Annual
Executive Committee Meeting
of LEWI and IIBD (16 Apr 2007)
The
joint meeting of the Executive Committee
of LEWI and IIBD was held at Assumption
University, Thailand, on 16 April 2007.
The one-day meeting
was attended by representatives from
the following institutions: Baylor University,
Keimyung University, Lund University,
Assumption University, Sun Yat-sen University
and HKBU (first three are LEWI members).
At the meeting, members discussed important
issues including the 2008 workshop on
“Innovation and Entrepreneurship” and
the 2009 conference on “Chinatown and
Beyond”. It was proposed that the workshop
on “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”
would take place on 12-13 November 2008,
at Assumption University. The workshop
will consist of three parts, including
teaching workshop, paper presentations
and plenary sessions. IIBD will prepare
the call-for-papers by September this
year. As for the 2009 conference, members
discussed its themes and directions
and decided that an organizing committee
would be set up to work out the details
of this important LEWI and IIBD event
in due course.
The meeting was a great
success as members had a fruitful discussion.
LEWI and IIBD are particularly grateful
to Assumption University for hosting
the meeting.
Detailed minutes of
the meeting are being prepared by the
secretariat and will be available to
members soon.
From left: Ms. Susan
Li (IIBD secretariat), Prof. Ting Wai
(HKBU), Mr. Glen Chatelier (Assumption
University), Prof. Michael Morrison
(Baylor University), Prof. Chan Kwok-bun
(Director of LEWI), Dr. Vivienne Luk
(Director of IIBD), Dr. Lui Guangyou
(Sun Yat-sen University), Prof. Kim
Shin-hye (Keimyung University), Dr.
Vindhai Cocracul (Assumption University),
Prof. Roger Greatrex (Lund University)
& Miss Hidy Ng (LEWI secretariat)
Recent Activities
Seminar
by Professor Yukman Lai (22
January 2007)
Professor Yukman Lai, painter
and Adjunct Professor of Simon
Fraser University (SFU), gave
a seminar on 22 January. During
the seminar, Professor Lai shared
with the audience his cross-cultural
approach to painting, which
integrates the Chinese form
(Lingnan style painting) and
the Canadian content (Canadian
landscapes, flora, fauna, etc).
Professor Lai
is a Chinese-Canadian painter
who immigrated to Vancouver
from Hong Kong in 1991. Over
the past 14 years, he has devoted
himself to the rendering of
majestic North American landscapes
using traditional Chinese techniques.
His work is featured in the
collections of the Royal BC
Museum, SFU, the Chinese University
of Hong Kong Archives, the Shanghai
Art Gallery, the Shanghai International
Cultural Exchange Society, the
Jiading Museum and the Liu Haisu
Gallery. His paintings of wild
North American orchids capture
a beautiful sense of space and
were chosen by Canada Post for
one of its stamps.
Professor Lai
had a touring exhibition of
paintings entitled “Beyond the
Clouds: Canada through the Eyes
of Yukman Lai”, which was shown
from 20 January to 25 February,
in
Hong Kong at the HKU Art Museum
and Gallery.
Professor
Yukman Lai
Professpr
Yukman Lai’s seminar was
chaired by Ms. Cho Yeuo
Jui, visiting scholar
of the Academy of Visual
Arts
Joint
seminar with Academy of Visual
Arts
Mr.
Cheung Yee, Sculptor, “Passion
of a True Sculptor” (14 February
2007) The event was jointly
organized by the Academy of
Visual Arts and LEWI on 14 February
2007. The Hong Kong pioneer
sculptor Mr. Cheung Yee was
invited to have a dialogue with
students and the general public
on his artwork and his experience.
Ms. Cho Yeou Jui, Artist-in-residence
of the Academy of Visual Arts,
was the moderator of this event.
Mr. Cheung
is well-known for his wood sculptures
and cast paper morals. During
the course of the dialogue,
Mr. Cheung shared about his
art making experiences across
several decades in the creative
career, with the artistic styles
changed during different time
phases in his life. His artworks
were deeply influenced by the
Chinese philosophy, including
“Yijing”, and the “Five Elements
Eight Diagrams”. He has also
learned a lot from western aesthetics
and forms. By absorbing the
essences of both the Chinese
and western art, he creates
his unique artistic style. “Turtle”
and “crab” were common shapes
used in his creation of special
prints. He further elaborated
on how to discover and explore
different kinds of materials
from the environment, and how
to make art from even daily
garbage.
