Past events

Selected seminars, conferences, lectures, film screenings, exhibitions, and workshops in Asian Studies (2015 -).

Asian Studies Seminar Series

Each semester, Asian Studies welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present an evening seminar on their research.

The topics span fields as diverse as film and media, literature, religion, society and politics in China, Japan, Korea and, more broadly, East Asia.

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.

DateTitleSpeaker(s)
2 April 2025Extraordinary Lives: Illustrated Hagiographies in Ming Book CultureDr Noga Ganany (University of Cambridge)
26 March 2025When Japanese Noh is not in Japanese: Intercultural Noh in English, French and SpanishDr Ashley Thorpe (Royal Holloway, University of London)
19 March 2025Inter-Korean Relations and the End of Peaceful Reunification: A Social Conflict ApproachDr Kevin Gray (University of Sussex)
12 March 2025Transcending the Traditional: Developments in Contemporary KabukiDr Helen Parker (University of Edinburgh)
12 February 2025Holding North Korea to Account? Memory, Activism and the North Korean Human Rights MovementDr Sarah Son (University of Sheffield)
5 February 2025"Society Work": Shaking Up Party-Society Relations?Dr Holly Snape (University of Glasgow)
22 January 2025From Russia, With Squalor: Poverty in Modern Chinese RealismDr Keru Cai (University of St Andrews)
4 December 2024Enactment and Embodiment: Retributive Anger in the Xingshi Yinyuan ZhuanDr Zhaokun Xin (University of Manchester)
27 November 2024Film and Theory in the Political Reconstruction of Post-War JapanDr Ferran de Vargas (University of Edinburgh)
20 November 2024Flying for the Future: Symbolism, Sovereignty, and Science in Early Cold War KoreaDr Derek Kramer (University of Sheffield)
30 October 2024Artistic Orthopraxy: Spatial Storytelling in Late Chosŏn Buddhist ArchitectureProfessor Maya Stiller (University of Kansas)
9 October 2024China's Burma Road: Wartime Connectivity and Regionalism in China's Southwest (1937-45)Dr Andres Rodriguez (University of Sydney)
25 September 2024Echo-locations: Toward a Sonic Aesthetics of Japanese KaraokeDr Alexander Murphy (Clark University)
3 April 2024Translation of Bodies: performance work of a professional puppeteer inspired by Japanese otome bunrakuDr Caroline Astell-Burt (WAXBaby Productions)
27 March 2024Who Should Inherit the Right of Ancestor Worship in South Korea? Property for Ancestor and Gender IssuesDr An Jong Chol (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
20 March 2024A Tale of Two Cities: AI, Development and Imaginaries of futureDr Bingchun Meng (London School of Economics & Political Science)
6 March 2024Water, Ice, and "Bandits": Yalu River Border Security through the Seasons, 1910-1945Dr Joseph Seeley (University of Virginia
7 February 202415 years of COSCO in Piraeus: Investment Embeddedness and the Question of Chinese 'influence'Dr Konstantinos Tsimonis (King's College, London)
24 January 2024English Medium Instruction (EMI) in Japanese Higher EducationDr Ikuya Aizawa (University of Nottingham)
13 December 2023Scots and Japan: First Contact 1613-1623Professor Ian Gow (University of Edinburgh, The Japan Society of Scotland)
29 November 2023Iconography of the Contemplating Buddha Figure in East AsiaDr Heyryun Koh (University of Würzberg)
22 November 2023Nature and Sovereignty Conservation in Japan's Ocean BorderlandsDr Paul Kreitman (Columbia University)
8 November 2023Interpreting Korean Film Discourse: Towards a New Paradigm for Korean-English Cross-Cultural Multimodal AnalysisDr Loli Kim (University of Oxford)
1 November 2023Ordinary Life within an Extraordinary Project: Demystifying the Third FrontDr Paul Kendall (University of Westminster)
11 October 2023Digital Masquerade: Feminist Rights and Queer Media in ChinaDr Jia Tan (The Chinese University of Hong-Kong)

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.

