Program Start Date: Oct 6 2026
Image: Detail, Spring Morning in the Han Palace, China, Qing dynasty, Kangxi reign, 1672, twelve-panel kuancai lacquer screen; black lacquer on wood core with carved and pigment and gold filled (kuancai) decoration, Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art, F1906.42a–l. Image by Colleen Dugan Join us for this unique opportunity to learn more
Program Start Date: Nov 10 2026
In this seminar, we will read selected short stories to introduce five modern Chinese women writers: Xiao Hong, Ding Ling, Eileen Chang, Fan Yusu, and Yu Xiuhua. Class meetings will include a lecture component that situates the text in modern Chinese cultural history as well as a discussion component in which participants will be
Program Start Date: Nov 11 2026
China’s influence on the global south is one of the most important issues of our time. Made in Ethiopia offers a rare opportunity to follow three women, a Chinese factory director, a local factory worker, and a nearby farmer, as a massive Chinese industrial park transforms rural Ethiopia. Together, we will consider what “progress” and
Program Start Date: Jan 26 2027
The seeds of Japan’s emergence to global prominence were planted during the Edo period, which spanned from 1600 to 1868. This seminar traces Japan’s transformation during this remarkable rule of the Tokugawa shoguns, also known as the Edo period. Our course will explore the numerous aspects of this time including: the end of the warring
Program Start Date: Feb 16 2027
Join us for a discussion of The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Michiko Aoyama, sharing our reactions to this warm and uplifting novel while exploring the broader phenomenon of “healing fiction” from Japan, a genre that has recently taken off with readers in the US and UK. We’ll consider what defines healing fiction, why
Program Start Date: Apr 27 2027
Participants will try their hand at translating a poem into English. No knowledge of another language required! We will learn by doing: explore how translation can strengthen close reading skills, deepen understanding of how language works, foster cross-cultural communication, build confidence in cultural and linguistic knowledge. We’ll also discuss practical ways to incorporate poetry translation