The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies Present Documenting Taiwan on Film: Methods and Issues in New Documentaries Workshop and Film Screenings July 6 – 8, 2009 University of Oregon These events are free and open to the public. For more info, please call 346-1521.

Day One: Monday, July 6, 2009

Session I:

9:00-10:15
Daw-ming Lee, “History in the Remaking: The Making of Taiwan – A People’s History.” (Graduate Institute of Filmmaking, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan)

10:15-10:30 – Coffee break

10:30-11:45
Sylvia Li-chun Lin, “Recreating the White Terror on Screen” (University of Notre Dame)

Session II:

13:00-14:15
Kuei-fen Chiu, “Media Technologies and the Making of the Human Subject in Contemporary Taiwanese Documentary Films” (Chung-hsing University, Taiwan)

14:15-15:30
Bert Scruggs, “Longing for Authenticity and the Question of Indigenization: Exploring Yan Lanquan and Zhuang Yiceng’s Wu mi le (Let it Be)” (University of California, Irvine)

15:30-15:45 – Coffee break

15:45-17:00
Hsiu-Chuang Deppman, “The Politics of Seeing in Jump, Boys!” (Oberlin College, USA)

19:00-21:30
Film Screenings; Q & A with Director Mayaw Biho (Willamette Hall, Room 110)
“Children in Heaven” (14 min.)
“As Life, As Pacang” (26 min.)
“Carry the Paramount of Jade Mountain on My Back” (46 min.)

Day Two: Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Session III:

9:00-10:15
Christopher Lupke, “Documenting Political Dissent: The Gongliao Fourth Nuclear Reactor as Example” (Washington State University, USA)

10:15-10:30 – Coffee break

10:30-11:45
Li-hsin Kuo, “Sentimentalism and the Bent for Collective ‘Inward-looking’: A Preliminary Analysis of Mainstream Taiwanese Documentary” (National Chengchi University, Taiwan)

Session IV:

13:00-14:15
Tze-lan Deborah Sang, “Imagining Global Modernity through Taiwanese Documentary Films” (EALL, University of Oregon)

14:15-15:30
Guo-Juin Hong, “Voices and Their Discursive Dis/Content in New Taiwan Documentary” (Duke University, USA)

15:30-15:45 – Coffee break

15:45-17:00 – Roundtable Discussion
Commentator: Sharon Sherman (English, University of Oregon)

19:00-21:30 – Film screenings; Q & A with director Mayaw Biho (Willamette Hall, Room 110)
“Dear Rice Wine, You Are Defeated” (26 min.)
“National Bandit: A Beautiful Mistake” (56 min.)
Excerpts from Malakacaway (“The Rice Wine Filler,” 70 min.)

Film Summaries

Children of Heaven (1997/14 min./Betacam)
Underneath the Sanying Bridge lies a shantytown of indigenous people. Every year they are charged with violating the Water Law and forcibly removed from the houses they have built. Nevertheless, after the houses are torn down, the residents return to the same place and build their simple huts again. This process has repeated itself numerous times over the course of many years. For the residents and their children, their routine seems like “playing house.” Yet the question of indigenous people’s right of abode remains unresolved.

As Life, As Pangcah (1998/28 min./Betacam)
A calm, reflective oral history results from this intimate dialogue between a 93-year-old Pangcah tribal chieftain and an indigenous filmmaker. Through word and song, the elder recounts the ways of the Pangcah and his frustrated attempts to defend traditional culture against Taiwan’s encroaching modernity.

Carry the Paramount of Jade Mountain on My Back (2002/46 min./Betacam)
Jade Mountain is Taiwan’s highest peak. For decades, the Tungpu Bunun aborigines have been hired as guides and porters by city-dwelling mountaineers who wish to conquer Jade Mountain. This documentary records their unique contribution to mountain climbing in Taiwan.

Dear Rice Wine, You are Defeated (1998/24 min./Betacam)
In Taiwan, younger members of the Pangcah tribe question the centuries-old tradition of Pacakat – the drinking of powerful rice wine to mark the advancement in rank in their community. While the observance of Pacakat can be dangerous, it also celebrates Pangcah tribal identity.