Mr. Cheung Yee’s seminar was
held
on 14 February at the Academy
of Visual Arts
East-West
Talks
Professor
Kamel S. Abu Jaber, “Iraq and
the United States” (1 March
2007) & “Arab-Israeli Conflict”
(29 March 2007) The Europe-China Research
Program is honoured to invite
Professor Kamel Abu Jaber, Former
Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Former Minister of Economy,
Jordan, to give two East-West
talks in March. Professor Jaber
was Jordan’s Minister of Economy
in 1973 and Minister of Foreign
Affairs from 1991 to 1993. He
served as Senator in the Jordanian
Upper House from 1993 to 1997,
President of the Jordan Institute
of Diplomacy from 1997 to 2001,
and President for the Higher
Council for Information from
2001 to 2002. Currently he is
President of the Jordan Institute
for Middle Eastern Studies.
In his seminar
entitled “Iraq and the United
States” (held on 1 March), Professor
Jaber discussed the Iraq War,
an unusual event in the annuals
of international relations.
He tried to answer the following
questions: Who was that supposedly
‘international community’ that
went along with the war decision?
And who gave it the right to
carry out this unilateral preemptive
strike against a state that
was a member of the U.N. and
one of its original signatories?
To others, what precedent did
the Iraq War establish and why
the rest of the world sat and
watched as the American military
juggernaut rolled into Iraq?
Saddam Hussein was without a
doubt a tyrant, yet did that
give the West the moral or the
political excuse to do what
it did to Iraq and its people?
In the second
seminar which was held on 29
March, Professor Jaber focused
on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The intractable Arab-Israeli
conflict, with its Biblical
roots, remains unresolved, though
it has been under discussion
by the League of Nations and
the United Nations. Professor
Jaber explained the reason of
the conflict – the immediate
parties to the conflict, the
traumatized Arabs and Jews,
have been in need of an honest
broker which, thus far, has
not been forthcoming; so the
conflict rages on.
Dr.
Nihal Perera, Visiting Fulbright
Scholar, Ball State University,
US, “Engaging the Asian City:
Research, Pedagogy and Subaltern
Spaces” (8 March 2007)
In a century where global affairs
are being shaped by events in
Asia, very little innovation
is displayed in the shaping
of Asian cities and scholars
have paid very little attention
to the production of places
and identity by the majority
of citizens. The discourses
on Asian urbanization focus
on larger processes of globalization
and Westernization. This focus
on Westernization, which occupies
the historical space of those
places and people of which the
discourses speak, has marginalized
and silenced local voices. Hence,
it is very significant to find
ways to engage the Asian city
form locally-friendly (empathic)
vantage points. In his lecture,
Dr. Perera shared his own research
and teaching experience with
special attention to developing
a locally-friendly vantage point.
Joint
seminar with Centre for Media
and Communication Research
Dr.
Chang Hui-Ching, Associate Professor,
University of Illinois, Chicago;
“Cultural Representation of
East Asians: Some Reflections
on Intercultural Communication
Textbooks” (25 May 2007) The event was jointly
organized by the Centre for
Media and Communication Research
(CMCR) and LEWI on 25 May 2007.
In her seminar, Dr. Chang explored
how East Asia cultures are presented
differently – through alternative
themes, words, discursive strategies,
positioning of various East
Asian cultural groups, and so
on – in two select intercultural
communication textbooks. Dr.
Chang believed that, although
there can be no final say concerning
how best to represent cultural
others in intercultural textbooks
and how these representations
may inform our understanding,
a critical, self-reflective
attitude will help create new
forms of intercultural knowledge
and discourse.
