Audio Recording Part 1
Audio Recording Part 2
Category: Archives & Recordings
Select events will have audio recordings and transcript added to the archived page; the majority of events have audio available only by request to gsigur@gwu.edu.
Please find our 2009-2018 events archive here: https://www2.gwu.edu/~sigur/news/events-archive.htm
05/01/18: Jungle Art: Indonesia at the Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Galleries–A Discussion with Emma Natalya Stein
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
Room 505
1957 E St., NW Washington, DC 20052
This event is co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the
Corcoran School of the Arts & Design
 |
| Guung Kawi, Bali (photo: Emma Natalya Stein) |
Art in Indonesia is not typically found in a museum. Throughout the archipelago, pre-modern shrines are cut into rock faces, built on the banks of thunderous, rushing rivers, or carefully aligned with volcanic mountains. Sacred structures are positioned as organic parts of the tropical environment. Immersive and multisensory, they reveal a seamless connection between art and place. While the larger monuments suggest patronage by elites, constellations of minor shrines likely functioned as hermitages and places of worship for ascetics and local communities. Mapping these monuments reveals a dense network of sacred sites built up along rivers, lakes, and other bodies of water.
Beginning from riverside shrines in the jungles of Indonesia, this paper considers the close relationship between sacred art and landscape. It further explores strategies for reinvesting objects in museum collections with a sense of their intended contexts. Individual objects reveal aspects of the environments in which they were produced. In turn, even a basic understanding of Asian landscapes can transform a visitor’s encounter with an object that at first may be wholly unfamiliar. Within the galleries, an engagement with environmental factors, such as geology and climate, can invigorate museum collections and help them continue to grow creatively and in ways not limited to acquisitions.
This event is on the record and open to the media.
About the Speaker:
 |
 |
| Emma Stein at Belahan, a tenth-century site in East Java, Indonesia. | |
Emma Natalya Stein is Curatorial Fellow for Southeast Asian Art at the Freer|Sackler, the Smithsonian’s museums of Asian Art, in Washington, DC. She is a specialist of sculpture and sacred architecture of South and Southeast Asia, with a primary interest in the ways in which art and landscape intersect. Emma completed her PhD in the History of Art at Yale in 2017, and she has conducted fieldwork in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. She has worked on exhibitions and publications at the Yale University Art Gallery, the Rubin Museum, and the Freer|Sackler, and she has lectured and taught at institutions in India, Indonesia, and the USA. Today she will discuss bringing context to collections, with a paper entitled, “Jungle Art: Southeast Asia at the Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Galleries.”
04/26/18: Plunder and Pilgrimage: The Making of an Art Market in Western India Around 1800–A Discussion with Dr. Holly Shaffer
Thursday, April 26, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
Room 505
1957 E St., NW Washington, DC 20052
This event is co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the
Corcoran School of the Arts & Design
In 1810, the British East India Company Major Edward Moor published The Hindu Pantheon in London, an early English attempt to classify the Hindu gods. A lengthy 305-page tome, it also included 105 plates primarily engraved after bronze icons and bright paintings of deities and devotional narratives that Moor had collected in western India and employed an artist from Pune to produce. In this talk, Dr. Shaffer relates how Moor’s collection and publication access a little-documented visual tradition of devotion at home and on pilgrimage in western India while also revealing their paths of circulation and collection by way of plunder, gift, and sale in a thriving but little-understood market for arts in India around 1800.
This event is on the record and open to the media.
About the Speaker:
Holly Shaffer is Assistant Professor of History of Art & Architecture at Brown University; she specializes in the 18th-19th century arts of South Asia and Britain. Her current book project reinterprets the eclectic arts produced in the western Indian city of Pune in the 18th century and their dissemination in print in the 19th century. Other projects include studies of ephemeral arts, such as light, cuisine, and architectural models in the northern Indian region of Awadh; and of European printed representations of India that went viral. She has published articles on these subjects in Journal 18, Third Text, Art India; and forthcoming in The Art Bulletin; and has curated exhibitions at the Yale Center for British Art; the Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution; and Dartmouth College.
Providing Healthcare in North Korea: Issues, Ethics, and Politics
This event is hosted by the Organization for Asian Studies, and co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies.
04/17/18: China’s Pursuit of Regional Leadership: Implications for the United States and Asia A Discussion with Timothy Heath
Audio Recording Part 1
Audio Recording Part 2
Audio Recording Part 3
Tuesday, April 17, 2018
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Room 505
Washington, DC 20052
China’s leaders have called for the country to help lead Asia’s economic integration and reshape its approach to security. China’s vision in some ways contrasts with the preferences of the United States and its allies. How does China intend to realize its vision and what does this mean for the United States and the region?
