went to the city centre butcouldn’t find my way back home. Just as I was starting to get worried, an elderlylady came up to me. She smiled andasked me whether I was lost. Then sheshowed me the way to the bus; I wasdeeply impressed by her kindness.

I feel very comfortable living in Sheffield,which seems very quiet compared withBeijing. But sometimes I get homesick,especially when I can’t get my favouritefood and when the weather isn’t verygood. The first time I bought fish andchips I thought it was delicious, but when Ihad it for the second and third time I reallyhad trouble finishing it! The weather inBritain is the most unpredictable thing I’vecome across in my whole life. Sometimes,you can go through spring, summer,autumn and winter in just one day – andexperience rain, cloud, wind and sunnyweather within one hour. The mostinteresting thing is that, according to myobservation, Sunday is always gloomy.Maybe God creates this special day tocomfort people after a week’s hard work!

There is one thing that I’ve found quitedifferent from China: English people lovegoing to the pub. Young people dance –middle-aged people chat – hence theEnglish saying that great ideas come fromthe pub. In China, food is very central toour culture, and people gather togethermainly for a meal. Eating, drinking andchatting in restaurants are major Chinesesocial activities.

At the University of Sheffield, where I’m studying East Asian business, I’mexperiencing a completely differenteducational system from that in China.When I was an undergraduate at PekingUniversity, there were seldom student

seminars and, in most cases, I justlistened to what the lecturer told me. AtSheffield, students have very intensivediscussions with lecturers in class. Thesehave opened my mind and inspired myimagination. Moreover the lecturers arevery knowledgeable and I have learnt a lot from them.

As an overseas student from China, I wasvery surprised and happy to find so manyscholars and students interested inChina’s society, politics and economy, as well as in the Chinese language. Thisreflects the recent development ofcommunications between China andBritain, and the fact that China has beenattracting more attention from around theworld.

I’ve also been to several other cities in the UK, including London, Oxford andCambridge. I think that London is beyondquestion the most attractive city in Britain– I was very impressed by the beautifularchitecture and the art in the NationalGallery. The tours of Oxford andCambridge inspired me to develop bothmy research interests and my futurecareer.

Time passes very quickly and mypostgraduate studies at Sheffield willcome to an end in June. Although I’m very busy every day with my studies, it’sworth it when I see what I have learned.

Wang Jin is a graduate of the School ofInternational Studies at Peking University. Shearrived in Britain in September last year to study for an MSc in East Asian Business. Here she writes about her life in Sheffield.

� Wang Jin (left) pictured with Tom Pritchardand Clare Moonan, two of her fellowstudents in the MSc in East Asian Business degree.



China – Suzhou UniversityAlice Gartland (BA in EastAsian Studies, 2001)

Having gained a place on the PGDL (PostGraduate Diploma in Law) at NottinghamLaw School, I decided to take a year outafter I finished my East Asian Studiesdegree. Last September I started work asMarketing Executive for the London lawfirm, Davies Arnold Cooper, where I wasinvolved with the firm’s marketingstrategy.

Since February I’ve been studyingChinese at Suzhou University – a bit overan hour by train from Shanghai. Myclassmates are from around the worldand it’s very interesting to get a non-British perspective on the country.Thisis not my first time in China – in 1996 Ispent six months teaching English inSuzhou as part of my ‘gap year’ – andbeing back here is fascinating. Frompollution to prostitution: the issues thatwe discussed during my East AsianStudies degree are everywhere.

In the evenings and at weekends I’mteaching English and meeting a variety of people involved in business initiatives.The consequences of the new economyaffect every level of society and it’s clearthat law will play a key role in China’sfuture. Eventually I hope to combine myinterest and experiences in Asia with alegal career – and return to China. Moreimportantly I really like the beer andnoodles!

The UK – LG ElectronicsSarah Newman (BA in KoreanStudies and BusinessStudies, 2000)

I currently work for the UK subsidiary ofthe Korean company, LG Electronics, inSlough. I am the White Goods MarketingExecutive for all domestic appliances,which means I organise productlaunches, advertising campaigns andsales promotions for dishwashers,washing machines, refrigerators, vacuumcleaners and microwaves. Presently I amworking on the Networked AppliancesProject which involves a £1 million PRlaunch for four appliances which areInternet-enabled and can be accessedand controlled remotely.

Life at LG is extremely hectic. Each yearthe company is expanding its resources,product range, market share and salestargets – our brand awareness more thanquadrupled last year. This was partly dueto the sponsorship of Leicester CityFootball Club, the LG Snooker Cup, TheTRIC Awards and the winning boat inthe BT Global Challenge.

Between 30% and 40% of the workforcehere is Korean, so my knowledge of theKorean language and people certainlycomes in handy. Also, working in anAsian company can be very differentfrom Western organisations; living andworking in Korea gave me an excellentunderstanding of business and socialcultures. Although it’s hard work and weall spend far too long in the office, Iwouldn’t change it for the world!