DateTitleSpeaker(s)
5 April 2023Japan’s Quiet Leadership: Reshaping the Indo-PacificDr Mireya Solís (Brookings Institution)
31 March 2023China in 2022 – A Year of Great SignificanceProfessor Jeff Wasserstrom (University of Irvine); Jane Duckett (University of Glasgow); Konrad Lawson (University of St. Andrews); Aaron Moore (University of Edinburgh)
30 March 2023The Struggle for Hong Kong, 2003 to 2023: Local Stories and Global PerspectivesProfessor Jeff Wasserstrom (University of Irvine)
25 January 2023The Paradox of ObedienceDanny Orbach (Hebrew University of Jerusalem/Cambridge University)
23 November 2022Cranes, cultivating a new knowledge practice in late Chosŏn Korea: Cultured nature generating instrumentalitiesJung Lee (Ewha Womans University)
16 November 2022Homo Reciprocans in the Korean and global contextProfessor Do-Hyun Han (Academy of Korean Studies)
2 November 2022The Ecology of China's First EmpireDr Brian Lander (Brown University)
19 October 2022Kamejiro - The U.S. Military’s Most Feared ManTadahiko Sako
12 October 2022Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women IssueMiki Dezaki
23 March 2022Expansion or Stagnation? Chinese Social Policy in the Xi Jinping EraProfessor Qin Gao (Columbia University)
16 March 2022From Sweatshop to Fashion Shop: Korean Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the Argentina Garment IndustryDr Jihye Kim (University of Central Lancashire)
6 March 2022The Legalistic Turn in Korean and Japanese Governance Regarding Tobacco Control and Disability RightsDr Celeste Arrington (George Washington University)
6 March 2022South Korean Women’s Work, Finance, and Family Economy during the Cold WarDr Eunhee Park (Seoul National University)
2 March 2022Third Front as Method: From Mao to Market to Present in CCTV DocumentariesDr Paul Kendall (University of Westminster)
2 February 2022Yan Lianke’s Heterotopic ImaginariesProfessor Carlos Rojas (Duke University)
24 November 2021Atmo-Orientalism and Olfactory AestheticsProfessor Hsuan Hsu (University of California, Davis)
17 November 2021Rewriting the history of culture in 1970s and 1980s South KoreaDr Youngju Ryu (University of Michigan) and Dr Sunyoung Park (University of Southern California)
10 November 2021Reclaiming the Land: Rōnin and Rural Development in Tokugawa JapanDr Floris van Swet (Northumbria University)
3 November 2021How to Locate Exegetical Hot Spots? A Laboratory Report Involving Commentaries on the poem Lord Amidst Clouds (雲中君) from the Songs of Chu (楚辭)Dr Michael Schimmelpfennig (Australian National University)
27 October 2021Making God: Korean, Japanese, and American Religious Fantasies in Early Twentieth-Century KoreaDr Nuri Kim (University of Cambridge)
13 October 2021Anchors of Stability: The Origins of Place Names in ChinaProfessor James M. Hargett  (University at Albany)
29 September 2021The Forgotten War or the Hijacked War? How Chinese POWs and Taiwan Hijacked the Korean WarDr David Cheng Chang (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)
17 March 2021Ritual and Practice in South Korean ShamanismSimon Mills (Durham University) and Kyoim Yun (University of Kansas)
20 January 2021New Approaches to Empire in East Asia: Agriculture and the EnvironmentDavid Fedman (University of California, Irvine) and Peter B. Lavelle (Temple University)
2 October 2020Games and Gaming in the East Asian Studies Classroom
  • Barbara Wall (University of Copenhagen)
  • Sarah Grossi (IT University of Copenhagen)
  • Leo Ching (Duke University)
  • Yan Liu (Duke University)
4 March 2020Imagining the origins of poetry: narratives of script and genre in medieval Japanese commentariesDr Jennifer Guest (University of Oxford)
2 March 2020North Korea at the Center: Kim Jong Un’s Strategy to Reset The Regional Order in Northeast AsiaScott A. Snyder (Council on Foreign Relations)
12 February 2020On Smashed Eggs and Statecraft: Landscape and Ritual Warfare during the Reign of the Fifth Dalai LamaDr Martin Mills (University of Aberdeen)
5 February 2020The Siberian Internment of Japanese Servicemen in the Context of Trans-Eurasian Forced Migrations, 1939-1956Dr Sherzod Muminov (University of East Anglia)
29 January 2020A Brief Cultural History of the Korean-Chinese DiasporaDr Jerôme de Wit (University of Tübingen)
22 January 2020Has PRC Counter-Terrorism in Xinjiang Evolved into State Terror?Dr Joanne Smith Finley (Newcastle University)
15 January 2020Social Justice in the Developmentalist City? Contesting the nexus between urbanism and developmentalism in East AsiaDr Jamie Doucette (University of Manchester)
26 November 2019The Emperor’s Secrets: How Muslims Interpreted Chinese Rule in Xinjiang (1759-1960) - Co-hosted with the Edinburgh Centre for Global HistoryDr Eric Schluessel (University of Montana)
20 November 2019Cyborg's Paradise and Well-lit Shopping: Digital Places in Chinese ArtDr Angela Becher (University of Liverpool)
14 November 2019Shusenjo: The Main Battleground of the Comfort Women Issue (see also Film Screenings)Miki Dezaki
13 November 2019To No One's Satisfaction: Between Neoliberal and Corporate Expertise in a Korean OfficeDr Michael Prentice
6 November 2019A Glimpse Behind the Noh MaskDr Rachel Payne (University of Canterbury)
30 October 2019Tibetan Buddhist Identity and the Way of the BodhisattvaProfessor Mario Anguilar
23 October 2019The Inebriating City: Nagai Kafū in Shanghai and the 'othering' of SpaceDr Gala Follaco (University of Naples “L’Orientale”)
16 October 2019Metamorphosis of a Butterfly: Xiyadie's Queer Papercutting ArtDr Hongwei Bao (The University of Nottingham)
9 October 2019Directing Girls: Korean Independent Cinema and Woman FilmmakersDr Jinhee Choi (King's College London)
