Naming out Grief: Three Refugee Tales, Fact & Fiction

One of the latest debates taking place on the streets and in the country’s most respected newsrooms is whether to call victims of recent the hurricane refugees. Some say that the word is insulting. It implies that the evacuees, so many of whom were people of color, are not citizens. Author Andrea Louie contends that … Read more

Lu Xun, a Nation’s Emblematic Writer

Lu Xun (1881-1936) was the first and most prominent figure in modern Chinese literature. His groundbreaking fiction and essays exerted a vast influence that touched on every aspect of China in the modern world. Professor Chou will speak about this towering literary figure, what he wrote, why his writings were so influential, and what his … Read more

Post-Crisis Asia: Assessing South Korea’s Dramatic Recovery From the Asian Financial Crisis

This lecture examines the factors behind the remarkable economic recovery of South Korea from the Asian financial crisis that had gripped the country during late 1997.  It examines the restructuring efforts undertaken by the Korean government in the corporate, financial, labor market, public enterprise, and foreign investment sectors, and   evaluates the results as well as … Read more

“What! A Labor Shortage in China?”

Is it even conceivable that there could be a labor shortage in China? Knowledgeable people have diametrically different views. The question itself operates like a Rorschach inkblot: the answer tells more about the presumptions of the respondents than the reality facing them. But there is a reality and there is an answer, and the implications … Read more

Examining the Backlash Against Middle Eastern and South Asian Americans in the Wake of 9/11

This presentation summarizes some of the key findings of a four-year study of the post-911 discriminatory backlash against Middle Eastern and South Asian Americans.  This backlash has taken at least two forms: 1) hate crimes and biased incidents; and 2) the USA Patriot Act, and the series of government initiatives that followed 9/11. To effectively … Read more

Consciousness and the Representational Theory of Mind: An Overview of the Philosophical Debate

Representationalism is the view in philosophy and cognitive science that the mind is nothing more than a representational system. According to representationalism, any two creatures that are representationally identical are mentally identical. The chief obstacle to representationalism is consciousness. Consciousness, it has been argued, resists explanation in representational terms. The philosophical debate over consciousness and … Read more