Japan – WakayamaAlexander van Rees (BA inEast Asian Studies, 2000)

For the past eighteen months I’ve beenteaching English in the JapaneseGovernment’s JET (Japanese Exchangeand Teaching) programme. I live andwork in a city called Wakayama –located an hour south of Osaka andabout half the size of Sheffield. Alongwith four other Assistant LanguageTeachers (ALT), I work for the local CityBoard of Education – and teach studentsfrom the age of 12 to 15 in three juniorhigh schools.

Living and working in Japan has been aneye opening experience. Although I’dpreviously lived in Japan for a year as anexchange student, this experience hasbeen more rewarding. I’m moreintegrated into the Japanese workingroutine – with all the benefits anddownsides that this can bring.

Before I started teaching in Japan, myimage of the education system was oneof quietly diligent students whoproduced some of the best comparativetest scores in the world for educationalattainment.While this might be true ofthe top private schools (at least so Ihear), in the State system I’veencountered students who are clearlydissatisfied with the system of teaching –and teachers who seem unable torespond to the ensuing breakdown indiscipline. Only time will tell if studentscan channel their rebelliousness to morecreative ends.

� Alice Gartland at her graduationlast year.

� Sarah Newman at an LGproduct launch.

� Alexander van Rees teachingEnglish to one of his classes inWakayama.

Where arethey now?

Recent GraduatesWWhheerree are tthey

nnooww??


– in Japanese and Korean

• As part of the Japan 2001 activities, St. Ambrose College in Altrincham(Cheshire) held a fortnight-long ‘Experience Japan’ festival in November.Students in years 7-9 had Japanese language classes on 13 November withSheffield University’s Eleanor Spivey and Miyuki Nagai, learning their namesand how to exchange greetings in Japanese. Dr Hugo Dobson gave foursixth form groups a class on how people in Japan and the West havetraditionally viewed each other. According to the school’s deputyheadmaster, Mr P J Howard, the boys now proudly greet him in Japanese!

• A group of Year 10 students from Wales High School in Sheffield visited theUniversity on 20 February, accompanied by their history teacher Mr GarethHughes. Following a class project on the Korean War, Mr Hughes hadencouraged his students to keep up their study of Korean society andculture, introducing them to e-mail pen pals at Panp’o High School in Seoul.The students also participated in an essay competition organized by theTimes Education Supplement and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea,writing essays on the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup and on Korea in theworld. Mr Hughes won first prize in the teachers’ category competition todesign a Korean history course for the secondary school curriculum.

As part of their visit to Sheffield, the young students had a Korean languageclass with Ms Domi Kim of the Centre for Korean Studies. On a subsequentvisit to the Korean Embassy in London, our young visitors surprised theEmbassy staff by introducing themselves in Korean: “How are you? Myname is Michael and I’m from Sheffield. Nice to meet you!”

� Miyuki Nagai and Dr Hugo Dobson (back) talk to students at St Ambrose Collegein Altrincham.

� Cat Brian (holding the BUSA Shield) picturedwith some of her team-mates.

�Getting tto know yyou�

Alumni searchWe are compiling a listing of formerstudents (undergraduate and postgraduate,including distance learning) in the School of East Asian Studies, formerly the Centrefor Japanese Studies. If you studied in oneof our programmes, we would very muchlike to hear from you. Please contact DrPeter Matanle at [email protected]

Cat Brian, a final-year Chinese Studies

student, captained the Sheffield University

Ladies’ Rugby Team to win the 2001-2002

BUSA (British Universities Sports

Association) Shield competition. Having

won the regional league with some ease,

the team’s subsequent victories against

Cardiff, Liverpool and Birmingham put

them in the final against Cheltenham &

Gloucester who had previously not

conceded a single point. Sheffield

subsequently beat the favourites 12-8 in

the final, held in London over Easter, with

Cat scoring the winning try (which was

subsequently converted) in the final five

minutes.

Cat started playing rugby while still at

school, first joining the Ripon Ladies’

Rugby Club.“I like rugby because it’s a

contact team sport that uses all sorts of

skills: a quick head,‘good hands’, pace,

strength and stamina.The position of fly-

half, which I play, gives you lots of

opportunities to be dynamic – to create

play between the backs and forwards, and

instigate the moves that result in tries.

“Combining rugby with Chinese Studies

has certainly been a challenge, especially in

my final year. Somehow I’ve managed to

juggle them, and hope to advance further

with both after I graduate in July.”

Student captainswinning rugbyteam

absence. My research project addressesthis particular gap and, as such, is the firstof its kind outside South Korea.

