Qualifications: Ph.D. in some area of Chinese language and cultural studies; experience teaching modern standard Mandarin Chinese at a North American college or university; familiarity with a broad range of instructional materials and media, including computer-aided multi-media resources; native or near-native proficiency in both Chinese and English.

Salary and benefits highly competitive. Send cover letter, C.V., and three letters of recommendation to:

Chinese Search, Department of Modern Languages and Literature
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA 19081

Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Chosen candidates may be interviewed by phone.

Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college, located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility.  Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to inclusive excellence through diversity in its educational program and employment practices.  The College actively seeks and welcomes applications from candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable commitments to a more inclusive society and world.

This is an open-rank search, and the appointment will begin September 1, 2013.
Applicants from a variety of fields in Chinese Humanities will be considered, including literary, film, visual, and cultural studies.

All applicants should possess a high level of proficiency in Chinese. Successful candidates are expected to teach a range of courses in Chinese Humanities, from introductory undergraduate lecture courses through graduate seminars; to supervise doctoral dissertations; and to participate actively in the programs of the department as well as in area studies initiatives within a larger university community that encourages interdisciplinary efforts.

The Ph.D. is required prior to appointment. Evidence of excellent teaching and research abilities is essential. Please submit a letter of application, CV, statement of teaching philosophy and experience, evidence of teaching excellence (if available), and a statement of current and future research plans.  Junior candidates may submit a placement dossier with representative publications or writing samples and at least three letters of recommendation. Senior candidates should include the names of suggested reviewers.
Application materials, except letters of recommendation, must be submitted electronically. Please submit your materials as email attachments to chinesehumanities@sharepoint.umich.edu. The subject of your email must appear as follows: “Last name, First name”.  For example: Doe, Jane.

Letters of recommendation should be emailed as PDF files to ashwolfe@umich.edu.

To be assured consideration, applications must be received by September 5, 2012.  The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. The University is supportive of the needs of dual career couples.  All applications will be acknowledged.

Beijing in focus

A new book from the World Film Locations series entitled World Film Locations: Beijing, edited by John Berra and Liu Yang, is available for pre-order. This exciting new title features “a series of spotlight essays and illustrated scene reviews, a cast of seasoned scholars and fresh new voices explore the vast range of films—encompassing drama, madcap comedy, martial arts escapism, and magical realism—that have been set in Beijing. Unveiling a city of hidden courtyards, looming skyscrapers, and traditional Hutong neighborhoods, these contributors depict a distinctive urban culture that reflects the conflict and tumult of a nation in transition. With considerations of everything from the back streets of Beijing Bicycle to the forbidden palace of The Last Emperor to the tourist park of The World, this volume is a definitive cinematic guide to an ever-changing and endlessly fascinating capital city.”

While World Film Locations: Beijing features discussions of many of the films that first made Beijing recognizable to world audiences in the 1990s and early 2000s, this collection of writings also highlight numerous dGenerate titles, including Liu Jiayin‘s Oxhide, Ou Ning‘s Meishi Street, and Cui Zi’en‘s We Are the … of Communism. Addressing the city’s historical legacy as a bastion of Chinese power to modern concerns of urban development and shifting culture through myriad cinematic lenses, World Film Locations: Beijing boasts writing from such scholars as Chris Berry, Yomi Braester, Seio Nakajima, and Grace Wang.

The book is available for pre-order here.

Sound has recently emerged as a vibrant field of inquiry in film studies. It provides an important starting point for the development of new analytic frameworks, including models of reception, historiographic perspectives, and theoretical and practical understandings of cinematic technology and representation. In the area of Chinese cinema,  research on the intersections of film and music by scholars such as Andrew Jones, Sue Touhy, and Zhang Zhen has already made a firm case for the importance of understanding cinema as an inter-textual, multi-sensory medium, while also demonstrating how historical changes in sound technology have profoundly shaped the cinematic experience. In reviving the field of opera studies, Judith Zeitlin and others have opened up new perspectives on Chinese cinema’s imbrication in traditions of performance and changing idioms of live musical drama; such perspectives move beyond previous studies that have focused primarily on opera¹s communication of political and national ideologies. This growing body of research attests to the importance of music in mapping film¹s relationship with other cultural forms, and suggests future directions for the study of sound technology¹s role in the development of Chinese cinema.

