Trinity Centre for Asian Studies

03/09/2026

“My master’s studies of Chinese Studies at TCAS in Ireland formed a truly vital part of my academic career. The curriculum was both diverse and engaging, and the professors were exceptionally knowledgeable and patient, from whom I benefited immensely. I would highly recommend TCAS to anyone looking to pursue their studies in this field! ”

TCAS Alumna Mok Earl shares her reflections on her academic journey and her experience at TCAS, when she was awarded a Full Scholarship for a PhD at Nanjing University!

Congratulations from all of us at the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies (TCAS)!

We are delighted Earl Mok (莫尔), an alumna of the M.Phil. in Chinese Studies, has been awarded a full scholarship to pursue her PhD in Chinese Language and Literature at Nanjing University, China.

Originally from Malaysia, Earl’s academic journey in Chinese Studies has now taken her across three countries.

She completed her bachelor’s degree in Malaysia before coming to Trinity College Dublin to undertake the M.Phil. in Chinese Studies at TCAS.

During her studies at Trinity in 2024–25, Earl received the Eoin and Cliona Murphy Scholarship, which supports students undertaking the M.Phil. in Chinese Studies based on academic merit and financial need.

We know Earl has now arrived in Nanjing and is successfully enrolled at Nanjing University, where she will spend the next four years pursuing her doctoral studies in Chinese Language and Literature.

Earl’s journey from Malaysia to Ireland and now to China reflects the international character of Chinese Studies and the diverse academic pathways available to TCAS graduates. Her progression from postgraduate study at Trinity to fully funded doctoral research at Nanjing University is a wonderful achievement.

Professor Nathan Hill, Director of TCAS, and colleagues at the Centre warmly congratulate Earl on her achievement and wish her every success as she begins this exciting new chapter of her academic career in Nanjing.


Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute
Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation
Trinity College Dublin Global

01/09/2026

Our thoughts are with our colleagues, friends and communities in Nepal at this difficult time.

Professor Nathan W. Hill, Director of TCAS, was in Kathmandu over the past week for the International Association for Tibetan Studies and has now returned safely.

For anyone wishing to support disaster-relief efforts in Nepal, donations can be made through the following organisations:

• Prime Minister’s Natural Disaster Relief Fund, Government of Nepal (GoN) (https://www.moha.gov.np/en/post/ha-ra-tha-ka-apa-l-11)

• Nepal Red Cross Society (https://donation.nrcs.org/donate)

• Association for International Solidarity in Asia (ASIA) (https://dona.asia-ngo.org/nepalemergency/)

• Dolpo Komang Tulku Association Charitable Foundation (https://www.dolpotulku.org/en/contribute/)

31/08/2026

Who was the esteemed scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose? What was his relationship to Sister Nivedita?

You're invited to our next TCAS Margaret Noble (Sister Nivedita) Lecture 2026, featuring speaker Siddhartha Sen on Jagadish Bose and Sister Nivedita

📆 Tuesday, 29th September 2026, 7.30 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.
📍 2039: SL JM SYNGE THEATRE (A), Arts Building,
Trinity College Dublin.

🎟️ Book here on Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/jagadish-bose-and-sister-nivedia-tickets-1999253119900?aff=oddtdtcreator

Jagadish Chandra Bose is an icon of Indian Science. He was knighted for his contributions to science, elected Fellow of the Royal Society, and a revered teacher who received multiple honours for his work.

In Calcutta he was a close friend of Tagore and, from 1898 onwards, of Sister Nivedita. Yet some voices suggest that others' claims about his work are uncritical and suspect.

A thoroughly researched book on Bose written in 1999 ends by saying he was a flawed genius and that some of his work on plants was simply wrong and embarrassed even his colleagues in Calcutta.

The lecture will tell the remarkable story of Bose’s lone journey to understand nature, and the role Sister Nivedita played in his scientific life.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Siddhartha Sen was born in India received an ScD from MIT, Cambridge, Mass, USA on Quantum Field Theory under the supervision of Ken Johnson of the Physics Department.