Dr. Chang Hui-Ching gave a seminar
on Cultural Representation of
East Asians on 25 May
Resident Graduate
Scholarship Program
New Students
in Spring 2007
In Spring
2007, we welcome three new students
to LEWI to participate in the Resident
Graduate Scholarship (RGS) Program:
Chen Chen,
M.Phil. candidate, International Economic
Relation, China University of Foreign
Affairs. Thesis topic: “The
Role of Common Culture in Economic Cooperation
and Development – A Comparative Study
of Two Intra-civilisational Economic
Cooperation Developments: European and
Chinese Cultural Sphere”. Field supervisor
at HKBU: Professor Ting Wai, Department
of Government and International Studies.
Chen Chen: I am happy
to be able to study in Hong Kong again.
I did my third year of undergraduate
study at HKBU as an exchange student.
I enjoyed very much my study in Hong
Kong and I learned a lot from the professors
here. Also, I enjoyed communicating
with people with different cultural
backgrounds. I always tell my friends
in China that Hong Kong is one of the
best places to see the world since it’s
so open and free. Thanks to the LEWI
program, I could study in Hong Kong
again. My supervisor, Professor Ting
Wai, is a very respectable and knowledgeable
professor. I am very grateful that I
could conduct my research under his
supervision.
As to myself, I am
an open-minded and optimistic girl.
I like meeting people and making friends.
My home institution, China University
of Foreign Affairs, is a university
with special focus on foreign affairs.
It is also the only university in China
that is attached to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of China.
Chen Xiangyang,
Ph.D. candidate, Cinema Studies, New
York University. Thesis topic:
“The Vernacular Screen: Cantonese Language
Cinema 1950-1969”. Field supervisor
at HKBU: Dr. Emilie Yeh, Department
of Cinema and Television.
Chen Xiangyang: I am
Chen Xiangyang from New York University’s
Tisch School of the Arts, one of the
leading arts schools in the US. Before
going to the US, I’ve had education
in China and England, and have taught
in China and the US. My teaching and
research interests include Chinese language
cinema, film history/historiography,
film genres, cultural studies and Japanese
cinema. I have contributed to an anthology
on contemporary American cultural studies
and have translated works ranging from
poetry and artists’ catalogue to academic
articles.
I am currently writing
my dissertation on Cantonese language
cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. My dissertation
will address such key issues as the
cultural and cinematic flows between
greater China, the Chinese diaspora
and the West, the interaction between
regional and trans-regional, the cultural
and the nation-state, etc, on Cantonese
language cinema screen. Although there
is no lack of articles and writings
on Cantonese language cinema, there
has not been a book length critical
study of it up to date. I hope to redress
the insufficiency and write Hong Kong
film history from the perspective of
dialect cinema and Cantonese culture.
The scholarship granted by LEWI has
afforded, thankfully, a sorely needed
occasion and funding to set the archival
research in Hong Kong going.
Chow Yiu-Fai,
Ph.D. candidate, Department of Communication,
University of Amsterdam. Thesis
topic: “The Banana [Re] Public: A Study
of Trans/national Popular Culture Consumption
among Young Chinese Living in the Netherlands”.
Field supervisor at HKBU: Prof. Stephen
Chu, Department of Chinese Language
and Literature.
Chow Yiu Fai: My name
is Yiu Fai Chow. Some of you may have
heard of me, vaguely perhaps, through
the pop lyrics I have written through
the years for Hong Kong. A graduate
in English studies and comparative literature
(HKU), I started writing lyrics for
Chinese pop music in 1988. First for
Tatming Pair, and later for various
artists. My interest in popular culture
continued after I moved to the Netherlands
in 1992, crossing over, let’s say, from
creative practice to academic thinking.
Alongside my lyrical career, I finished
a master’s programme at the University
of Amsterdam in 2001, with a thesis
comparing audience reception of the
Dutch star Marco Borsato with that of
his Hong Kong counterpart Leon Lai.
In 2005 I received
a university grant to start a PhD project
at the Amsterdam School of Communications
Research, under Professor Liesbet van
Zoonen. My research interest is in the
Dutch-Chinese youth and their use of
(trans)national popular culture. More
specifically, I am conducting case studies
on martial arts films, beauty contests
and pop music. Thanks to the Resident
Graduate Scholarship Programme, I will
be staying with LEWI from May through
July 2007. In addition to conducting
fieldwork, which would be the primary
aim for my brief visit, I look forward
to exchanging views and experiences
with faculty members as well as students
of HKBU.