This special issue of the Journal of Chinese Cinemas will bring together new sound-related topics and emerging scholarship.  The editors, Jean Ma and Matthew Johnson, would like to invite abstract submissions of 250-300 words for articles related to the special issue theme of “Sound and Music in Chinese Cinemas.”

Comparative, cross-regional, and interdisciplinary approaches are welcome. Our goal is to gather a diverse range of scholarly and practitioner views which will provide a coherent “map” of this theme by including perspectives drawn from studies of cultural texts, performance, technology, history, and various points along the production/exhibition/reception continuum.

 
The abstract should include:
* Your name, email address, institution, and mailing address.
* A description of an innovative approach to the study of sound and music in Chinese cinemas.  Possible topics may include (but are certainly not limited to): cross-medial and inter-medial investigations of film sound and music; the introduction of popular music and performance forms (e.g. vaudeville, cabaret jazz, opera) to a cinematic context; histories of cinematic sound technology; sound and genre; sound authorship and auteurship; interdisciplinary theoretical approaches to sound and music; historical studies of colonial and global (e.g. Cold War) geopolitics, economies, and “flows,” and the interplay between these forces and sound-related cinematic spectacle and practices.

Deadline for abstract submissions: 30 June 2012
Acceptance notice: 31 July 2012
Deadline for paper (6000-8000 words) submission: 31 October 2012
Anticipated publication date: Summer 2013

Abstract submissions (as MSWord documents by email attachment) to both:
Jean Ma (Stanford University): jeanma@stanford.edu
Matthew Johnson (Grinnell College): johnsonm@grinnell.edu

Contact for journal information:
Song Hwee Lim (Editor, Journal of Chinese Cinemas): S.H.Lim@exeter.ac.uk

Website for paper format:
See Notes for Contributors (.pdf file) at www.intellectbooks.co.uk

School of Languages and Cultures
Reference No. 1598/0911A

* Join a comprehensive and diverse school
* Work with leading international scholars
* Full-time, continuing: $104.6K-$147.6K p.a. including salary, leave loading and up to 17% super

The University of Sydney is Australia’s first university and has an outstanding global reputation for academic and research excellence. It employs over 7500 permanent staff supporting over 49,000 students.

The University’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences has a proud history and tradition of intellectual rigour. It offers the most comprehensive and diverse range of humanities and social science studies in the Asia Pacific, and a vibrant research and teaching environment.

The School of Languages and Cultures offers the widest range of language studies in Australia. This includes undergraduate, honours and postgraduate teaching in a range of languages and their social and cultural contexts. The school plays an important role in the wider academic and public communities, responsible for the organisation of national and international conferences, public lectures and seminars with presentations by prominent international scholars and writers. All of our departments have strong community connections and students are encouraged to engage in a range of exciting academic and social events.

Applications are invited for a suitably qualified and experienced Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Modern Chinese Literature, and in this role you will:

* make a key contribution to the teaching and development of the Chinese studies program
* play a major role in the overall curriculum development and administration of the Modern Chinese literature program, and in the promotion of Chinese literature studies across all fields
* conduct research related to Modern Chinese literature at the university level
* potentially contribute to Honours/postgraduate coursework teaching and research supervision at Honours/postgraduate level.

