INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL STUDIES CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
Spring 2000 Colloquia Series
The following colloquia were presented in the Spring 2000 semester. Colloquia are held at East-West Center, Burns Hall 2118. They begin at 12 noon. Everyone is welcome.
Abstract:
This talk focuses on the convergence of a
globalizing, multi-billion dollar, professional
sports business with a Pacific island which, for
the past twenty years, has been the site for that
sport's annual all-star game. The sports business
is the National Football League (NFL); the island
is O'ahu; and the all-star contest under study is
the Pro Bowl. It is a game or event that many
understand as having no real meaning or
significance. To be sure, the Pro Bowl falls
short in matching the attention, audience,
revenues, and drama of the professional football
playoffs or even many regular season contests. It
is anything but a meaningless game, however. By
its very location, the Pro Bowl is linked to
larger, complex histories of militarism,
colonialism, and tourism in Hawai'i. It is the
Pro Bowl's connections to these histories that
Dr. Hanlon seeks to explore and explicate in this
presentation.
Abstract:
This talk focuses on US women occupiers' feminist
reform efforts in post-war Japan. While the
existing historiography and popular media
continue to glorify US women's efforts to
"civilize" and "modernize"
Japanese women during the occupation, this talk
provides critical reinterpretation of US women's
roles by showing how their discourses and
practices reflected and reinforced US imperialism
in post-war Japan.
Abstract:
One of the most important international cultural
events of the last few decades has been
television. And where television goes, the
culture of cynicism it encourages is carried
along. In this session, Bill Chaloupka, author of
the recent book Everybody Knows: Cynicism in
America, will suggest some analytical approaches
to the questions of television and cynicism.
Abstract:
Dr. Silva will critically examine how Hawaiian
history is generally written from English
language sources only, and how that practice
produces a skewed version of history in which
Kanaka Maoli tend to be missing as agents, with
the exception of monarchs or provocative
personalities such as Robert Wilcox. Her
presentation will consider the fact that in the
Hawaiian past there were two language
communities, Hawaiian and English, which opposed
one another politically. Within this opposition,
English language speakers fall into the category
of "colonizers" and Hawaiian language
speakers into that of "resisters of
colonization." Dr. Silva will discuss some
of the more interesting ways the Kanaka
communities engaged in active resistance, a
knowledge only available through sources in the
Hawaiian language.
Abstract:
In this presentation Lynette and Richard will
address the following questions: Is there such a
thing as a "virtual community?" Can
Hawaiian culture be shared, practiced and
maintained through daily online conversations
with individuals across continents? Can a
geographically and culturally diverse group of
individuals organize themselves to work together
in the cause of social justice and Hawaiian
sovereignty? How does the term "sacred"
apply?
Abstract:
Digital Multimedia are rapidly becoming THE
research, documentation, analysis, and archiving
medium of the future. How can we evaluate the
inherent possibilities and challenges in the
field of Asian Performing Arts studies?