Literary critic Josephine Donovan hasargued that, even if William Shakespearehad had a sister of equal literary genius,she would never have become a famouswriter. The reason for this would not onlyhave been the prevailing perception ofwomen’s inferior intelligence, whichnaturally prejudiced their writings evenbefore publication. The same pattern ofexclusion of women from literary activitieswas repeated throughout the histories ofEuropean and East Asian societies, andSouth Korea was no exception. Those rareSouth Korean women who had access toeducation were discouraged from writing,

WWoorrkksshhoopp oonnJJaappaann aatt FFCCOOA one-day workshop entitled Japan’sPursuit of a Human Security Agendawas held at the Foreign andCommonwealth Office in London on 21 March. The workshop wasorganised by Dr Hugo Dobson,Japanese Studies lecturer in theSchool of East Asian Studies, and Dr Julie Gilson, a Sheffield PhDgraduate who now lectures at theUniversity of Birmingham, on behalfof the British Association ofJapanese Studies (BAJS) incollaboration with the FCO. It hadfinancial support from Japan 2001and the Japan FoundationEndowment Committee (JFEC).

According to Dr Dobson: “The word‘security’ is controversial and in recentyears its meaning has changeddramatically. Whereas security was onceconcerned chiefly with the maintenanceof armed forces and military solutions toa nation-state’s problems, today theword has a broader meaning. To thisend, both the United Nations and theJapanese Government have promoted a ‘human security’ agenda thatemphasizes the role of both state andnon-state actors, the protection ofhuman rights, humanitarian intervention,human welfare, and sustainabledevelopment.”

The workshop brought together seniorscholars, postgraduate students,diplomats and non-governmentalorganization (NGO) representatives froma range of backgrounds. Following anopening speech by His Excellency Mr Masaki Orita, Japan’s Ambassador in London, sessions examined, first, the role of NGOs and the Japanesegovernment; and second, issuesincluding human rights and refugees.

Speakers included Ms Phillida Purvis ofLinks Japan; Ms Kuroda Kaori of the AsiaFoundation, Japan Office; Mr Glyn Ford,MEP for the South-West of England; Dr Bert Edström of Göteborg University,Sweden; Professor Ian Neary of EssexUniversity; Ms Mieko Fujioka of theInternational Movement Against All Formsof Discrimination and Racism; Ms YukieOsa of the Association for Aid and Relief,Japan; and Mr Andy Rutherford of OneWorld Action.

The papers presented at the workshopwill be published in a special edition ofJapan Forum (the BAJS official journal),edited by Drs Gilson and Dobson.

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Joanna EEllfvviing#Hwwang

Joanna Elfving-Hwang is a PhD studentin the School of East Asian Studies. Sherecently carried out research in SouthKorea, funded by the second PeterCarnell Memorial Award (see page 5)and a Daesan Foundation grant. HereJoanna discusses her PhD research.

My research analyses the representation of‘femininity’ in the selected works of fourcontemporary Korean women writers –Chôn Kyông-nin, Ha Sông-nan, Kim In-sukand Ûn Hûi-gyông – as representativeworks of the so-called ‘new generation’(sinsedae) of 1990s literature. SouthKorean women’s literature is still a ratherobscure topic in the field of Koreanstudies, and research by ‘Western’academics in English is notable only for its

KoreaFoundationcelebrates tenthanniversaryThe Korea Foundation, the principalKorean funding body for the overseasdevelopment of Korean Studies, celebratedits Tenth Anniversary by hosting a two-dayconference on 13-14 December. Inviteesto the conference, Korea’s Interface withthe World: Past, Present and Future,included Dr James H Grayson, Director ofthe Centre for Korean Studies, who wasdiscussant at the session on Korea’sperceptions of the world outside itsboundaries.

The conference, held at the Seoul KyoyukMunhwa Hoekwan, covered a diverserange of topics including ‘Changing Images of Korea: Historical Vignettes’,‘Contemporary Perceptions of Korea’,‘Korea’s Perceptions of the World Outside’,‘Competing Paradigms of Korean StudiesDevelopment’,‘Politics of Culture in the

Internet Age’, and ‘The Role of Foundationsin Cultural and Academic Exchanges’.

On the first evening of the conference,President Kim Daejung hosted a dinner for conference delegates at his StateResidence, Ch’ongwa-dae. (See photo.)

At the conference’s closing ceremony,Dr Lee In-ho, Director of the KoreaFoundation, honoured several Europeanand North American academics for theircontribution to the development of KoreanStudies. Three were singled out forparticular attention – Sheffield University’sDr James H Grayson, Professor EmeritusMartina Deuchler (formerly of SOAS), andDonald P Gregg, Chairman of the KoreaSociety in New York – and were awardedspecial plates with citations ‘for theircontributions in promoting Korea’s imageand its studies’.


� South Korean President Kim Daejung greets Dr James H Grayson, Director of the Centre for Korean Studies, before the conference dinner at the President’s State Residence Cho’ngwa-dae

and until recently women writers wererather dismissively referred to as yoryuchakka, which literally means ‘writers ofthe female species’.