To be successful in this role you will have:

* a PhD in Modern Chinese Literature or a directly related field
* native or near-native fluency in Modern Standard Chinese and English
* demonstrated experience teaching Chinese language at university level to students with and without previous exposure to the Chinese language
* experience teaching Modern Chinese literature and language using computer technology, multimedia and internet resources
* the skills to contribute to curriculum development
* academic administrative and team work skills
* research publications in Modern Chinese literature, including publications in English in international peer reviewed journals.

There are also additional criteria for appointment at Senior Lecturer level.

All applications must be submitted via the University of Sydney careers website.  Visit sydney.edu.au/positions and search by the reference number for more information and to apply.

CLOSING DATE: 27 May 2012 (11.30pm Sydney time)

The University is an Equal Opportunity employer committed to equity, diversity and social inclusion. Applications from equity target groups and women are encouraged.

Special Issue Call for Papers
“Documenting Asia Pacific”

Guest Editors: Kuei-fen Chiu & Chi-hui Yang
Deadline for Submissions: August 15, 2012

About Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies: 

Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies is a peer-reviewed journal published two times per year by the Department of English, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan. The journal is devoted to offering innovative perspectives on literary and cultural issues and advancing the transcultural exchange of ideas. While committed to bringing Asian-based scholarship to the world academic community, Concentric welcomes original contributions from diverse national and cultural backgrounds.

The March 2013 issue of Concentric is dedicated to exploring new directions in documentary and non-fiction media-making practices in the Asia Pacific region. Dynamic political and economic conditions, innovations in production and distribution technologies, increased access to international finances and the migration of moving images from theatres to galleries to online spaces have made more relevant and critical the practice of documentary filmmaking in Asia Pacific.

The task of representing new social realities has generated significant movements—both political and aesthetic—in documentary filmmaking from Beijing to Manila, from Jakarta to Sydney. Engaged verite, documentary/fiction hybrids, personal essays and experimental collage are being used to explore the consequences of globalization and neo-liberalism, fraught family histories, religious conflict, and the role of the state in everyday lives. What kind of formal and aesthetic approaches are being developed to document the contemporary culture and politics of Asia Pacific? How is the documentary itself being tested and reshaped by these efforts? What might be revealed from a study of localized movements, and what might comparative studies across national or cultural boundaries yield?

Concentric invites examinations of all aspect of contemporary documentary and non-fiction media-making in the Asia Pacific region.

About the Guest Editors: 

Kuei-fen Chiu is Distinguished Professor of Taiwan Literature and Transnational Cultural Studies at National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan specializing in Taiwan literature and documentary film. In addition to several books in Chinese, she has published with international journals including The Journal of Asian Studies, The China Quarterly, and Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. She is a multi-time recipient of the prestigious national award for excellence in research in Taiwan and was Honorary Fellow at the Center for Humanities Research at Lingnan University, Hong Kong for the period 2008-2011. Several of her articles have been translated into Japanese.

Chi-hui Yang is a film programmer, lecturer and writer based in New York. His curated programs have been presented at MoMA Documentary Fortnight, the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, UnionDocs, Washington DC International Film Festival, and Seattle International Film Festival. From 2000 to 2010 he was the Director and Programmer of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the largest showcase of its kind in the US. He is currently a visiting scholar at NYU’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute.

Submission Guidelines: 

1. Manuscripts should be submitted in English. Please send the manuscript, an abstract of no more than 250 words with 5-8 keywords, and a brief curriculum vitae as Word attachments to <concentric.lit@deps.ntnu.edu.tw>. Please also attach a cover letter stating that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. Concentric will acknowledge receipt of the submission but will not return it after review.

2. Submissions made to the journal should generally be at least 6,000 words but should not exceed 10,000 words, notes included; the bibliography is not counted. Manuscripts should be prepared according to the latest edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. Except for footnotes, which should be single-spaced, manuscripts must be double-spaced throughout and typeset in 12-point Times New Roman. For further instructions on documentation, consult our style guide.

3. To facilitate the journal’s anonymous refereeing process, there must be no indication of personal identity or institutional affiliation in the manuscript proper. The author may cite his/her previous works, but only in the third person.