National Bandits: A Beautiful Mistake (2000/56 min./Betacam)
The elderly Bununs of Tung-Pu have habitually referred to workers at the Vu Mountain National Park as “national bandits” instead of “national park employees.” In the eyes of these old Bununs, the designation of this land as national park has robbed them of most of their ancestral territories, leaving only a very small portion for them to live and farm on. In April 1999, the Ministry of Interior began plans for another National Park called Nun-Dan. This time, the people of multiple tribes refused to be silent.

Malakacaway–The Rice Wine Filler (2009/70min.) The Pangcah people live along the east coast of Taiwan facing the Pacific Ocean. Some Pangcah tribes have been able to keep their traditional culture and ways of living, the most famous example being the Makutaay Tribe. They hold Ilisin (Annual Ceremony) the traditional way every year. The most challenging job belongs to a group of men called “Malakacaway,” who are responsible for fundraising, rice-collecting, accounting, and most importantly and painfully, Patakit (toasting everyone with rice wine over and over again during the five-day ceremony). This is how the Makutaay tribe trains its youngsters to become mature members of the tribe.

 

Chair
Anita Weiss, International Studies; Institutional Trustee to AIPS
aweiss@uoregon.edu

South Asia Faculty
Shankha Chakraborty, Economics
shankhac@uoregon.edu

Howard Davis, Architecture
hdavis@aaa.uoregon.edu

Nil Deshpande, Physics
desh@oregon.uoregon.edu

Jim Earl, English
jwearl@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Sangita Gopal, English
sgopal@uoregon.edu

Veena Howard, Religious Studies
veena@vyanet.com

Lamia Karim, Anthropology
lamia@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Mark Levy, Music
mlevy@oregon.uoregon.edu

John Lukacs, Anthropology; Institutional Trustee to AIIS
jrlukacs@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Ken Liberman, Sociology
liberman@oregon.uoregon.edu

Randy McGowan, History
rmcgowen@oregon.uoregon.edu

Nagesh Murthy, Decision Sciences
nmurthy@uoregon.edu

Eric Pederson, Linguistics
epederso@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Bish Sen, Journalism and Communication
bsen@uoregon.edu

Norm Sundberg, Psychology
nds@uoregon.edu

Sunil Khanna, Courtesy Appointment, Anthropology (Oregon State University)
Skhanna@oregonstate.edu

 

 

The Pacific Islands Studies Program offers individualized programs of study and research emphasizing Pacific island cultures. The University of Oregon has a long-standing educational and scholarly interest in the Pacific islands involving active researchers and teachers in many fields. The committee began as a formal body in 1987 and has worked since to coordinate instruction, research, and exchange programs at the university that are related to the Pacific islands. Interdisciplinary perspectives essential for understanding natural and cultural environments, cultural history and change, and educational and modern socioeconomic issues in the Pacific are stressed.

A wide range of faculty members of the University of Oregon conduct research and do teaching and training programs related to the Pacific Islands. Their expertise and inter-related interests provide an interdisciplinary perspective essential for understanding natural environments, cultural background and change, and modern socio-economic issues in the Pacific area.

Courses on Pacific subjects are taught at both the undergraduate and graduate level and cover diverse topics. Students can enroll in undergraduate courses and advanced degree programs in various departments and through the Asian Studies Program. Pacific Islands Studies participates in the Asian Studies Program’s B.A. and M.A. degree programs by providing courses that may be used to satisfy degree requirements, e.g., in developing as secondary cultural or geographical area with Southeast Asia. Undergraduate- and graduate-level courses are available in anthropology and archaeology, art history, biology, geological sciences, international studies, political science, and sociology.

William Ayres, Anthropology, teaches classes on Pacific Islands archaeology and anthropology and organizes the program’s interdisciplinary Pacific Islands Studies class. Aletta Biersack, Anthropology, gives several courses on social anthropology, especially about New Guinea. Andrew Goble, History, has taught on Japan’s presence in the Pacific Islands. An interdisciplinary class on Pacific environments and resources is taught by William Ayres. Stephen Johnson integrates sociology and political science in his class on sociological patterns in developing Pacific countries. Richard Sundt, Art History, regularly offers a two course sequence on Pacific Islands art and works with students to exhibit their Pacific-inspired creations in the Krause Gallery.

The Pacific Island Archaeological Project, directed by William S. Ayres, offers students opportunities to participate in archaeological and anthropological study in the Pacific. Through several means, students visit the Pacific to carry out consulting and research projects in a variety of areas.