Although Korean women writers haveproduced literary works since the Chosondynasty (1392-1910), it was only in the1970s that they truly achieved both criticaland commercial success. In the 1990s anew group of literary women emergedwhose popularity has elevated them to‘semi-celebrity’ status in South Korea.These women are often referred to as ‘newgeneration’ (sinsedae) writers, who areexperimenting with new kinds of topicsand forms of expression, and crossing theboundaries of what was traditionallyconsidered as ‘good literature’. Becausethese ‘border crossings’ sometimes involvetopics focusing on women’s private lives, many male critics claim that thesinsedae writers are simply being explicitand vulgar.

My research aims to show that, in reality,this crossing of borders from theconventional limits of perceived ‘goodliterature’ liberates the sinsedae authors towrite in a space located outside the limitsof what is considered ‘feminine’.Writing ina society which is inherently repressive towomen,‘border crossing’ is an importantnarrative strategy by which a neutral spaceof expression can be created.

Unlike in the past when Korean womenwere given strict limits within which their

self-identities were allowed to develop, theidentities of modern day women in Koreaare in a constant state of flux. The Frenchliterary critic and psychoanalyst JacquesLacan has argued that gender is a culturalconstruct and therefore subject to‘fluctuation’. One of the major tasks of myresearch will be to analyse how theauthors redefine the term ‘feminine’ bymeans of ‘border crossings’ and what thistells us about the changing status ofwomen in the context of wider society,not only in terms of the legal constitutionbut in terms of accepted notions of what itmeans to be a woman.Therefore, the title‘Rewriting the Borders of LiteraryFemaleness’ refers to an analysis of theconstruction of gendered identities, basedon the socially imaged notions of thefeminine as seen by the authors analysed

in my research, rather than a near-truthfulpresentation of female reality in 1990sSouth Korea. The fictionality of the worksis not being contested but emphasised,although this study assumes that literatureis, at least to a certain extent, a reflectionof the authors’ perception of reality.Thepurpose of my research is not to speak forKorean women, but to uncover thestrategies of resistance by which the limitsof femininity are being contested,redefined or perhaps reaffirmed in thetexts, in an often-unconscious search forthe meaning of ‘femininity’ incontemporary South Korean society.


� (Below) Kim In-suk, TheAnniversary of the Foundingof the School (winner of the2000 Hyondae MunhakLiterary Prize)

� (Top) Ûn Hûi-gyông, TheHouse I used to Live in(winner of the 2001 KoreanWriters’Association LiteraryPrize)

v


VVooiiccee ooff aa wwoommaann wwrroonnggeedd ��The continuing role of traditionalopera in ShanghaiJonathan Stock

Dr Jonathan Stock is a senior lecturer inthe Department of Music. He recentlyundertook field research in Shanghai,funded by a British Academy SmallResearch Grant, where he conductedinterviews and gathered recordings for use in an ‘enhanced’ CD of Chinesetraditional opera. Dr Stock is the author of Musical Creativity in Twentieth-CenturyChina: Abing, His Music, and Its ChangingMeanings (University of Rochester Press,1996).

Many readers will have seen Beijing opera,perhaps in the film Farewell MyConcubine or performed by a touringensemble. Its vibrant costumes and face-paint, stylised movements and acrobatics,and insistent clash of gongs and cymbalscomprise a common image of the Chinesetheatrical tradition. In fact, Beijing operahas a lyrical side too, where gracefulheroines are gently but firmly wooed bysoft-spoken yet persistent poet-scholars.

The Beijing opera tradition that accountsfor so many of our first impressions is justone of some three hundred local andregional opera styles found across China.These traditions run the whole gamut fromexorcism theatre to farce, from historicalromance to contemporary tragedy, andfrom shadow puppetry to stylisedacrobatics.

Shanghai opera lies toward thecontemporary end (its name in Chinesecombines hu, Shanghai’s short name, withju, a generic term for theatre). A recentopera form in Chinese terms, it has adocumented history of a little over twocenturies and a well-documented historyof just under one century. Shanghai operadraws on local folk tunes for its music,and, unlike Beijing opera’s concentrationon the social elite, historical figures andmythological spirits, its singers most oftenenact social dramas set in the cities ofmodern China.

This trend began in 1917 when actor Liu Ziyun premiered his opera TheBitterness of Divorce. Liu’s material camefrom a prominent legal case involving the inexorable fall of a woman into badways after she divorced her under-performing husband. The moral is tabloidnot broadsheet, but the story suitedShanghai opera’s naturalistic exploration

of domestic tensions and its concentrationon the voices of the socially powerless.

Western film and drama was a secondsource for Shanghai opera. The 1940 filmWaterloo Bridge, starring Vivien Leigh andRobert Taylor, was quickly converted into aShanghai opera, as were plays by Wilde,Dumas and Shakespeare. The popularreputation of Chinese playwright Cao Yu,who wrote in the genre of Western-stylespoken plays, must certainly havebenefited from the huge publicity broughtto his claustrophobic tragedyThunderstorm by its rendition in 1936 asa Shanghai opera, at a time when Western-style drama performances were few andfar between in Shanghai. For its part, Cao’sdrama again provided the contemporary,domestic setting and the maltreatedwomen whose voices could become somoving in musical performance.