He joined Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, in 1971 and retired as Head of the School of Mathematics in 2002. He was elected Fellow of Trinity College in 1977 and Member of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) in 2002.

He has a wide range of research interests and has papers on mathematical physics, particle physics, condensed matter physics, quantum computing, quantum black hole physics, turbulence, self-organised criticality, history of science, Vedanta and biology. He published four books, and his most recent book on neuroscience will be published later this year.

We gratefully acknowledge the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, Dublin, for sponsoring this lecture series.



India in Ireland (Embassy of India, Dublin)
Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute
Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation

28/08/2026

A great way to get an introduction to these Asian Languages and our lovely campus at Trinity College Dublin, of course!

Are you looking to pick up a new language, reconnect with one you’ve studied before, or just develop your skills further?

Why not join us at Trinity College Dublin this Autumn?

The School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences at Trinity College Dublin is now inviting applications for its 2026–27 Evening Language Courses. It's open to the public!

Our programme of accessible evening classes includes:

• Irish Sign Language
• Mandarin Chinese
• Japanese – Introduction, Post-Beginners and Intermediate
• Turkish – Introduction, Post-Beginners and Intermediate
• Korean – Introduction and Post-Beginners

There's more! Much more than vocabulary.
You could discover a new culture through its writing systems and real-world contexts with authentic materials incorporated wherever possible.

WHEN DO THEY START
Most courses begin in September 2026 and run for 24 weeks across two 12-week terms.

WHERE?
Classes are primarily held in the Arts Building at Trinity College Dublin, with Irish Sign Language classes taking place at the Centre for Deaf Studies.

Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so apply early.

Find course details, schedules, fees and how to apply right here:
https://www.tcd.ie/slscs/evening-courses/



PPLI / Languages Connect
Language Exchange Ireland
Languages Connect
TCD Centre for Deaf Studies

24/08/2026

This month, on 18 August, our very own Professor Nathan Hill welcomed H.E. Mr MIYAGAWA Manabu, Ambassador of Japan to Ireland, and Ms NAKATA Keiko, First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Ireland, to Trinity College Dublin!

Dr INOUE Keiko, Research Fellow and Japanese Studies
Coordinator at Trinity, also joined the meeting.

The meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on strengthening academic and intellectual links between Trinity and Japan.

Ambassador Miyagawa highlighted Japan’s participation in Horizon Europe and expressed an interest in further developing cooperation and intellectual exchange between Trinity and a wide range of stakeholders in Japan.

Looking ahead to 2027, which will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Ireland, the meeting also explored opportunities to
deepen academic and cultural exchange and build on the longstanding.

We greatly value our continued engagement with the Embassy of Japan in Ireland and look forward to further strengthening collaboration in Japanese Studies, academic exchange, and wider intellectual and cultural engagement between Ireland and Japan.

Trinity College Politics Society
Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute
Japan Society
Ireland Japan Association
Japan Ireland Social Group

19/08/2026

One of our September lectures will explore contemporary developments in Tibet through two complementary perspectives.

Join us for a talk on"The Withering of Tibetan Nationalism/Ecological Socialism in Practice: A Study of Collective Pastoral Economy in Tibet’s Ga Tsho Community"

With Speakers: Yan Hairong and Barry Sautman

📆 Wednesday 16 September 2026, 5pm- 6.30pm
📍 TRiSS Seminar Room, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin

🎟️ Register here:

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/the-withering-of-tibetan-nationalismecological-socialism-in-practice-tickets-1993932644214?aff=oddtdtcreator

Barry Sautman will examine the changing landscape of Tibetan émigré nationalism, considering demographic shifts, evolving international support, and changing identities within Tibet.

Yan Hairong presents new research on pastoral development, challenging conventional assumptions about privatisation and environmental management through a case study of a Tibetan pastoral collective.