Training in selected Pacific Island languages is possible through individual study using tutors and materials developed at the Yamada Language Center. The center now has language-study modules for Pohnpeian and Kosraen.

I. Pacific Islands Studies Committee

• William Ayres, Professor, Anthropology. Pacific archaeology and anthropology; research in Micronesia and Polynesia.
• Aletta Biersack, Professor, Anthropology. Pacific ethnology and socio-cultural anthropology; research in New Guinea and Tonga.
• Shirley Coale, Research Assoc., Education, Special education consultant, Micronesia.
• Maradel Gale, Assoc. Professor., Ret., Professor, Planning, Public Policy and Management. Public policy and management training, Micronesia, Samoa, Fiji.
• Richard Hildreth, Professor, Law. Micronesia and Australia, environmental law.
• Adria Imada, Asst. Professor, Ethnic Studies/Anthropology. US Empire, performance and popular culture, Hawaii, Pacific Islands, and Asian America.
• Kathy Poole, Overseas Program Coordinator, Office of International Programs. Coordinating programs in the Asia/Pacific region. Pacific experience in Fiji and Palau.
• Judith Raiskin, Associate Professor and Director, Women’s Studies Program. Women’s studies and Pacific Islands post-colonial literature.
• Greg Ringer, Adj. Asst. Professor. Planning, Public Policy and Management. International tourism, protected areas and sustainable community development.
• Paula Rogers, Asst. Professor, East Asian Lang. and Lit.. Austronesian languages, Taiwan.
• Richard Sundt, Associate Professor, Art History. Pacific art, traditional and contemporary.
• Hilda Yee Young, Academic Advising. Pacific Islands; Hawai’ian Studies and student groups.
• Dick Zeller, Research Assoc/Co-Director, Western Regional Resource Center: Special Education consultant; Micronesia and SamoaAffiliated Members:
• Virginia Butler, Assoc. Professor, Anthropology, Portland State University; Pacific ecology/faunal studies.
• Anne Chambers, Ph.D. Anthropology, Southern Oregon University.
• Keith Chambers, Ph.D. Anthropology, Director of International Services, Southern Oregon University.
• Rufino Mauricio, Ph.D. Anthropology, Chief Archaeologist, Federated States of Micronesia Historic Preservation Program. Pacific archaeology and traditional culture, Pacific Islands Studies.
• Dick Dewey, School of Extended Studies, Portland State University; Palau ecology and resource conservation.
• Osamu Kataoka, Assistant Professor, Kansai Gadai University, Osaka, Japan. Ph.D. Candidate, Anthropology, Micronesian archaeology.
• Suzanne McMenis, Graduate student, Education, University of Oregon. Western Micronesia
• Gwen Scott, Graduate student, Geography, University of Oregon.
• Joan Wozniak, PhD. Candidate, Anthropology, University of Oregon

The “Engaging China” project represents a collaboration between the Lundquist College of Business and the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies at the University of Oregon. The project grew out of a UO-wide East Asia initiative launched by the university president in 2004. It is supported by a two-year U.S. Department of Education Business and International Education grant.

The project aims to introduce faculty and students in the MBA program to the challenges and opportunities of business in China, and it works from the premise that cultural and historical knowledge are essential to business success. In preparation for this study tour to Beijing and Shanghai, faculty and students participated in a semester-long seminar series that featured lectures on Chinese culture, history, politics, economics, and business by UO faculty China experts and distinguished invited speakers. During the summer prior to the study tour, students worked through background reading assignments and worked up research projects related to an annual theme: Sports Marketing and the Beijing Olympics in Year 1 and Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Supply Chain in Year 2. Upon their return from the study tour, faculty participants will integrate their experience into the MBA curriculum, and student participants will submit final reports and generate presentations for local and regional businesspeople.

Now in its second year, the “Engaging China” project has made an indelible impact on the MBA program. Private donors have stepped up to offer continuing support, and the College of Business has committed itself over the long term to cultivate greater awareness of Asia’s place in the global economy, to revise the business curriculum accordingly, and thus to prepare select students for careers in international business.

It is our hope that the “Engaging China” project will stimulate other new international projects on campus, similarly conceived to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and cross-cultural learning.