Although the establishment of the People’sRepublic in 1949 is often portrayed as abreakpoint in Chinese history, operas after1949 further intensified thesecharacteristics. One of the best Shanghaioperas of the 1950s was The LuohanCoin, a tale that explores parallels in thelives of mother and daughter. Thedaughter’s story, set post-1949, proceeds

primarily through action toward a happyconclusion while the mother’s tale, set pre-1949, develops through musical reflectionand avoids an easy resolution. Overlapsbetween the two tie them together, suchas the coincidental receipt by each womanof an antique coin as a love token.Designed to show how the PRC’s newMarriage Law protected the interests ofrural women, the opera is memorabletoday for the moving vocal soliloquies ofthe mistreated mother, acted by Ding Shi’e.

There has been considerable musical and social change over the eighty-fiveyears since Liu Ziyun’s innovation, andShanghai operas reflect these changes.In this respect, Shanghai opera is a fast-changing tradition compared with thebetter-known Beijing style.Yet even recent Shanghai operas, like Yu Yonghe’sopen-ended drama The Jeans-Selling Girl,which presents the story of a youngShanghai private trader torn betweenprofessional success and two men (neitherone able to accept her success), retain thefocus on the heartfelt sounds of a womanin a hard place. As such – with itsinterwoven continuities and changes –Shanghai opera forms an illuminatingwindow into the contemporary Chineseworld.

� Dr Jonathan Stock

� Actress Wang Banmei (centre) with two younger performers. Great World Huju Troupe,Shanghai (September 1997).

Exchangevisitors doSheffieldcourses

Students enrolled in the ContemporaryChinese Society module last semester weredelighted to share their seminardiscussions with two visiting scholars fromChina, Yin Jun and Zhou Jing. The twovisitors participated in the module toimprove their English-language skills indiscussing and writing aboutcontemporary China. They came toSheffield on this year’s exchange betweenSheffield University and the ChineseMinistry of Education.

Yin Jun, who graduated from NanjingNormal University, is an admissions officerat Nanjing University’s Institute forInternational Studies. She was alreadyknown to several of the ContemporaryChinese Society students who had spenttheir 2000-2001 ‘study abroad’ year inNanjing.Yin Jun’s year in Sheffield hasgiven her the opportunity to participate incourses on American and Japanese politicsand on Korean culture. During the Springsemester she has also been teachingSpoken Chinese in the Chinese languageprogramme.

Zhou Jing, a graduate of Beijing ForeignStudies University, is a project officer inthe Ministry of Education in Beijing.

Before coming to Sheffield, she wasinvolved in the preparation of teachingmaterials, particularly the ‘One Earth’environmental project, for school children.The materials she helped design are usedin both regular schools and distanceeducation programmes. At Sheffield, ZhouJing has studied courses on Chineseforeign policy and Japanese management,as well as some MBA courses in the Schoolof Management.

Under the exchange arrangementsbetween Sheffield University and theChinese Ministry of Education, ten Chinesescholars come to Sheffield each year andSheffield’s second year Chinese-languagestudents spend a year doing intensivelanguage study at Nanjing University aspart of their four-year Chinese Studiesdegree. The Chinese participants in the2001-2002 exchange come fromuniversities and government ministries inwidely dispersed provinces of China: fromLiaoning in the northeast to Guizhou andGuangxi in the south.

� Yin Jun (left) and Zhou Jing.

LLeevveerrhhuullmmee FFeellllooww iinnKKoorreeaann mmuussiicc

Dr Inok Paek has joined the Department ofMusic for three years as postdoctoralresearch fellow funded by the LeverhulmeTrust. She holds two degrees in musicfrom Seoul National University and a PhDin ethnomusicology from the Queen’sUniversity of Belfast, and has previouslyheld research and/or teaching posts atQueen’s University Belfast, SheffieldUniversity, the University of Newcastleand University College Northampton.

Dr Paek’s ongoing research on thetransmission processes of, and identitybuilding through, traditional music incontemporary Korea has been publishedin a number of journals, including theKorea Journal, Umak kyoyuk (MusicEducation), Journal of the ISME(International Society of Music Education)and CHIME (Journal of the EuropeanFoundation for Chinese Music Research).She is currently editor of Journal of the ISME.

Dr Paek’s Leverhulme project is entitled‘Living Tradition: The kayagûm zither incontemporary Korea and northeasternChina’. It will explore how politicians,educationalists, the intelligentsia, musiciansand ordinary people in threecontemporary societies with dissimilarcultural and political orientations (SouthKorea, North Korea and the Koreancommunity in Yanbian, northeasternChina) utilise this particular form oftraditional music. The research willinclude both archival work and fieldresearch in South and North Korea, as well as in northeastern China.

According to Dr Paek: “The Koreantwelve-stringed zither kayagûm is aninstrument of unique historial symbolismfor Koreans. Still significant as a mediumfor traditional performance, kayagûmmusic offers a repertory diverse enough toreflect key characteristics of each of thethree locations I am researching.”