2 October 2019Feelings Without Words: Growing Up in the Cinemas of Postwar Japan, 1945-1968 Dr Jennifer Coates (University of East Anglia)
25 September 2019Korea and Japan: Partners from Past to Present and into the FutureDr James B. Lewis (University of Oxford)
18 June 2019The Making of Global International RelationsProfessor Amitav Acharya (American University, Washington DC)
22 May 2019Recent booksProfessor Aaron Moore, Dr Christopher Rosenmeier and Dr Daniel Hammond (University of Edinburgh)
26 March 2019Locating Fey Mou(s): The Topos of Chinese Film TheoryDr Victor Fan (King’s College London)
19 March 2019Aspects of Law and Ideology in Chosŏn Korea: Social Status, Gender and the BodyDr Anders Karlsson (SOAS, University of London)
12 March 2019Japan’s imperial underworlds: intimate encounters at the borders of empireDr David Ambaras (North Carolina State University)
5 March 2019War, the state, and the formation of the North Korean industrial working class, 1931-1960Dr Owen Miller (SOAS, University of London)
26 February 2019Slow Way Home: How the Japanese Have Preserved a Universal Walk to School SystemProfessor Leonard Schoppa (University of Virginia / Nissan Institute, University of Oxford)
12 February 2019Divination and Digital Humanities: On the Construction and Utilization of a Database of Taiwanese Temple OraclesProfessor Philip Clart (University of Leipzig)
5 February 2019Kingdom of Pines: State Forestry and the Making of Korea, 1392-1910Dr John S Lee (University of Manchester)
22 January 2019'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio': Monstrous Bodies inLiaozhai zhiyiDr Sarah Dodd (University of Leeds)
27 November 2018The politics of violence, glue-sniffing, and liberation: making 1968 in JapanProfessor William Marotti (University of California at Los Angeles)
20 November 2018Learning pronunciation utilizing “Japanese Pronunciation for Communication”Professor Takako Toda (Waseda University)
13 November 2018Understanding China’s Belt and Road InitiativeDr Jinghan Zeng (Royal Holloway, University of London)
6 November 2018Opening the Door to Change: Developing a sustainable future for Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of KoreaDr Virginie Grzelczyk (Aston University)
1 November 2018Searching for sight, sound, and heart: writing an English-language noh on the suffragette Emily Wilding DavisonDr Ashley Thorpe (Royal Holloway, University of London)
18 May 2018The future of Korean democracy: heterarchical democracy and overcoming non-simultaneityHyug Baeg Im (Korea University and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST)).
16 May 2018Ends and Beginnings: Japan’s Railways in the Wake of WarProfessor Andrew E. Barshay (University of California at Berkeley)
29 March 2018Nuclear Ontologies in post-apocalyptic JapanDr Jennifer Clarke (Robert Gordon University)
27 March 2018Defining the Northern Coast: Cartography and Maritime Governance in Seventeenth Century ChinaDr Ronald C. Po (London School of Economics and Political Science)
27 February 2018Towards a Visual History of Occupation in Wartime China: Tracing the Visual culture(s) of the Wang Jingwei regime, 1940-1945Dr Jeremy Taylor (University of Nottingham)
13 February 2018Between France, India, and Japan: Paul Richard and pan-Asianism as an anti-secularist imaginaryProfessor Hans Martin Krämer (Heidelberg University)
30 January 201850 Shades of Grey: The Emergence of ‘Smog Art’ in ChinaDr Thomas Johnson (University of Sheffield)
25 January 2018Looking at the forest instead of the trees: What’s behind Zen at War and the Buddhist–Rohingya conflict in Myanmar?Dr Brian Victoria (author of Zen at War)
14 November 2017Penetrating Knowledge: Cognition and Cosmic Flow in Early and Medieval Chinese PhilosophyDr Curie Virág (University of Toronto)
31 October 2017Korea's quest for economic democratization: Globalization, polarization and contentionDr Youngmi Kim (University of Edinburgh)
17 October 2017Knowing What Not to Know in Contemporary ChinaDr Margaret Hillenbrand (University of Oxford)
3 October 2017Religious Subjectification and Social Transformation in Contemporary ChinaDr Adam Chau (University of Cambridge)
19 September 2017Student radicalism and its contexts in post-occupation JapanDr Kenji Hasegawa (Yokohama National University)
3 April 2017War, Work and Witnessing: aesthetics and ideology in Shindō Kaneto’s cinemaDr Lauri Kitsnik (Sainsbury Institute)
22 March 2017Chinese Discourse on Historiography, Nationalism, and Non-Chinese Peoples in the 1900s to 1920sDr Julia Schneider (University of Göttingen)
17 March 2017Japan’s Security ConundrumProfessor Rikki Kersten (Murdoch University)
8 March 2017Rebels in Power: Shandong and Shanxi in China's Cultural RevolutionProfessor Felix Wemheuer (Cologne University)
2 March 2017Textual performance of truth in early Chinese PhilosophyProfessor Joachim Gentz (University of Edinburgh)
15 February 2017Chinese Gardens: History, Design and MeaningsDr Alison Hardie 
8 February 2017A Reconsideration of Nishida Philosophy and Japanese NationalismProfessor Kan Sakurai (Nihon University)
23 November 2016Inter-Group Violence in Upland Southwest China, 1800-1950sDr Joseph Lawson (University of Newcastle)
2 November 2016 Chinese Intellectual Life amid Censorship and CommercializationDr Chaohua Wang (University of California)
12 October 2016On Feeding the Masses: The Politics of Regulatory Failure in ChinaProfessor John Yasuda (Indiana University)
5 October 2016Fragrance (xiang) and its Cultural Meanings in Ming and Qing LiteratureProfessor Paolo Santangelo 
23 March 2016Literary Translation and Contemporary Sino-African RelationsDr Kathryn Batchelor (University of Nottingham)

