Department of Asian Studies


  • The Hidden Life of Maoist Factory Workers

    Huaiyin Li reveals the reality hidden under layers of political propaganda and critique

    The Hidden Life of Maoist Factory Workers

  • When Tarzan Fought the Japanese

    Brian Hurley delves into the archives to bridge the literature and thought of Japan and the West

    When Tarzan Fought the Japanese

  • K-Drama, K-Pop, K-Places: The Research of Youjeong Oh

    Oh investigates how Korean cities and regions use popular culture, particularly television dramas and K-pop, to promote themselves to an expanding audience of ardent fans. But pop culture is always a bit of a gamble, and it’s not always clear who — or where — benefits from sudden stardom.

    K-Drama, K-Pop, K-Places: The Research of Youjeong Oh

  • Spring Books Unfold

    Disentangling: The Geographies of Digital DisconnectionOxford University Press, July 2021Edited by Paul C. Adams, Professor, Department of Geography and the Environment, and André Jansson, Karlstad University After the rapid rise of digital networking in the 2000s and 2010s, we are now seeing a rise of interest in how people can disentangle their lives from the…

    Spring Books Unfold

  • Leaf Through a Good Book

    Keep your to-read list up-to-date with our fall book list, featuring a selection of titles from College of Liberal Arts faculty members and alumni.

    Leaf Through a Good Book

  • Japan’s most famous writer committed suicide after a failed coup attempt – now, new photos add more layers to the haunting act

    Japanese writer Yukio Mishima has long been a favorite of the international press.

    Japan’s most famous writer committed suicide after a failed coup attempt – now, new photos add more layers to the haunting act

  • Not Lost in Translation

    Fifteen-year Project Introduces India’s Earliest Text to Modern Readers Like so many big ideas, it all started over drinks — in this case, glasses of wine in New Orleans. Fifteen years later, a labor of love finally came to fruition for Joel Brereton, associate professor of Asian Studies and Religious Studies, when his joint translation…

    Not Lost in Translation

  • Defending Artistic Expression

    Should artistic expression receive the same degree of legal protection as other types of speech, such as political, religious, commercial, or educational speech? Should it enjoy less freedom, or more? Michael Adams, a Plan II Honors junior majoring in Asian Cultures and Languages and Biology, penned this first-prize winning response during the Spring 2014 Freedom of Speech Essay Contest. In…

    Defending Artistic Expression

  • Retiring Faculty 2013

    Henry Dietz Government Dietz, the Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Government, taught at the university for 41 years. A specialist in Latin American politics, he studied urban poverty and politics, civil-military relations, and parties and party systems. Among his many teaching awards, he was inducted into the university’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers in…

    Retiring Faculty 2013