Daily Life for the Common People of China, 1850-1950
In his talk, Ronald Suleski will introduce daily life for the common people of China in the century from 1850 to 1950. They were semi-literate, yet they have left us written accounts of their hopes, fears, and values. They have left us the hand-written manuscripts ( chaoben 抄本) now flooding the antiques markets in China. These documents represent a new and heretofore overlooked category of historical sources.

He will give an explanation of the interaction of chaoben with the lives of the people. This will include examples of why they were so important to the poor laboring masses: people wanted horoscopes predicting their future, information about the ghosts causing them headaches, a few written words to help them trade in the rural markets.

Bio:
Ronald Suleski did his undergraduate work at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his MA in Chinese Studies and his PhD in Modern Chinese History from the University of Michigan. Ron lived in Tokyo from 1980 to 1997 where he was an executive in international business, working as the managing director in Asia for several US and British professional publishers, dealing with technical, medical and legal journals. In 1997 he returned from Japan to be at Harvard. There he was Assistant Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies until 2009, when he joined Suffolk University in Boston as Professor of History and Director of the Rosenberg Institute for East Asian Studies.

Global Environmental Crisis, Literature, and Asia
Climate change, mass extinction of plant and animal species, and widespread pollution of sky, sea, and land make clear the extent to which humans have shaped global ecologies. This talk first overviews environmental concerns in Asia before turning to the work of creative writers from the Philippines, China, Korea, Japan, the United States, and Vietnam, exploring how literary works have grappled with East and Southeast Asian environmental crises from the local to the global.

Karen Thornber is Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and of Comparative Literature at Harvard University, where she is also Victor and William Fung Director of the Harvard University Asia Center and Chair of the Harvard Asia Center Council. Thornber is author of three major scholarly monographs – Empire of Texts in Motion: Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese Transculturations of Japanese Literature (Harvard 2009); Ecoambiguity: Environmental Crises and East Asian Literatures (Michigan 2012); andGlobal Healing: Literature, Advocacy, Care (Brill forthcoming 2019). Empire of Texts in Motion and Ecoambiguity both were the recipients of multiple international awards. Thornber is also an award-winning translator of Japanese poetry. Co-editor of a special issue of Literature and Medicine on World Literature and Health, a special issue ofHumanities on Global Indigeneities and Environment which was also published as a separate volume, and a volume on The Poetics of Aging in the Japanese Narrative Arts, Thornber has also published more than 70 articles on comparative and world literature, East Asian literatures and cultures, the literatures and cultures of the Indian Ocean Rim, diaspora, gender, indigeneities, postcolonialism, transculturation, trauma, and the environmental humanities and medical and health humanities. Current projects include a scholarly monograph on Gender, Leadership, and Asia; a textbook on Asian Feminisms; and a co-edited special issue of the journal World Literature on trans-Asian literatures and cultures.

The funds collected from this cultural event will go to projects aiding marginalized communities in Africa.

Come listen to UK Senior and Rhodes Scholar, Hadeel Abdallah, as she leads a conversation about internationalism, social justice in a global context, and the importance of seeing the plights of others as your own. Light Refreshments will be served.

On behalf of the University of Kentucky Confucius Institute, you’re invited to join us for March’s “A Bite of China” event featuring Hot Pot! The event, located in the ground floor of the Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library, runs from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 28.

Hot Pot is a Chinese cooking method, prepared with a simmering pot of soup stock at the dining table, containing a variety of East Asian foods and ingredients. The event will have a vegetarian option as well.

Interested in attending? Head over to http://international.uky.edu/BOC0319 to RSVP. We hope to see you there!

For the past two years, journalist Alice Driver has covered migration along the US-Mexico border and throughout Central America, and she has witnessed how US policies have affected migrants and people living along the border. Driver will explore the border with curiosity and you will travel with her as she discusses her work on migration with National Geographic, Time, Longreads, Reveal and CNN.

This event is sponsored by the A&S Passport to the World Year of Migration, Hispanic Studies, Geography, and the UK Latino Student Union.

Students and community members interested in working in the education industry are encouraged to attend. At the fair, students can expect to network with k-12 schools (public, private, and charter), higher education institutions, and other education-related organizations and nonprofits. Students should come dressed professionally with a multiple resume copies to present to employers. Visit Handshake to plan ahead and view the event preview and employer list here: https://uky.joinhandshake.com/career_fairs/6743/student_preview

Free parking is available at Kroger Field.

Dr. Matthews will be giving a talk on his latest work, a biography on former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Secretary of State Colin Powell, exploring Powell's life in the light of his historic achievements, strengths, and weaknesses. 

Dr. Jeffrey J. Matthews received his PhD in American History from the University of Kentucky and currently is the George F. Jewett Distinguished Professor in the School of Business and Leadership of Pudget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. His books have been used as required readings at the U.S. Army's Command and General Staff College and the Taiwanese Department of Defense.