Other events series

Korean Studies Distinguished Lecture Series

This series from the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies has been running since 2020, latterly in collaboration with our Korean Studies PhD reading group “Korea and Its Neighbours”.

Previous lecture topics have included Korean literature, poetry, and cinema, North Korean development, East Asian international relations, Korean history and society, and queer Korea.

Often, speakers will present on recent publications, and audiences have the opportunity to participate in question and answer sessions after their presentations.

Selected lectures have been recorded and uploaded to the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies’ YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.

Date TitleSpeaker (s)
18 June 2024Activism and Post-activism: Korean Documentary Cinema, 1981 - 2022Professor Jihoon Kim (Chung-ang University)
22 April 2024Reactionary Politics in South Korea: Historical Legacies, Right-Wing Intellectuals, and Political MobilizationProfessor Myungji Yang (University of Hawai'i)
13 March 2024Korean Dramas After Netflix: Changes in Production, Distribution and Reception Professor Seok-Kyeong Hong (Seoul National University)
5 March 2024Urban Renewal in Pyongyang: Making Fieldwork in a Closed ContextManon Prud'homme (PhD candidate, EHESS Paris)
13 February 2024Hunger on China's Korean Periphery: Yanbian in the Great Leap Forward, 1958 - 1962Dr Adam Cathcart (University of Leeds)
30 November 2023The Red Decades: Communism as Movement and Culture in Korea, 1919-1945Professor Vladimir Tikhonov (University of Oslo)
23 November 2023The party was over: For those who have never been young, hence never can ageChoi Young-Mi
2 November 2023Fire in Hansŏng: Conflagrations and Arson in Fifteenth Century KoreaKateřina Kocinová (Charles University)
   
   

DateTitle Speaker (s)
23 March 2023Economic Solidarity and  the Early Formation of the Cooperative Movement in Korea Under Japanese Colonial Rule  Dr Yikyung Kim (Sungkyunkwan University)
25 January 2023North Korea’s Paradoxical (Anti-)Nuclearism, 1949-1976Dr Soon-Ok (Jamie) Shin (University of Tunis El Manar)
17 January 2023Are Letter Shapes Arbitrary?Dr Hana Jee (York St John University)
21 November 2022Paying our debts to memory: Preserving the archive of the Korea National Debt Redemption Movement / Designing metadata and ontology schemas for the Korean Memory (KM) ProjectProfessor Samgyun Oh (National Library of Korea)
7 November 2022Village Capacities and village Enterprises in Rural Korea: A Case Study on Song-ra Village in the 1960s and 1970sDr Hwa-Jin Song
26 January 2022Modernity’s Double Project and Nation-Building Korean StyleProfessor Nak-chung Paik (Professor Emeritus of English at Seoul National University)
24 November 2021Hope is LonelyProfessor An Sonjae (Brother Anthony of Taizé; Sogang University)
17 November 2021Democratization and Democracy in South Korea, 1960-PresentProfessor Hyug Baeg Im (Korea University)
31 March 2021Queer KoreaProfessor Todd Henry (UC San Diego)
24 March 2021Hegemonic Mimicry Korean Popular Culture of the Twenty-First CenturyProfessor Kyunghyun Kim (UC Irvine)
10 March 2021"Warm Robots" for Autistic Children? The thermodynamics of humanity, sociality, and techno-society in South KoreaAssistant Professor Hyaesin Yoon (Central European University)
3 March 2021The Cost of Belonging: An Ethnography of Solidarity and Mobility in Beijing’s KoreatownAssistant Professor Sharon Yoon (University of Notre Dame)
24 February 2021North Korea and the Geopolitics of DevelopmentProfessor Kevin Gray (University of Sussex)
11 February 2021East Asia in the World: Twelve Events that Shaped the Modern International OrderProfessor David Kang (USC) and Professor Stephan Haggard (UC San Diego)
4 February 2021A Memory of student movement in 1980s as a female participantYoung-Mi Choi (poet)
28 January 2021Understanding the Trilateral ties among South Korea, China, and JapanDr Sookeun Woo (Concordia University)

Conferences and symposia

The Yun Posun Memorial Symposium

The Yun Posun Memorial Symposium was established in March 2013 to foster new partnerships between the UK and Korea, promoting longer-term understanding and the growth of contemporary Korean studies and culture in Scotland.

It is jointly organised by the Yun Posun Institute for Democracy and the University of Edinburgh.

The symposium is named after Yun Posun, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1930 and ultimately became the father of the modern democratic movement in Korea.

Typically, the conference comprises a mix of panel sessions, keynote plenaries, workshops and networking opportunities. Topics covered have included political economy, international development co-operation, and US-China relations.

Nine conference delegates standing in front of a conference banner

The 2018 conference in Edinburgh incorporated cultural performances from Korea and Scotland, an exhibition of new art inspired by the conference theme, a film screening, and a guest lecture with the Asia Scotland Institute on Digital Disruption.

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed. 