From right: Chen Xiangyang,
Chow Yiu-Fai & Chen Chen
Seminar by RGS
Recipient (23 April 2007)
Hee
Wai Siam, Peking University, China
Field supervisor at HKBU: Professor
Stephen Chu Yiu Wai, Department of Chinese
& Program of Humanities
Hee Wai Siam is a PhD student from Peking
University. The title of his presentation
is “Fetishism or (Historical) Materialism
of ‘Black Rider’ - Critical Perspectives
on the Works of Dung Kai-cheung”.
In his seminar, Hee
discussed the characteristics of the
works of a contemporary Hong Kong writer,
Dung Kai-cheung. Dung was regarded as
a ‘Black Rider’ in Hong Kong literary
arena. It is true not only about the
author himself but also, the male characters
in his writings possess the glorious
fine qualities of black knight or black
rider: to help the weak and crush the
strong, to demonstrate loyalty and unchanged
love with the mistress. Although Dung
Kai-cheung uses various fiction narrative
skills, lots of similar images and modes
still appear or reappear in his writing.
Fetishism, Hong Kong stories, and creation
of a female kingdom by male author’s
imagination are the three characteristics
of Dung’s fiction.
The seminar of Hee Wai Siam (left)
was chaired by his field supervisor,
Prof. Stephen Chu (right),
Department of Chinese Language
and Literature
Visitorship
Program
Professor Zhang Meilan’s
visit to Hong Kong Baptist University
Professor Zhang Meilan from the Department
of Chinese, Tsinghua University, was
LEWI’s visiting scholar in March 2007.
During her stay in Hong Kong, Professor
Zhang Meilan worked with Professor Zhang
Hongsheng of the Department of Chinese
Language and Literature at HKBU. Their
joint project focuses on the works of
Chinese language teaching by American
missionaries in China in the 19th century.
Professor Zhang also contributed a paper
to the LEWI Working Paper Series.
Elizabeth Cheung, Program Officer of
LEWI,
and Professor Zhang Meilan,
LEWI visiting scholar in March 2007
Professor
Yan Feng’s visit to Hong Kong Baptist
University
Professor Yan Feng from the Department
of Chinese, Fudan University, visited
LEWI in June 2007 under the LEWI Visitorship
Programme. During his stay in Hong Kong,
Professor Yan collaborated with Professor
Ho Wai-chung of the Department of Music
at HKBU on a research on “Interacitivity
and the Future of Literature”. Professor
Yan is now preparing a paper for publication
in the LEWI Working Paper Series.
Professor Yan Feng,
LEWI visiting scholar in June 2007
Recent
Visits by Member Institution
Visit by Swinburne
University of Technology (13 March &
12 April 2007)
Professor Stephen Huxley,
Academic Leader of Communication Design,
Multimedia Design and Film and Television,
Swinburne University of Technology,
visited LEWI on 13 March. Our Executive
Officer, Hidy Ng, greeted him and introduced
him to the various programs of the institute
such as the Visitorship Program and
the Resident Graduate Scholarhip (RGS)
Program.
Prof. Stephen Huxley (right),
Swinburne University of Technology,
visited LEWI on 13 March
Dr. Julian Lippi,
Director of MBA Program, Australian
Graduate School of Entrepreneurship,
Swinburne University of Technology,
visited LEWI on 12 April. Dr. Lippi
saw the Swinburne office at LEWI and
he also had a meeting with Professor
Chan Kwok-bun, Director of LEWI. At
the meeting, Dr. Lippi talked about
his research on entrepreneurship and
leadership and Professor Chan shared
his views on immigrant entrepreneurship.
Professor Chan also informed Dr. Lippi
about the LEWI and IIBD Workshop on
“Innovation and Entrepreneurship” in
2008 and asked Dr. Lippi to encourage
faculty of Swinburne, especially those
from the Australian Graduate School
of Entrepreneurship, to take part in
the event
Visit
by Ateno de Manila University (2 April
2007)
Fr. Bienvenido Nebres and
Dr. Antonette Angeles, President and
Academic Vice-President of Ateneo de
Manila University, visited
LEWI on 2 April. Dr. Emilie Yeh, Associate
Director of LEWI, greeted the delegation
and briefed them on recent activities
of LEWI. Fr. Nebres and Dr. Angeles
also met with Mr. Peter Li, Director
of International Officer, to explore
possibilities for future collaboration
and academic exchange.