A professional performer of the kayagûm,Dr Paek has performed widely in Europeand the USA, made several radio andtelevision broadcasts and also beenfeatured on a number of commercialrecordings and videos.


� Dr Inok Paek playing the kayagûm


The School of East Asian Studies

Ball has become an annual event

following the success of the 2000

and 2001 balls. This year’s

function – designated the 2002

Spring Ball – was held at the

Canton Orchard Restaurant on

25 April.

Organised by Chinese Studies

students Richard Lamb and Sally

Powell, the ball attracted students

from first to final year, as well

as postgraduates and a number of

staff members. The Chinese

banquet and disco were enjoyed

by all, but especially by those

who won one of the door prizes

which ranged from a bottle of

champagne to a generous

donation by STA Travel.

SEASSpring BallSpring Ball


Dr Sarah Dauncey, Coordinator ofthe Chinese Language Programme

It was one of those days that reallychanged my life. My A-Level Frenchteacher was talking to us about universityoptions. I’d already filled out myapplication forms to study French andGeography, but something she saidsparked my imagination. “Going touniversity,” she said, “is a fabulousopportunity to study somethingunusual, something a bit crazy,something like... Chinese!” And it justclicked. I was already intrigued by the‘mysterious East’ and its ancient history,I loved foreign languages, I loved Chinesefood and, what’s more, there was theopportunity to go China and live there for a year. I immediately changed myapplication form and haven’t look backsince!

Dr Judith Cherry MBE,Leverhulme Fellow in KoreanStudies

I came to Korean Studies by a roundaboutroute. After graduating from Durhamwith a degree in Chinese, I went to Seoulto study Korean for a year. Although myplan was just to learn another Asianlanguage before doing an MA inLibrarianship at Sheffield, I fell in lovewith Korea and its people.When I cameback to Sheffield and began my MA, Istarted teaching Korean on a voluntarybasis in the Centre for Japanese Studies...One thing led to another and 22 yearslater (including four years working foran investment bank in New York, Tokyoand Seoul) I’m still here, teaching andresearching Korean Studies – and stillpassionate about Korea!

Dr Hugo Dobson, Lecturer inJapanese Studies

The reasons for what we do are oftenmore random than planned. I studiedinternational history as an undergraduateand was originally interested in Naziforeign policy. At the same time mybrother was in Japan on a Monbushoscholarship and kept coming back with

fascinating stories. My choice of modulesbegan to reflect this influence – modernJapanese history and a dissertation onrelations between Japan and NaziGermany. Then, while I was in Japanlearning the language, a debate on Japan’sparticipation in peacekeeping operationswas raging and I shifted the focus of myPhD from diplomatic history to morecontemporary issues.

Professor Beverley Hooper,Professor of Chinese Studies

I already had a postgraduate historydegree and started studying Chinese out of curiosity – in Australia – after theGovernment recognized the People’sRepublic of China in 1972. China wasgetting a lot of publicity and there was a general feeling that not enoughAustralians knew Chinese or anythingabout the country. Then in 1975 I wasawarded an exchange scholarship tolive and study in Peking (Beijing) –there were very few ‘foreigners’ in China

at that time – and I guess I was ‘hooked’.I subsequently did a PhD in modernChinese history back in Australia... andI’ve been researching and teaching onChina ever since.

Dr Richard Siddle, Lecturer inJapanese StudiesI arrived in Japan in 1982 at the age of22, stepping off the boat in Yokohamafrom the (then) Soviet Union. I intendedto stay just long enough to earn sufficientmoney by teaching English to continuetravelling to Australia. Maybe a year or so,I thought. Seven wonderful years later Ifinally left Japan to return to university inSheffield.What was supposed to be anMA to consolidate my language skills ledinstead to a PhD and the ability tounderstand Japan in new ways.Now I hope to pass on some of thisunderstanding in my academic career.So beware: what may initially be only apassing interest may turn into a lifelongpassion!

why did I study"""

China! Japan!Korea?Like students! �Western� academic specialists on China! Japan and Korea are often asked how they came to be interested in � and study � the language and society of China! Japan or Korea" We asked five School of East Asian Studies staff members this question"""

� Beverley Hooper wrote about her experienceas a student in China in her book InsidePeking (London: MacDonald & Janes, 1979).

� Sarah Dauncey works on a Chineselandscape painting in her room at thePeople’s University in Beijing during her‘study year abroad’ in 1989-90.


Dr Ruby Chau is a lecturer in AppliedResearch in Health and Social Care inthe Department of SociologicalStudies. She has a professionalbackground as a social worker and in2000 obtained her PhD from theUniversity of Sheffield on ‘Welfare Mixin Socialist China’. Dr Chau haspublished a number of journal articleson social welfare and people withlearning difficulties in China.