DatesThemeVenueKeynote speakers and discussants
16 May 2024Advancing the ROK-UK Global Strategic PartnershipYun Posen Residence, SeoulDr Youngmi Kim (University of Edinburgh); Jessica Cope ( Head of Science, Innovation and Health, UK Embassy to Korea); Professor Ihn-hwi Park (Ewha Womans University); Professor Wontaek Kang (Seoul National University); Emeritus Professor Chan Wook Park (Seoul National University)
2 and 3 November 2021A New Agenda for South Korea-UK Cooperation in the COVID19 EraOnline (Zoom; YouTube)Tae-sik Lee (Former Ambassador to UK and US); Dr Youngmi Kim (University of Edinburgh); Professor Chan Wook Park (Seoul National University); Professor Ihn-hwi Park (Ewha Womans University)
17 October 2019A New Partnership between ROK and UK in the 21st CenturySeoul 
8 and 9 October 2018Inequality in Global Cities, Seoul in Comparative PerspectivePlayfair Library, University of Edinburgh 

More conferences and symposia

Dates: 19 and 20 June 2023

Venues:  Playfair Library and 50 George Square (19 June), 50 George Square (20 June)

Organiser: Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh as part of the Academy of Korean Studies CORE project

Keynote speakers: Professor Olga Fedorenko (Seoul National University) and Raphael Rashid (Seoul-based journalist, formerly of SOAS and Korea University in Korean Studies)

In brief: A two-day, in-person conference examining the lives of young people in Korea and the space they occupy in the culture. It provided opportunities to encounter and connect with researchers at a range of career stages, including PhD and graduate students, emerging and post-doctoral scholars, and established academics. There were seven panel discussions, a range of distinguished guests and speakers, and two keynote speeches.

Dates: 2 and 3 September 2021

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Keynote speakers: William A. Callahan (London School of Economics and Political Science); Bruce Cumings (University of Chicago);Namhee Lee ( University of California); Rana Mitter (University of Oxford)

In brief: A two-day conference for graduate students and Early Career Researchers undertaking research relating to East Asia in any academic discipline.


Date: 29 January 2021

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Events series: The Social Science Korean Studies European Network (SoKEN) Conference

Keynote speaker: Professor Victor Cha (Georgetown University)

In brief: Hosted by the Scottish Centre for Korean Studies, this event focused on Korea’s future under a new US administration.

Dates: 4 to 6 September 2019

Venues: Various, University of Edinburgh

Keynote speakers: Dr Alexander Bukh (Victoria University); Professor Heonik Kwon (Trinity College, University of Cambridge); Jessica Batke (ChinaFile).

In brief: A major, three-day, triennial meeting of scholars of Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies, Korean Studies, and cross-regional and intra-regional issues in East Asia. The event comprised three keynote lectures, nine panel sessions, film screenings, workshops for postgraduate researchers, mentoring sessions, a roundtable discussion on climate change, and an exhibition.

White text on black background - Joint East Asian Studies Conference

Dates: 13 and 14 December 2018

Venues: 7 George Square, University of Edinburgh; L’Institut français d’Ecosse

Keynote speakers: Professor Nobuko Akiyama (Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo); Professor Nobuko Anan (Kansai University); Professor Fuhito Endo (Seikei University, Tokyo)

Graphic of masks of tragedy and comedy

Organisers: Dr Fabien Arribert-Narce (University of Edinburgh); Dr Akihiko Shimizu (Cardiff University) 

In brief: A two-day international conference in comparative literature on representations of the face in Japanese and Western European art, literature and theatre from the Early Modern period to the present. Comprising 13 papers over five sessions, and three keynote lectures, the event was supported by the DAIWA Foundation (UK), L'Institut Français Écosse and LLC.

Dates: 19 and 20 June 2018

Venue: Confucius Institute for Scotland

In brief: A two-day conference critically examining the series of political, social, and technological revolutions that shaped the contours of modern China in the realm of the senses. Comprising seven panel sessions and a roundtable discussion, the event brought together 14 internationally-recognised scholars from Asia, Europe and America. It was funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange; the School of Humanities and Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, University of Edinburgh.

Modern Sketch 11 (November 1934), courtesy Colgate University Libraries Digital Collections

Dates: 4 and 5 October 2017

Venue: McEwan Hall, University of Edinburgh

Keynote speaker: Gordon Brown

Host: Confucius Institute for Scotland

In brief: A two-day conference bringing together 30 leading business and academic speakers to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with China's 'Belt and Road' initiative, the largest economic development programme in the world. In addition to a plenary on finance, the event included workshops and Q&As on energy, green buildings and infrastructure, smart data and mobility, and water.


Dates: 1 to 3 September 2016

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Keynote speakers: Professor Alan Williams (University of Manchester); Professor Arvind Pal Mandair (University of Michigan)

In brief: A three-day AHRC-funded conference exploring the relationship between 'translation' and 'religion'. Comprising two keynote presentations and panel sessions, the event formed part of the Conversion, Translation and the Language of Autobiography research project and brought together scholars from different disciplines to investigate theories, concepts and methods.


Date: 25 February 2016

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Keynote speakers: Professor Shino Watanabe (Sophia University); Professor Ayako Kusunoki (International Research Center for Japanese studies); Professor Yuko Adachi (Sophia University)

Discussants: Professor Juliet Kaarbo; Dr Kristen Hopewell; Dr Lauren Richardson; Professor Urs Matthias Zachmann

In brief: A symposium bringing together three visiting Japanese experts on international relations to explore Northeast Asia's continuing strategic reconfiguration. Jointly hosted with the School of Social and Political Science, the event comprised talks on China's  Belt and Road initiative, Japan's Foreign and Security Policy in the Post-Cold War period, and Russia’s energy pivot to Asia, followed by a roundtable discussion.