Together, the talks offer fresh insights into nationalism, governance, rural development, and environmental sustainability, highlighting the complex social, political, and economic transformations taking place in contemporary Tibetan regions and their wider significance for understanding modern China.

19/08/2026

Elites in Western ex-colonial states disparage China as neocolonialist. Scholars have refuted that notion, but have also shown that the Chinese presence abroad is more than just developmentalism.

The West’s distorting “China-in-Africa” framework overstates that presence and often focuses on epiphenomenal aspects of it

Explore this topic with us at our next September talk
“Differences at the Margin: Understanding Chinese Investment in Africa”

With Speakers: Yan Hairong and Barry Sautman

📆 Tuesday 15 September 2026, 6 p.m. -7.30 p.m.

📍 TRiSS Seminar Room, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin

🎟️ Book here:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/differences-at-the-margin-understanding-chinese-investment-in-africa-tickets-1993929385467?aff=oddtdtcreator

Based on documentary evidence and fieldwork in two southern African countries, our guest speakers seek to understand the basis for Chinese capital and Chinese people’s interactions with Africa and Africans.

They will show that semi-peripheral China’s investment and population in Africa partly fits into the neoliberal world order. It also differs at the margin, however, from the presence of other countries, particularly in challenging local-level monopoly practices.

18/08/2026

Elites in Western ex-colonial states disparage China as neocolonialist. Scholars have refuted that notion, but have also shown that the Chinese presence abroad is more than just developmentalism.

The West’s distorting “China-in-Africa” framework overstates that presence and often focuses on epiphenomenal aspects of it

Explore this topic with us at our next September talk
"Differences at the Margin: Understanding Chinese Investment in Africa"

With Speakers: Yan Hairong and Barry Sautman

📆 Tuesday 15 September 2026, 6 p.m. -7.30 p.m.

📍 TRiSS Seminar Room, Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin

🎟️ Book here:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/differences-at-the-margin-understanding-chinese-investment-in-africa-tickets-1993929385467?aff=oddtdtcreator

Based on documentary evidence and fieldwork in two southern African countries, our guest speakers seek to understand the basis for Chinese capital and Chinese people’s interactions with Africa and Africans.

They will show that semi-peripheral China’s investment and population in Africa partly fits into the neoliberal world order. It also differs at the margin, however, from the presence of other countries, particularly in challenging local-level monopoly practices.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Barry Sautman, professor emeritus in the Division of Social Science at the The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. A political scientist and lawyer, he has worked on ethnic policies and politics in China, including ethnic regional autonomy.

He has a particular research interest about Xinjiang Ughur Autonomous Region and Tibet Autonomous Region and has published numerous articles and monographs. His most recent book is Telling Tall Tales: “Uyghur Genocide” as a Political Stratagem (Brill 2026). In recent two decades, he has also co-authored with Yan Hairong on China-Africa links , including research on China/Africa political economy and interactions between Chinese and Africans, having published in Chinese China in Africa: Discourses and Reality (中国在非洲：话语与现实).

YAN Hairong, Professor at Tsinghua Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities and Social Sciences and Department of Sociology and honorary professor of the Department of Applied Social Sciences at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Her earlier research focused on rural-to-urban migrant domestic workers in China. In recent decade, she has become concerned with food sovereignty and agrarian change in China and has conducted field research in rural Xinjiang and rural Tibet. She publishes in the Journal of Peasant Studies and the Journal of Agrarian Change and contributes to the food sovereignty network in China. In 2024 she and her teammates published (in Chinese) 乡村纪事：新型集体经济为什么行 （Documenting the countryside: Why New Rural Collective Economies Can Work. For the past two decades, she has collaborated with Barry Sautman on China-Africa links and has co-authored East Mountain Tiger, West Mountain Tiger: China, Africa, the West and “Colonialism”.


Trinity Business School
Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities
Trinity College Politics Society
Department of Political Science, Trinity College Dublin
TEDx Trinity College Dublin

18/08/2026