This event is on the record and open to the media.
About the speaker:
Timothy R. Heath is a senior international defense researcher at the RAND Corporation. Prior to joining RAND in October 2014, he served as the senior analyst for the USPACOM China Strategic Focus Group for five years. He worked for more than 16 years on the strategic, operational, and tactical levels in the U.S. military and government, specializing on China, Asia, and security topics.
Heath has published numerous articles and one book. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he has extensive experience analyzing China’s national strategy, politics, ideology, and military, as well as of Asian regional security developments. He earned an M.A. in Asian studies from George Washington University and a B.A. in philosophy from the College of William and Mary. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science from George Mason University.
Don’t Copy that Floppy! Chinese Theft of U.S. Military Technologies
This event is hosted by the Organization of Asian Studies, co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies.
04/05/18: Taiwan Conference: How Does Taiwan’s Defense and Security Status Stack Up?
Audio Recording Part 1
Audio Recording Part 2
Audio Recording Part 3
Audio Recording Part 4
Audio Recording Part 5
Audio Recording Part 6
Thursday, April 5, 2018
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, State Room (7th Floor)
Washington, DC 20052
Experts will assess the strengths and weaknesses of Taiwan’s defense capacity vis-a-vis China, and how the political and security relationship with the United States factors into Taiwan’s security calculus.
This event is on the record and open to the media.
Agenda:
3:00 PM – 3:30 PM:
Registration and Welcoming Remarks
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM:
PANEL I: The US-Taiwan Security Relationship and the US Factor in Taiwan’s Defense
- “US Policy Priorities in the Region and Role in Taiwan’s Security”
Bonnie Glaser, Senior Adviser for Asia; Director, China Power Project, CSIS - “Rise of Revisionist Powers and Strategic Challenges for US and Taiwan”
Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson, Jr. (Ret.), Senior Director, China and the Pacific, Center for the National Interest - “Taiwan’s Future Threat Environment and Need for US Policy Adjustments”
Richard Fisher, Senior Fellow, International Assessment and Strategy Center
5:00 PM – 5:30 PM:
Break for High Tea and Refreshments
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM:
PANEL II: Taiwan’s Strategic and Defense Capacities: Strengths and Weaknesses
- “Taiwan’s Strong but Stifled Foundations of National Power”
David Gitter, Director, Party Watch Initiative - “Reconstructing Taiwan’s Military Strategy: Achieving Forward Defense through Multi-Domain Deterrence”
David An, Senior Research Fellow, Global Taiwan Institute - “The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia”
Ian Easton, Research Fellow, Project 2049 Institute
About the Speakers:
Bonnie Glaser is a senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at CSIS, where she works on issues related to Asia-Pacific security with a focus on Chinese foreign and security policy. Ms. Glaser has worked for more than three decades at the intersection of Asia-Pacific geopolitics and U.S. policy. Prior to joining CSIS, she served as a consultant for various U.S. government offices, including the Departments of Defense and State. Ms. Glaser received her B.A. in political science from Boston University and her M.A. with concentrations in international economics and Chinese studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson, Jr. (ret.) most recently served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Security Affairs. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer for the United States Olympic Committee, then as an independent consultant before entering Government in 2009. LtGen. Gregson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; the U.S. Naval Institute; and the Marine Corps Association. He is a Trustee of the Marine Corps University Foundation. His civilian education includes a Bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, and Master’s degrees in Strategic Planning from the Naval War College, and International Relations from Salve Regina College.
Richard Fisher is a Senior Fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center. He has previously worked with the Center for Security Policy, Jamestown Foundation China Brief, U.S. House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee, and The Heritage Foundation. He is the author of China’s Military Modernization, Building forRegional and Global Reach (Praeger, 2008, Stanford University Press, 2010, Taiwan Ministry ofNational Defense translation, 2012). His articles have been published in Far Eastern Economic Review, Asian Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Sankei Shimbun, World Airpower Review and Air Forces Monthly. He received a B.A. (Honors) in 1981 from Eisenhower College.
David Gitter is the Director of the Party Watch Initiative, a Project 2049 Institute program that tracks the latest activities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and specializes in analysis of authoritative open source Chinese language materials. Prior to joining the Institute, he has worked in various analytical capacities at the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (OUSDP), Project 2049 Institute, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) focusing on Chinese foreign policy and broader Asian security issues. Gitter received his MA in Asian Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.