Dates: 17 to 18 July 2015

Venue: Old College, University of Edinburgh

In brief: A two-day, international symposium marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Asia-Pacific War. Comprising five sessions, each featuring papers by two speakers, the event brought together leading scholars from Japan, the United States, and Europe for informal discussion, reflection and debate on issues relating to history, collective memory, and contemporary understanding.


Lectures, talks, discussions and readings

Date: 17 April 2024

Venue: 50 George Square

Speaker: Dr Christopher Perkins (Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A conversation with Dr Christopher Perkins following his recent publication, 'The Tokyo University Trial and the Struggle Against Order in Postwar Japan'. Dr Perkins discussed the remarkable trial of over 600 students arrested at the University of Tokyo in 1969, and how it raised troubling questions about the legitimacy of the Japanese courts themselves.

Date: 31 January 2024

Venue: 50 George Square

Speaker: Dr Xuelei Huang (Asian Studies, University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A conversation with Dr Xuelei Huang following her recent publication, 'Scents of China: A Modern History of Smell'. This book is based off Dr Huang's pioneering research into sensory and smell studies. The event was followed by a drinks reception.

Date: 11 August 2023

Venue: 50 George Square

Title: Korea's Foreign Policy and UK-Korea Relations

Chair: Sir Peter Mathieson (Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Edinburgh)

In brief: This conversation with Korean Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Mr. Yeocheol Yoon, delved into the details of Korea's Foreign Policy and the country's relationship with the United Kingdom.

Date: 6 March 2023

Venue: 50 George Square

Organiser: Scottish Centre for Korean Studies

Discussants: Beatriz Lopez (Commissioning Editor for Politics at Edinburgh University Press); Professor Natascha Gentz (Chair of Chinese Studies, University of Edinburgh)

In brief: Presentations by and a discussion between Beatriz Lopez and Professor Natascha Gentz on the subject of transforming a thesis into your first book. Beatriz discussed choosing the right book publisher and writing your book proposal, as well as the review and publishing processes. Natascha offered a brief introduction to publishing in Asian Studies, followed by discussion of the Edinburgh East Asian Studies series and the Modern Chinese Literature and Culture journal. She then provided a brief overview of the series editor role and the benefits of publishing as part of a book series for early career researchers.

Their presentations were followed by a Q&A and a practical exercise on book proposal writing.


Date: 19 November 2020

Venue: Online (Teams)

Events series: Edinburgh Buddhist Studies - In conversation

Speakers: Dr Ian Astley (University of Edinburgh); Dr Paulus Kaufmann (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich)

Photo of a statue of Buddha

In brief:  A free online discussion between Edinburgh Buddhist Studies member Dr Ian Astley and guest Dr Paulus Kaufmann discussing why they became involved in studying Shingon Buddhism - one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan - and what they see as its principal value for Buddhist Studies.

Date: 16 October 2019

Venue: Playfair Library, University of Edinburgh

Events series: Inaugural Lectures at the University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Aaron William Moore (University of Edinburgh)

In brief:  A free public lecture marking Aaron W. Moore becoming Handa Chair of Japanese-Chinese Relations at the University of Edinburgh. In the lecture, Professor Moore focused on the relationship East Asian modernity shared with the personal diary, which came to both reflect and contribute to phenomena such as 'total war' mobilisation, revolution, and the experience of childhood.

Photo of soldiers

Date: 23 May 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series

Speaker: Professor Catherine Vance Yeh (Boston University)

In brief:  A free public lecture focusing on Mei Lanfang's pioneering works in dance in Peking opera, tracing links with Japanese and Western dance performers, and their impact on non-realistic modern performance styles.


Date: 23 May 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series

Speaker: Professor Rudolf G. Wagner (Heidelberg University)

In brief:  A free public lecture tracing the trends, transcultural connections, and political agenda of the Chinese school of yigu - or ‘doubting antiquity’ - and the ‘believing antiquity’ narrative. 


Date: 25 April 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series

Speaker: Professor Sheldon Lu (University of California)

In brief:  A free public lecture considering two approaches in contemporary Chinese literary, cultural, and film studies: one to de-centralise, de-territorialise, and pluralize the object of China; the other to re-territorialise and re-centre China, making China proper the object and subject of critical inquiry.


Date: 20 February 2018

Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Lesley Downer

In brief:  A free public lecture, hosted in collaboration with the Japan Society of Scotland, by the journalist, historian, and author of the The Shogun Quartet of novels.


Date: 15 February 2018

Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Joan Judge (York University, Canada)

In brief:  A free public lecture exploring to what extent new concepts on science, illness, and the natural world became integrated into the everyday lives of poorer urbanites and lower-level local elites in 19th century late Qing and Republican China.


Date: 28 November 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Joonkook Hwang

In brief:  A free public talk on Korean history, economic and political development by the Korean Ambassador to the UK.


Date: 27 November 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Ian Gow OBE

In brief:  A talk by the former Chairman of the Japan Society of Scotland (and Scotland’s first professor of Japanese Studies) marking the centenary of the dispatch of Imperial Japanese Navy ships to protect British ships under attack from German submarines in the Mediterranean during the First World War.


Date: 24 November 2017

Venue: Chrystal Macmillan Building, University of Edinburgh

Speakers: Frank Fan; Chantal Bertalanffy

In brief:  The presentation of doctoral work in progress by PhD in Japanese students Frank Fan (To understand the development of Kaidan (怪談) in Tokugawa Japan as a vehicle for the transmission of Buddhist, Confucian and Kokugaku (National learning 國學) ideologies) and Chantal Bertalanffy (“3.11”, trauma and gender).


