A boy named Sen (Wu Zhi-Xuan) struggles to cope with the recent death of his older brother. While his mother works each night at a local convenience store, Sen rides his bike around their suburb. He does homework in a fast food restaurant, hanging out at a manhwa (comics) library, and searching through his later brother's mobile telephone. Via the telephone Sen learns that his brother was a regular viewer of a streaming videocast. Through the cast he contacts its presenter, an elderly woman known simply as Granny (Nina Paw). Granny is a taxi driver suffering from stage 4 lung cancer and has been given three months to live. She obstinately insists she will make it to day 100. Together she and Sen make an unexpected connection and develop a stronger acceptance of death between them.

Co-Sponsors: Asian pop-up Cinema, Asian Studies Center, Center for Gender in Global Context, Chinese Program, Film Studies Program, Global Studies in the Art & Humanities, LGBT Resource Center, Ministry of Education of R.O.C. (Taiwan), Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago

In humans and humanoid robots alike, gender—femininity, masculinity—constitutes an array of learned behaviors that are cosmetically enabled and enhanced. In humans, these behaviors are both socially and historically shaped, but are also contingent upon many situational influences, including individual choices. I will explore the sex/gender dynamicsinforming the design and embodiment of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, especially humanoids. AsIshow, advanced technology does not necessarily promote social progress but can be deployed to reinforce conservative models ofsex/genderroles, ethnic nationalism, and "traditional" family structures.

Sponsored by Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities

Co-Sponsored by the Academic Advancement Network; Asian Studies Center; Centerfor Genderin Global Context (GenCen); CenterforInterdisciplinarity; College of Arts and Letters; Department of Linguistics and Languages; Diversity Research Network; Graphic Narratives Network; Japan Council; LBGT Resource Center

Education Under Siege: Attacks on Scholars and Scholarship in Turbulent Times

We are witnessing today what many scholars characterize as the collapse of the post-Cold War liberal order—with serious consequences for Muslims in predominantly Muslim countries as well as for those living in minority communities around the world. The collapse is marked by intensifying violence between state and non-state actors, by deepening social, economic, and environmental crisis, and by the reemergence of autocratic and despotic rule as viable and desirable forms of governance. Political, ethnic, and religious minorities are suspect, and political and economic refugees are viewed as clear and present dangers. In this new world (dis)order, academia is but one of the casualties. This is witnessed by the attack and scapegoating of scholars and their scholarship as threats to national solidarity, economic prosperity, and/or state security.  Such attacks take on different modes of repression and violence depending on the nature of the conflict and the strategies available to those state and non-state actors who see themselves as arbiters of national or communal order. In this context, scholars have suffered intimidation, firings, arrest, exile, and assassination. Schools and institutions of higher education have been defunded, besieged, closed, and violently attacked. Scholarly research and curriculums deemed contrary to the moral fabric of society or to the larger national interest have been denounced, censored, and/or outlawed. 

Education Under Siege: Attacks on Scholars and Scholarship in Turbulent Times

We are witnessing today what many scholars characterize as the collapse of the post-Cold War liberal order—with serious consequences for Muslims in predominantly Muslim countries as well as for those living in minority communities around the world. The collapse is marked by intensifying violence between state and non-state actors, by deepening social, economic, and environmental crisis, and by the reemergence of autocratic and despotic rule as viable and desirable forms of governance. Political, ethnic, and religious minorities are suspect, and political and economic refugees are viewed as clear and present dangers. In this new world (dis)order, academia is but one of the casualties. This is witnessed by the attack and scapegoating of scholars and their scholarship as threats to national solidarity, economic prosperity, and/or state security.  Such attacks take on different modes of repression and violence depending on the nature of the conflict and the strategies available to those state and non-state actors who see themselves as arbiters of national or communal order. In this context, scholars have suffered intimidation, firings, arrest, exile, and assassination. Schools and institutions of higher education have been defunded, besieged, closed, and violently attacked. Scholarly research and curriculums deemed contrary to the moral fabric of society or to the larger national interest have been denounced, censored, and/or outlawed. 

Linking All Types of Teachers in International Cross Cultural Education.

Michigan State University is pleased to host the 68th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, October  4-6, 2019. The MCAA seeks to promote Asian Studies both at the university and the secondary and primary levels and particularly to encourage scholarly interchange between Asianists in the Midwest as well as with those from other parts of the country and the world. Scholars and students from all regions are invited to participate.

Michigan State University is pleased to host the 68th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, October  4-6, 2019. The MCAA seeks to promote Asian Studies both at the university and the secondary and primary levels and particularly to encourage scholarly interchange between Asianists in the Midwest as well as with those from other parts of the country and the world. Scholars and students from all regions are invited to participate.