4. If the paper has been published or submitted elsewhere in a language other than English, please also submit a copy of the non-English version. Concentric may not consider submissions already available in other languages.

5. If the author wishes to include copyrighted images in the essay, the author is solely responsible for obtaining permission for the images.

6. Two copies of the journal and a PDF version of the published essay will be provided to the author(s) upon publication.

7.  It is the journal’s policy to require all authors to sign an assignment of copyright.

For more information, please contact: 

Editor, Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies
Department of English
National Taiwan Normal University
162 Heping East Road, Section 1
Taipei 106, Taiwan
Phone: +886 (0)2 77341803
Fax: +886 (0)2 23634793
E-mail: concentric.lit@deps.ntnu.edu.tw

April 13-14, 2012
IEAS Conference Room
2223 Fulton Street, sixth floor
University of California, Berkeley

Keynote Speaker: Xiaobing Tang

The conference will bring together keynote speaker Xiaobing Tang and twelve graduate students to present innovative research on modern Chinese cultural production, from early modern to contemporary, in various humanistic disciplines. This year’s presenters take different approaches from economic history to art history, narrative analysis to religious studies and quantitative method.

Presentations take place over the course of two days, beginning 12pm  on Friday, April 13, and are open to the public. The keynote speech this year is titled: “On the Legacy of Socialist Visual Experience,” and will take place at 4pm on Friday. Panel topics include ” Circulating Myth and Meaning: Mediation of Socialist and Post-Socialist Culture,” “Planning Art and the Art of Planning: Private Tastes and Public Desires in Republican China,” “Looking at Language: Exploring Changing Forms of Discourse,” and “Narrative Crossings: Recontextualizing Chinese-ness Across Boundaries.”

Evelyn Shih, conference student chair
Center for Chinese Studies, UC Berkeley
CCS website: http://ieas.berkeley.edu/ccs/
Email: ccs@berkeley.edu

"Timber Gang" (dir. Yu Guangyi)

Timber Gang at University of Michigan

Address: 
Angell Hall, Auditorium A
435 South State St., Ann Arbor, MI

Description:
Yu Guangyi’s stunning debut explores a grueling winter amongst loggers in Northeast China as they employ traditional practices through one last, fateful expedition. Armed with a digital camera and survival gear, Yu Guangyi spent months filming the lumberjacks of his hometown, offering a privileged peek into some exceedingly harsh lives (Neil Young, Jigsaw Lounge). A lasting testament to disappearing traditions, Timber Gang “is a fascinating glimpse at a rare way of life that few will ever witness.” (Ain’t It Cool News)

More information and ticketing details can be found here.

Monday April 10 at 7pm and 9:30pm
Tuesday April 11th at 7pm and 9:30pm 

"Fortune Teller" (dir. Xu Tong)

Fortune Teller at The Trylon

Address: 
3258 Minnehaha Ave S, Minneapolis, MN

Details:
Armed with an HD camera, Xu Tong takes a long look at Li Baicheng, a traditional Chinese fortune teller, and his wife Pearl Shi, two people left behind in China’s dramatic push towards capitalism. A riveting portrait of life on the fringes, this brave documentary achieves a rare intimacy with its subjects that is both rewarding and heartbreaking.

Promotional support provided by the Hamline University Department of East Asian Studies. Fortune Teller appears as part of The Trylon‘s Premiere Series, coordinated by Take Up Productions 

More details can be found here.