Date: 10 November 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Dr Youngmi Kim (University of Edinburgh)

Host: The Islamic Society, University of Edinburgh

In brief:  A free public talk offering insights into the Myanmar Rohingya Crisis, giving some context and explaining the changes the country was experiencing at the time.


Date: 5 April 2017

Venue: New College, University of Edinburgh

Events series:  Khyentse Lecture in Buddhist Studies

Organiser: Asian Religions Network

Death of the Buddha

Date: 23 March 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Events series:  South East Asian Studies Seminar Series

Speakers: Professor Yamamoto Nobuto (Keio University, Tokyo); Dr Elizabeth Chandra (Keio University, Tokyo)

In brief: The presentation of two papers by guest speakers from Keio University, Tokyo:

Refugees travelling by boat
  • Security vs Human Rights: Comparative Refugee Crises in Southeast Asia (Professor Yamamoto Nobuto)
  • A More Wholesome Holmes: Translating Detective Stories in Colonial Indonesia (Dr Elizabeth Chandra)

Date: 20 March 2017

Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Stephen Sarrazin (Paris 8 University)

In brief:  A talk proposing a chronology of events that may have led to the reduction in the emergence of new film directors from Japan since 2005.

Scene from the film Still Walking by Hirokazu Koreeda

Date: 20 May 2016

Venue: Confucius Institute for Scotland

Speaker: Dr Adam Smith (University of Pennsylvania)

In brief:  A free public lecture, Q&A and reception - held as part of the Backside of the Bones research project - focusing on the early origins of writing in China.


Date: 17 March 2016

Venue: Business School, University of Edinburgh

Events series: Confucius Institute Distinguished Lecture Series

Speaker: Professor Yuri Pines (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

In brief:  A free public lecture, followed by a Q&A and reception, on the repercussions of China's transformation from monarchy to republic, reassessing its political and cultural consequences.


Date: 5 May 2015

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Kenji Aramaki (University of Tokyo)

In brief:  A lecture on Japan's 'Lost Decades' of tepid economic growth, analysing the mechanisms of stagnation, and exploring what should be (or should have been) done to address the problems the Japanese economy has faced in the last 20 years.


Date: 30 March 2015

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Chris Berry (King’s College London)

In brief:  A lecture on how Cao Fei's films (RMB City, Haze and Fog, Whose Utopia and Hip Hop Guangzhou) respond to contemporary Chinese urbanisation, proposing four hermeneutic frameworks to analyse the works themselves.


Film screenings and festivals

Dates: 9 to 24 February 2023

Venue: 50 George Square

Organisers: Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh and the Japanese Studies department at the University of Edinburgh

In brief: Free screenings of contemporary Japanese film, accompanied by short explanatory talks from a series of relevant speakers, including staff and students from our Japanese department.

  • Little Lights, Little Love アイネクライネナハトムジー (Rikiya Imaizumi, 2019)
  • Key of Life 鍵泥棒のメソッド (Kenji Uchida, 2012)
  • Neko Ninja 猫忍者 (Takeshi Watanabe, 2017)

Dates: 18 to 23 November 2019

Venue: Edinburgh Filmhouse

Events series: London Korean Film Festival - UK tour (Edinburgh)

In brief: A collaboration between Korean Studies and Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Filmhouse, and the Korean Cultural Centre UK to screen three films as part of the 14th London Korean Film Festival's UK tour. Selected from the Festival's 'Century of Korean Cinema' and 'Cinema Now' strands, the films were: 

  • Aimless Bullets  오발탄 (Yu Hyun-mok, 1961)
  • Grass  풀잎들 (Hong Sangsoo, 2017)
  • The Devil’s Stairway  마의 계단 (Lee Man-Hee, 1964)
Sill from the film Grass of two people having coffee

Date: 14 November 2019

Venue: Adam House, University of Edinburgh

In brief: A public screening of Miki Dezaki's debut film and Q&A with the director exploring the debates around Japan's 'comfort women' and the hidden intentions of both supporters and detractors. The event was co-hosted jointly by Asian Studies and Film Studies as part of seminar series in both subject areas.

Poster of a event on comfort women

Dates: 16 to 21 November 2018

Venue: Edinburgh Filmhouse

Events series: London Korean Film Festival - UK tour (Edinburgh)

In brief: A collaboration between Korean Studies and Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh, Filmhouse, and the Korean Cultural Centre UK to screen three films as part of the 13th London Korean Film Festival's UK tour. The films were: 

  • Little Forest 리틀 포레스트  (Yim Soon-Rye, 2018; introduced by Hannah McGill)
  • Microhabitat 소공녀 (Jeon Go-Woon, 2018; introduced by David Sorfa)
  • The poet and the boy 시인의 사랑 (Kim Yang-He, 2017; introduced by Hannah McGill)
Still from a film showing a man asleep holding a box of doughnuts

Dates: 26 January to 23 February 2018

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

In brief: A collaboration between Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh and the Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh to screen four films (a mixture of animé, comedy and drama) over four consecutive Fridays. The films were:

  • Dr Junod (Shinichiro Kimura, 2010; introduced by Fabian Arribert-Narce)
  • Yôjû mameshiba (Tôru Kamei, 2009;  introduced by Helen Parker)
  • Nobody to Watch Over Me (Ryoichi Kimizuka, 2008; introduced by Aaron William Moore)
  • Thermae Romae (Hideki Takeuchi, 2012; introduced by Akihiko Shimizu)