According to official estimates, China hasover 51 million disabled people (Table 1).While little was done for China’s disabledin the pre-revolutionary period – and evenduring the Mao era – they have receivedsubstantial attention from the governmentsince the 1980s (Table 2). This hascoincided with greater worldwide attentionto the disabled, particularly during theInternational Decade of Disabled Persons(1983-1992).

The rights of disabled people wereincorporated into the Chinese Constitutionin 1982. Article 45 states: ‘Citizens of thePRC have the right to material assistancefrom the state and society when they areold, ill or disabled...The state and societyhelp make arrangements for the work,livelihood and education of the blind, deaf-mute and other handicapped persons’.

There have been two major reasons forthe government’s intervention. One is thepotential social and economic burdenposed by the substantial number ofdisabled people. The second is thedeclared need to utilise disabled people’spotential to make a contribution to therapidly expanding economy.

Policies towards disabled people thereforeaim to promote their self-reliance and toactively involve them in the labour market.Special education has been expanded to cover pre-school, primary, secondaryand adult education, with vocational

training as an integral part at every stage.Community based services includingvocational advice, rehabilitationprogrammes, and mixed social andvocational training workshops have beendeveloped for disabled groups.

The Government uses both carrot andstick approaches to urge enterprises toemploy the disabled. Tax exemptions areoffered to those enterprises that employ acertain percentage (30% or more onaverage) of disabled people. Enterprisesfailing to recruit the minimum number ofdisabled people (varying from 0.7% to1.5% of their work force) have to contributeto the Disabled People’s Employment Fund.

The implementation of governmentpolicies is not without difficulties. In thenew market-oriented economy, manyenterprises are unwilling to employdisabled people lest they undermineproductivity. During my field research Ifound that some enterprises pay nominalwages to disabled people to keep theirnames on the payroll but do not offer anysubstantial work. Others simply do notbother to employ disabled people, optinginstead to make payments to the DisabledPeople’s Employment Fund. Thosedisabled people who do manage to getemployment often find it difficult to keepup with the pace of their non-disabled co-workers and/or to meet rapidlychanging work requirements.

Although the Chinese Government’sdisability policy has advanced

Table 1: China’s Disabled Population

Type of Disability Number of People

Speech and hearing 17.70 million

Intellectual 10.17 million

Physical 7.55 million

Visual 7.55 million

Mental 1.94 million

Multiple 6.73 million

Total 51.64 million

Year Event

1982 Incorporation of rights of disabled people into the Constitution (Article 45)

1986 Introduction of community based services for disabled people

1987 The first national survey on disabled people and their families

1988 Establishment of the China Disabled People’s Federation

1988 Formulation of the first Five Year Plan for the Disabled

1990 Introduction of the Disabled People Protection Law

1991 Incorporation of the first Five Year Plan for the Disabled into the Eighth National Five Year Plan

1993 Establishment of a co-ordinating committee on disabled people in the State Council

1994 Promulgation of the Regulations on Education of Persons with Disabilities

1996 Policies on disabled people becoming a standard item in the Ninth National Five Year Plan

Table 2: Disability Policy in the 1980s and 1990s

considerably in the last two decades,there are still a lot of challenges ahead.First, there is still no systematic evaluationof policy measures. Apart from officialstatistics, very little research has beendone to assess actual achievements andgaps between policy and practice.Second, with the general decline of stateinvolvement in social welfare, thegovernment increasingly relies oncommunity resources and enterprises tofund and provide services to disabledpeople. Whether local communities andenterprises are willing to, and capable of,undertaking these responsibilities is crucialto the success of the official policies.Third, with the emphasis on disabledpeople’s contribution to the marketeconomy, very little attention has beengiven to those disabled who have littleprospect of becoming employable.

The disabled in China:Policy and practice Ruby Chau


Mr Stewart White, Group Public PolicyDirector for the Vodafone Group, visitedthe University on 12 March to present aguest lecture to staff and students,particularly graduate students enrolled inthe MSc in East Asian Business andundergraduates taking business-orientedmodules. Mr White, who has practicedas a lawyer in the telecommunicationsand broadcasting sectors for the pasttwenty years, has been closely involvedwith Vodafone’s recent investment inthe Japanese mobile phone company J-Phone.

In his presentation, Mr White discussedVodafone’s position in the global marketand gave his views on the importance ofthe Japanese market, the Japaneseregulatory environment, and the needfor continuing reform. The lecture wasrecorded as a resource for the School’sDistance Learning students who will beable to access it through the Internet.

CHIMEConferenceupdateA draft programme for the EighthInternational Conference on East AsianMusic (CHIME), to be held at theUniversity of Sheffield from 26-29 July2002, is now available on the web at: www.shef.ac.uk/uni/academic/IM/mus/staff/is/chime.html

The conference title is ‘Sex, Love, andRomance: Reflections on the Passions inEast Asian Music’. Topics range fromromanticism and love as represented inopera and stage genres to flirting andcourtship in folk songs, and from aspectsof gender in East Asian music to theimpact of ‘holy’ passions in ritual anddevotional genres in countries likeChina,Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

The conference convenor is Dr JonathanStock, Department of Music, Universityof Sheffield. Tel: +44-114 222 0483.Email: [email protected]

Vodafoneguestlecture

� Mr Stewart White (right) answering a question from the audience, watched by Professor Tim Wright and Dr Judith Cherry of the School of East Asian Studies.