David An is currently the Senior Research Fellow at Global Taiwan Institute. Prior to joining GTI, David was a political-military affairs officer covering the East Asia region at the U.S. State Department from 2009 to 2014, and initiated the first Taiwan interagency political-military visit to the U.S., which have continued to occur annually. Prior to joining the State Department, he was a Fulbright scholar researching democracy in Taiwan and village elections in China. He received his M.A. from UCSD Graduate School of Global Policy and Strategy and his B.A. from UC Berkeley. He publishes and speaks widely on East Asian political and security matters.
Ian Easton is a research fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, where he conducts research on defense and security issues in Asia. Previously, Ian worked as a China analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) for two years. Prior to that, he lived in Taipei from 2005 to 2010. During his time in Taiwan, he worked as a translator for Island Technologies Inc. and the Foundation for Asia-Pacific Peace Studies. While in Taiwan, he also conducted research with the Asia Bureau Chief of Defense News. Ian holds an M.A. in China Studies from National Chengchi University in Taiwan and a B.A. in International Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
03/28/18: Early Photography of the Silk Road: A Discussion with Visiting Scholar Maeve Nolan
Audio Recording Part 1
Audio Recording Part 2
Audio Recording Part 3
Part of the Sigur Center’s Visiting Scholar Roundtable Series
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Chung-wen Shih Conference Room
The Elliott School of International Affairs
1957 E Street, NW, Suite 503
Washington, DC 20052
Early photography of the Silk Road is a sub-genre of early photography. These photographs have contributed significantly to the Western world’s vision of the Silk Road and Asia but they have yet to be studied in depth. This talk explains what early Silk Road photography looks like, its origins, who produced it and why.
This event is on the record and open to the media.
About the speaker:
Maeve Nolan is a second year PhD Art History and Archeology student at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She is currently a visiting scholar with George Washington University’s Sigur Center whilst she conducts her research at the National Geographic Society. The title of her PhD is:
“Early Silk Road photography: A case study of how and why Dr. Maynard Owen Williams, Litt. D. (1888-1963) photographed the Silk Road during the Citroen-Haardt Trans-Asiatic Expedition (1931-1932)”
Her PhD examines early photography of the Silk Road through a close analysis of the work of one of the last of the early Silk Road photographers, Maynard Owen Williams (1888-1963). She has chosen Williams’ photographs of the Citroen-Haardt Trans-Asiatic Expedition (1931-1932), which re-traced the route of Marco Polo, as a case study. These photographs present some of the most technically proficient, romantic, painterly and widely distributed examples of early Silk Road photography and appeared alongside articles Williams wrote for the influential American publication, the National Geographic Magazine.
Through her research, she intends to shed light on this overlooked photographic genre and help to deepen understanding of its impact on the Western world’s relationship with and understanding of Asia and the Silk Road.
03/28/18: Traversing the Warrior Fantasy–Martial Culture and The Meiji Restoration
Audio Recording Part 1
Audio Recording Part 2
Friday, March 23, 2018
Time: 2pm-4pm
Location: National Churchill Library and Center (Gelman Libaray 101a)
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Sigur Center for Asian Studies.
Speaker: Michael Wert, Associate Professor of East Asian History, Marquette University
Abstract: The Meiji Restoration is typically analyzed in terms of international and domestic politics, intellectual trends, and changes in the commercial economy. This talk adds to that conventional narrative by exploring the role of warrior identity and the widening gap between warrior ideals and warrior realities in the nineteenth century. For samurai and elite commoners alike, martial culture in the form of swordsmanship became a vehicle for acting out the fantasy of the ideal warrior at a time when warrior authority was at its nadir. Rather than see culture as simply a site of resistance, it was the very act of over-identifying with warrior fantasy and ideology that undermined the Tokugawa regime.
Speaker Bio: Professor Michael Wert is an associate professor of East Asian history at Marquette University, with a focus on early modern and modern Japan. His first book Meiji Restoration Losers: Memory and Tokugawa Supporters in Modern Japan engages memory theory by asking how memory can help answer broader historical questions. Specifically, it traces the “memory landscapes” of the Meiji Restoration from 1868 to the present through the lens of those on the losing side. His second project continues to center around the Meiji Restoration, using theoretical tools to investigate the role of martial fantasy, culture, and violence in the early modern period. Professor Wert is a graduate of GW (B.A. East Asian Studies, 1997).
Three Waves of Jewish Migration to China: 1845-1941
Event Schedule
2:00pm – 2:30pm – Registration
2:30pm – 4:00pm – Lecture and Q&A
4:00pm – 4:30pm – Refreshments & networking
Room: Lindner Commons (Rm 602)
Address: Elliott School of International Affairs – 1957 E St NW, Washington, DC