Still from the film Dangerous Youth

Dates: 12 October to 9 November 2017

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

In brief:  The screening of a selection of films rediscovered as part of Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema: Recovered and Restored project, led by King’s College London and SOAS, and jointly supported by the Ministry of Culture of the ROC (Taiwan), King’s College London and the Taiwan Film Institute (previously Chinese Taipei Film Archive). The films were:

  • The Best Secret Agent (1964) - with an introduction by Teresa Huang, Taiwan Film Institute
  • Early Train from Taipei (1964)
  • Vengeance of the Phoenix Sisters (1968)
  • Dangerous Youth (1969)
  • Brother Wang and Brother Liu Tour Taiwan (1959)

Dates: 26 and 27 May 2016

Venue: David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh

Events series: Chinese Independent Documentary

Speaker: Xu Xing

Organiser: Confucius Institute for Scotland

In brief: Two days of documentary film screenings and Q&As with award-winning novelist and film maker Xu Xing.


Exhibitions, workshops and performances

As part of their joint Royal Society of Edinburgh-funded research project, 'The Smell of Scotland: History, Heritage, and Practice', Dr Xuelei Huang (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Will Tullett (University of York) organised a series of workshops each aiming to bring together cultural heritage professionals and academics to explore how Scottish smells are entangled with history, culture, and the environment.

DateVenueThemeFormat
22 May 2024Old CollegeScottish environmentsA multidisciplinary panel; a roundtable discussion; and a smell walk around Edinburgh.
18 June 2024Leith Community CroftScottish flavoursAn academic session with with Emily Falconer (University of Westminster), and Marisa Wilson, Nina Morris and Isabelle Darmon (University of Edinburgh); a plant scents and smell-walk led by Sophia Woodman (University of Edinburgh); and public engagement event, led by Imogen Bevan (University of Edinburgh) and Tess Davies (University of Glasgow).

Date: 16 August 2023

Venue: 50 George Square

As part of: Edinburgh Festival Fringe

In brief: A unique, cultural afternoon that included:

  • A Japanese flower arrangement (Ikebana) demonstration from award-winning Ikebana artist, Deborah Hathorn
  • A Japanese tea ceremony (Sadō/Chadō) demonstration from teacher and master of Japanese Tea Ceremonies, Mio Shudo. It was also accompanied by a performance of shamisen music.
  • A Japanese performer's reception & showcase event from seven different Japanese Fringe performers across a range of mediums, including comedy, circus, art and theatre. Sake, soft drinks and Japanese snacks were provided.

Date: 12 October 2022

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speakers: Jun Doi (Japanese calligrapher) and Noriko Tosaka (tutor, former member of Takarazuka Revue Company)

In brief: An evening with calligrapher Jun Doi and former Takarasienne Noriko Tosaka, who introduced their respective Japanese arts. Each speaker introduced their art, answered questions and contributed to discussion.

a series of colourful paper cranes

Date: 7 October 2022

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

 Speaker: Dr Akira Shinagawa (Gakushuin Women's College) and Tea Master Soju Nakazawa

In brief: A bilingual lecture and demonstration of Japanese food consciousness and tea ceremony by Dr Akira Shinagawa (Gakushuin Women's College) and Tea Master Soju Nakazawa from Japan, with support from the Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh. This was a bilingual session with a student volunteer interpreter.

Date: 6 April 2022

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Tea Master Soju Nakazawa (Gakushuin Women’s College)

In brief:  A lecture and demonstration of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony by a visiting tea master from Japan. The event was supported by the Consulate General of Japan in Edinburgh.

Date: 11 November 2019

Venue: Various, University of Edinburgh

Performers / speakers: Munenori Takeda; Fumiyuki Takeda; Dr Ashley Thorpe; Dr Gemma McGregor; Dr Helen Parker

In brief: An introduction to mugennō, a unique style of playwriting devised for the classical Japanese musical drama noh in the fourteenth century. The event comprised an introduction by Dr Helen Parker, a performance by noh master Munenori Takeda, and a roundtable discussion on International Perspectives on Noh Drama featuring visiting noh masters in conversation with a scholar-playwright and a composer.

Photo of a noh master in costume

Date: 6 October 2017

Venue: Appleton Tower, University of Edinburgh

Speakes: Professor Nozomi Fukasawa (Kanazawa University)

In brief: A hands-on workshop exploring a new type of speech activity - Biblio Battle - followed by a discussion of public speaking and how this skill is taught in Japanese language education.


Date: 5 April 2017

Venue: Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh

Organiser: Asian Religions Network

In brief: A roundtable discussion bringing together scholars from the School of Divinity, Edinburgh College of Art, and Asian Studies at the University of Edinburgh.


Date: 18 to 20 May 2016

Venues: Confucius Institute for Scotland (Day 1); National Museum of Scotland (Days 2 and 3)

Speakers: Dr Adam Smith (University of Pennsylvania); Antoine Ruchonnet (University of Edinburgh)

In brief:  A three-day introduction to the reading of oracle bone inscriptions from the collections of the National Museum of Scotland. Held as part the Backside of the Bones research project, the event included multiple reading sessions, a talk on the research (Antoine Ruchonnet), and a free public lecture (Dr Adam Smith).