UC Berkeley Institute of East Asian Studies

09/08/2026

Take a peek at the Fall Programs at the Center for Chinese Studies at https://conta.cc/4zYubgf.

The CCS Newsletter starts out with a greeting from CCS Chair, Sophie Volpp...

"Welcome back! We hope that you had a wonderful summer. We are looking forward to seeing you at upcoming events and programs at the Center for Chinese Studies this fall. Below, we share the fall calendar as well as news of our community.

In early October, CCS will host the first-ever Social Sciences Graduate Research Conference at the Center for Chinese Studies, bringing together 25 presenters from across the UC campuses, Stanford, and USC. Professors Wen-hsin Yeh, Yan Long, Rachel Stern, Xiaobo Lü and Puck Engman have worked hard over many months to create this new forum for graduate students working in the social sciences to share their research and engage in conversation across institutions and disciplines."

Read more about CCS at https://conta.cc/4zYubgf.

09/08/2026

THUR (9/10) at 4pm.
BTS Army: Forever We Are Young - Screening & Conversation with Dir Grace Lee and Patty Ahn in Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Aud, Room 310, UCB.

Dive into the passionate fandom that made BTS into a global household name. RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/us5rh6ce.

09/08/2026

JOB OPENING at IEAS: Office Manager and Program Assistant
First Review starts Sept 17 with Full Consideration until Oct 25

IEAS rarely has openings. Turnover is low; the work is interesting and colleagues enjoy working together.

Learn more about the job requirements and application process at https://conta.cc/4gKhYD6.

Email from Institute of East Asian Studies Office Mgr. & Program Asst. JOB OPENING at IEAS Office Manager and Program Assistant First Review starts September 17 Full Consideration until Oct 25 Departm

09/07/2026

In celebration of Philip Kan Gotanda's distinguished career at UC Berkeley, join Philip and David Henry Hwang in conversation on Sept 24 (Thur at 5pm) at the Faculty Club.

Philip and David met in 1978. Since then, they have become pillars of Asian-American theater and pioneers of Asian-American opera and film - Philip with MANZANAR: AN AMERICAN STORY, BOTH EYES OPEN, AFTER THE WAR, YANKEE DAWG YOU DIE, YOHEN, THE WASH, LIFE TASTES GOOD, and David with M. BUTTERFLY, FOB, YELLOW FACE, SOFT POWER, S.F. Opera’s DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER and THE MONKEY KING. They will share their experiences over many decades of playwriting, writing operas, making films, and teaching.

Learn more and RSVP at https://events.berkeley.edu/ccs/event/327679-a-conversation-with-philip-kan-gotanda-and-david.

09/04/2026

Warm Greetings from JUNKO HABU, chair of the Center for Japanese Studies. Read Junko's letter and learn more about CJS's upcoming programs at https://conta.cc/4xVbJUx.

On Sept 21 | 1:00-3:00PM
The 2nd Workshop on Governance and Policy in East Asia in the IEAS Conference Room (2111 Bancroft Way, 5th Floor, Berkeley). More registration information is available at the link above.

09/03/2026

Take a peek at CKS's upcoming events at
https://conta.cc/4gCPQ4D.

The first program this fall is a "Casual Conversation with Venerable Pomnyun Sunim" next Wednesday (Sept 9) at 4pm.

Venerable Pomnyun Sunim is a Korean Seon (Zen) Buddhist monk. In this interactive program, he invites students and community members to openly explore questions about stress, relationships, career uncertainty, emotional wellbeing, social conflict, and the search for meaning in modern life. How can we live with greater clarity, resilience, and compassion in a rapidly changing world?

The talk will be at Sutardja Dai Hall, Banatao Auditorium at 2594 Hearst Ave, Berkeley.

RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/3c8rtun9.

09/02/2026

The Blakemore Foundation Language Fellowships

The Blakemore Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2027 Blakemore Language Fellowships for an academic year of intensive language study at approved language programs in Asia during the 2027/2028 academic year.

The Foundation is looking for exceptional candidates who will make significant contributions to their career field. The ideal candidate is someone with stellar grades, outstanding recommendations, and a demonstrated commitment to the Asian country and language. Beyond commitment, we are looking for a mature purpose: a career path that will require and benefit from fluency in that Asian language throughout that individual's life.

All fellowships provide a stipend for living, travel, study expenses and full tuition for study at top universities in China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Applications for all fellowship programs may be submitted at https://blakemorefoundation.communityforce.com with a deadline of December 30, 2026.

09/02/2026

CSEAS September Newsletter

CSEAS Chair Lisandro Claudio updated the CSEAS community yesterday on recent transitions. Alexandra Dalferro., the center's beloved program director, has moved to Singapore to teach at the Nanyang Technological University. Congrats Alexandra!

We are so pleased to have Ni Luh Gede Sri Pratiwi as the program director now. Welcome Sri!

A glimpse at a couple of September talks:

September 25 at 5pm
Y Thien Nguye will start the fall program off speaking on "Rethinking the Republican Interregnum in South Vietnam (1964-1967)" at the Faculty Club.

September 28at 5pm
Pavin Chachavalpongpun will talk about the "Five Years After the Youth Protests: The Thai Monarchy Strikes Back" in Dwinelle 370.

Learn more about these programs and connect to CSEAS News at https://conta.cc/4gtKvfQ.

Photo below: A sleeping dragon, Komodo Island.

09/02/2026

Our Graduate Student Fellowship Opportunities this Fall!

Don't miss this opportunity to apply for a couple of graduate student grants in East and Southeast Asian studies this fall.

The Haas Finishing Lines Grants will help graduate students complete their dissertations, and the Translation Grants will fund translation work. Learn more about these grants and others at https://tinyurl.com/2n7tnst5.

08/25/2026

American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS)

Here's a plug for ACMS and their programs. I've excerpted a few paragraphs from their email today by Maggie Lindrooth, their US director.

"Did you learn about Mongolia in school? Who was your favorite teacher? What did you learn from them?

I remember first learning about Mongolia in the fifth grade, when my class studied Marco Polo’s journey to Asia and the years he spent with Khubilai Khan. I was enchanted by the descriptions of the city of Karakorum, and spent hours imagining what this place must have looked like and how Marco Polo must have felt upon arriving in the city after such a long journey.

Of course, Mongolia is now just a plane ride away.

And every year, ACMS brings numerous K-12 teachers and college and university faculty members to Mongolia. Over the coming weeks, keep your eye on our newsletter and social media, where we will be sharing the stories of just a few of these educators and their experiences with ACMS."

Learn more about ACMS at https://mongoliacenter.org/.