On 19-20 April, the Korea EconomicInstitute of America and the Centrefor Korean Studies at Sheffield held asymposium entitled North-SouthRapprochement: Two Years On.Organised by James Foley (Centre forKorean Studies) and Peter Beck(Korea Economic Institute ofAmerica), the symposium hadfinancial support from the Embassy ofthe Republic of Korea, the Foreignand Commonwealth Office, andSheffield’s School of East AsianStudies.

The keynote address was given by Dr RaJong-il, noted political scientist andRepublic of Korea Ambassador in theUnited Kingdom. Individual sessions wereheld on “The International Context of theKorean Peninsula”,“Three Views of North

and South Korean Politics Since the June15 2000 P’yongyang Summit”,“TheEconomies of North and South Korea:The Progress and Future of Inter-KoreanEconomic Co-operation” and “TheSocieties of the Two Koreas: Signs ofChange in North and South”.

Individual papers were presented by Koreaspecialists from the UK, Europe, the UnitedStates and the Republic of Korea.Theyincluded Christopher Hughes (Universityof Warwick), Michael Cowan (Foreign andCommonwealth Office, London), AurelCroissant (University of Heidelberg),Rudiger Frank (Humboldt University,Berlin), David Steinberg (GeorgetownUniversity), Peter Beck (Korea EconomicInstitute of America), Katy Oh (Institute ofDefence Analysis,Washington), and LeeDuk Haeng (Ministry of Unification,Republic of Korea).

Korea symposium

v


East Asian Studieshomepagehttp://www.seas.ac.ukVisit our webpage for detailedinformation on ourundergraduate degrees andmodules,‘language year abroad’,Graduate School, research,staff profiles and otherinformation.

EastAsia@Sheffield

� Eleanor Spivey, East Asian Studies admissions officer, pictured at the April Open Day with Dr Chris Bramall, degree tutor for the BA in East Asian Studies.

East Asian Studies Open DaysFour Open Days have been held in theSchool of East Asian Studies thissemester for students interesting inenrolling in single and dual degrees inChinese Studies, Japanese Studies,Korean Studies and East Asian Studies.

Open Days give sixth-formers and othersthinking of studying in the School ofEast Asian Studies the opportunity to talkto lecturers and current students aboutthe degree in which they’re interested,as well as to find out about the differenttypes of accommodation available. Manyof our Open Day visitors also take theopportunity to check out the facilities inthe Student Union – said to be one ofthe best in country – which helpedSheffield to be voted UK’s top universityin The Virgin Alternative Guide toBritish Universities in 2000.

EastAsia@Sheffield is publishedby the School of East AsianStudies, with financialassistance from the School ofManagement.

Inquiries to:Professor Beverley HooperEditorEastAsia@SheffieldSchool of East Asian StudiesThe University of SheffieldWestern Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom

Tel: 44 (0) 114 222 8429Fax: 44 (0) 114 222 8432

Email: [email protected] [email protected]

East Asian Studies degrees

BA degrees

Most degrees involve four years of study.Those marked * take three years.

Single honoursChinese Studies

Japanese Studies

Korean Studies

East Asian Studies*

Dual honoursJapanese Studies and/Business Studies,Politics, Sociology, Linguistics, History

Japanese Studies with/Korean

Chinese Studies and/Business Studies,Music

Chinese Studies with/Japanese

Korean Studies and/Business Studies,Economics, Linguistics, Music

Korean Studies with/Japanese

East Asian Studies and/Business Studies,Russian Studies, Music*

International Politics and East AsianStudiesEconomics with Japanese Studies*

Postgraduate taught degrees

In-house

Diploma/MSc in East Asian Business

MA in Advanced Japanese Studies

Certificate/Diploma/MA in JapaneseLanguage and SocietyDiploma/MSc in Chinese Business andInternational Relations

Diploma/MSc in Chinese Language,Business and International Relations

Certificate/Diploma/MA in ChineseStudies

Certificate/Diploma/MA in ModernKorean Studies

Distance learningMA in Advanced Japanese Studies

Diploma/MA in Japanese Language andSociety

Diploma/MSc in Chinese Business andInternational Relations

Diploma/MSc in Chinese Language,Business and International Relations

Postgraduate research degrees

PhD supervision is available in a widerange of subject areas on China, Japan,Korea and inter-regional studies.

The School of East Asian Studies offers a wide range of single and dualhonours degrees! as well as postgraduate taught and research degrees"For further information! contact SEAS@sheffield"ac"ukor see the School�s webpage www"seas"ac"uk

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