About “Fashioning the East-Asian Screen”

It is no coincidence that almost simultaneously in the 1890s the very first issue of Vogue appears and the birth of cinema takes place. The invention of modern life involves this parallel between fashion’s history and the screen. However, most of the emphasis in this relationship is celebrated and documented through American and European cinema. While the relationship between fashion and Western cinemas has already been explored in a number of important publications there has been scant attention to similar themes and issues when it comes to non-Western cinemas, for example, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and so on. This two-day event seeks to address this gap both in our knowledge about fashion and the screen and the role that fashion, clothing, style, costume, and design plays in East-Asian cinemas. We are also interested in how the screen has influenced fashion cultures in the region. Furthermore, we wish to consider the concept of the screen and East-Asia in their broadest sense to include all screens not just cinema but also television to new media and similarly we intend the concept of East-Asia to be fluid and transcultural rather than limited and fixed. Our primary aim with this event is to begin to map an East Asian context in terns of the multiple and mutual contacts between fashion and the screen.

Call For Papers

We seek 20 minute papers or 40 minute workshop presentations and we would invite all proposals that consider the connection between fashion and the screen in the context of East-Asia. We would like to see a spread of historical periods represented as well as different disciplinary perspectives and positions. Some suggested topics might include fashion and costume as an element of mise en scene, film stars, costume design, studio films, fashion in film magazines and film in fashion magazines, period films and fashion/costume orientated genres, fashion Orientalism in Western-Cinemas, the influence of the screen on the broader East-Asian fashion culture.

Deadline for paper submission is Monday the 9th of April 2012. Please send abstracts and proposals with a short bio to gary.needham@ntu.ac.uk.

Event Details

This event is a collaboration between Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery running in tandem with the exhibition of Chinese textiles Living in Silk and will take place on the 3rd and 4th of May 2012. Attendance is free but places are very limited due to the unique Castle venue and priority will be given to participants who propose a paper or workshop. There are two confirmed keynote speakers Dr Pamela Church-Gibson (London College of Fashion) and Dr Tamar Jeffers-McDonald (University of Kent). The Thursday evening reception in Nottingham Trent University’s Bonington Gallery will include a performance based installation by MA Framework students and Lucia Tong choreography for Dance4 relating to the theme of the event.

For further information regarding the event themes and call for papers, contact gary.needham@ntu.ac.uk, School of Arts & Humanities.

For information regarding the Bonington Gallery, Dance4 and the MA Framework, contact yvonne.trew@ntu.ac.uk, School of Art & Design.

For more information about the Nottingham Castle venue and the Living in Silk exhibition, contact deborah.dean@nottinghamcity.gov.uk, Visual Arts and Exhibitions Manager, Nottingham Castle.

The Bernard Schwartz Fellows Program seeks to contribute to a better understanding of policy challenges and opportunities related to the growing importance of Asia in the international political arena and global economy. The program selects highly qualified professionals to serve as resident Fellows at Asia Society’s headquarters in New York City or its office in Washington, D.C. for up to one year. During the course of their residencies, Fellows direct a major and original policy project of their own design, including writing a policy relevant publication for Asia Society.

Additionally, Asia Society relies on Fellows to provide in-house expertise via the media. Opportunities to present their work and/or participate in panel discussions, conferences, and other events at the Society’s Centers in the United States and Asia are also arranged. In these ways, Fellows play an important role in the Society’s mission of promoting policy dialogue and public education on Asia.

The application process is highly competitive. Candidates are drawn from the fields of government, academia, journalism, business, and civil society. Nominations are by invitation or by application. The defining qualifications for Bernard Schwartz Fellows are a solid record of distinction, a soundly conceived project proposal with clear policy relevance, and a commitment to engaging the policy community and the broader public. The Program does not fund pre- or postdoctoral research or work toward a degree. A minimum of 10 years of experience is required; this is a senior level position.

Asia Society is reaching out to our supporters as we seek nominations and applications for the 2012-13 Bernard Schwartz Fellows Program (Spring/Summer 2012 to Summer 2013). Interested applicants who meet the profile and qualifications outlined above should send a cover letter, a detailed curriculum vitae, and project proposal to Johan Kharabi at globalpolicy@asiasociety.org with the subject line “2012 Bernard Schwartz Fellow Application.”