From left: Miss Hidy Ng,
Dr. Emilie Yeh, Dr. Antonette Angeles,
and Fr. Bienvenido Nebres
Visit
by Lund University (22 Jun – 31 Jul
2007)
Dr. Stefan Brehm,
post-doctoral fellow at the
Centre for East and South-East Asian
Studies, Lund University,
visited LEWI for one month in late June
to conduct research on his project on
“The Financial Markets in China and
the Role of Institutions for Countries
in Transition”. During his research
stay, Dr. Brehm made side trips to Hangzhou
and Changsha to collect data.
Dr. Stefan Brehm, post-doctoral
fellow at the Centre for East and
South-East Asian Studies in Lund,
made a research stay at LEWI in summer
2007
Visit
by Baylor University (9 July 2007)
Dr. Brent Edwards, Director
of Baylor Global Network, Baylor University,
paid a visit to LEWI on 9 July. Our
Executive Officer, Hidy Ng, greeted
him and showed him the Baylor office
at LEWI. Dr. Edwards also met with Mr.
Peter Li, Director of HKBU’s International
Office, to get an overview of the cooperative
programmes between Baylor and HKBU,
and to discuss the possibility of setting
up a Baylor’s reception at HKBU in the
near future.
LEWI
Publications – Working Paper
Series
The LEWI Working Paper
Series is an endeavour of LEWI to foster
dialogues among institutions and scholars
in the field of East-West studies. It
was launched in April 2002 and serves
as a forum for the speedy and informal
exchange of ideas as scholars and academic
institutions attempt to grapple with
issues of an inter-cultural and global
nature. Sixty-five papers have been
published so far and we welcome papers
in any academic field related to East-West
studies and from authors within and
outside of our LEWI consortium. For
further information, please contact
Miss Hidy Ng at hidyng@hkbu.edu.hk
or visit http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~lewi/publications.html#4
for details about ordering and submitting
a manuscript.
Recent Publications in the Series (abstracts
are available on our website):
55. CHAN Kwok-bun, Hong Kong
Baptist University, Globalisation,
Localisation, and Hybridisation: Their
Impact on Our Lives, English/22
pages, September 2006.
56. Emilie Yueh-yu YEH, Hong
Kong Baptist University, Incriminating
Spaces: Border Politics of Mukokuseki
Asia, English/19 pages, October
2006.
57. Brenda ALMOND, University
of Hull, Conflicting Ideologies
of the Family: Is the Family Just a
Social Construct?, English/20 pages,
November 2006.
58. Brenda ALMOND, University
of Hull, Social Policy,
Law and the Contemporary Family,
English/32 pages, December 2006.
59. Brenda ALMOND, University
of Hull, Analyzing and
Resolving Values Conflict, English/18
pages, January 2007.
60. Peter NEWELL, Global Initiative
to End All Corporal Punishment of Children,
The Immediate Human Rights Imperative
to Prohibit All Corporal Punishment
of Children, English/16 pages,
February 2007.
61. Pablo Sze-pang TSOI, The
University of Hong Kong, Joyce
and China: A Mode of Intertextuality
– The Legitimacy of Reading and Translating
Joyce, English/24 pages, March
2007.
62. Janet SALAFF, University
of Toronto, Angela SHIK, University
of Toronto, and Arent GREVE, Norwegian
School of Economics and Business Administration,
Like Sons and Daughters of Hong Kong:
The Return of the Young Generation,
English/34 pages, April 2007.
63. Stephen Yiu-wai CHU, Hong
Kong Baptist University,Before
and after the Fall: Mapping Hong Kong
Cantopop in the Global Era, English/21
pages, May 2007.
64. HEE Wai Siam, Peking University,
Fetishism or (Historical) Materialism
of Black Rider: Critical Perspective
on the Works of Dung Kai-cheung,
Chinese/43 pages, June 2007.
65. Toby YIP, Simon Fraser
University, Global Consumerism
and Ethical Marketing: Initial Responses
from Christianity & Confucianism,
Chinese/20 pages, July 2007.
