UTC will host the third annual “Introduction to Asia Conference” on Thursday, February 17 in the UTC University Center Auditorium. The events are free and open to the public. The conference will include presentations by leading experts in the fields of anthropology, music, history, and geography. The conference was established in 2009 as a way to highlight the unique characteristics of Asia and Asian culture to both the campus and the community.
“The whole idea of the conference is having the opportunity for the community to have a platform to understand Asia and Asian culture, especially in the present time when Asia is on the rise,” Dr. Zibin Guo, UC Foundation Professor of Anthropology, said.
Guo will present “The Cultural Metaphor of Tai Chi Movements” from 12:20 p.m. to 1 p.m. He is a medical anthropologist specializing in Chinese medicine & health traditions, community health, culture and medical health, disability and health, Asian American study and cross-cultural aging and health.
Jooyong Ahn will give his lecture “Western Music Influence in Korea” from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. Ahn, Associate Professor of Music at UTC, has performed in New York’s Carnegie Hall, Avery Fischer Hall and Philadelphia’s Academy Hall.
Dr. Richard Rice, Professor of History and Co-Director of the Asia Program at UTC, will speak on the arts in Asia in his presentation, “Japanese Visual Arts in the Modern Era” from 1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Rice teaches Asian History at UTC. His courses include Traditional and Modern China and Japan, and occasionally he teaches a cartoon history course that includes manga and anime. Rice has published his own cartoons in national media.
Dr. Ron Kalafsky will present “Prospects and Challenges for the Economies of East Asia” from 2:40 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Kalafsky, Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Tennessee, is an economic geographer who looks at the links between manufacturing and location. His research includes the export performance of Japanese machine tool producers and Canadian firms entering the Chinese market. He teaches a number of classes, including Geography of the Global Economy and the Geography of East Asia.
A panel discussion titled “East Asian Education and Its Ramifications for the U.S” will begin at 3:35 p.m. and finish at 4:30 p.m. Panelists include Brinn Dalton, World History and Geography teacher at Hixson High School in Hixson, Tennessee; David H. Paris, Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger Scholar at UTC; and Nicholas Selbo, World History and Geography teacher at 21st Century Academy in Chattanooga. The moderator is Dr. Lucien Ellington, UC Foundation Professor of Education and Co-Director of the Asia Program at UTC.
Jamie Barys, the executive editor of Shanghai TALK, the longest-running English language magazine in China, will give her presentation “Finding a Job and Creating a Career in Shanghai” from 4:35 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Barys has lived in China for four years and has studied Mandarin at Peking University, Zhejiang University of Technology and Xiamen University.
