Faculty, Student, and Alumni News

PITTSBURGH, PA – The Japan America Society of Pennsylvania (JASP) and the University of Pittsburgh’s Asian Studies Center jointly hosted the 26th Annual High School Japanese Speech Contest. The contest was held in person at the William Pitt Union at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday, March 3.
 
This year, 46 students from Western PA presented their speeches, participated in Japanese cultural activities, and watched a special presentation by Pittsburgh Taiko. Japanese language students of all levels and students who are involved in Japan-related cultural activities participated in one of five speech levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced, advanced plus, and heritage) or the poster contest. Participating schools were Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, Pittsburgh Japanese School, Shaler Area High School, and Upper St. Clair High School. Students from Shaler Area Middle School submitted artwork for a vote during the awards ceremony. Students from Pittsburgh Obama Middle School visited the activities fair.
 
Shrida Devaki from Upper St. Clair High School won first place in Advanced Plus level. Shrida received smart earbuds as the grand prize donated by the Consulate General of Japan in New York. First place in the Heritage category went to Hirai Shuda, Pittsburgh Japanese School/Pittsburgh Obama High School.First place in the Advanced category was awarded to Quinne Vulakovich from Shaler Area High School. First place in the Intermediate category went to Kathryn Luft from Shaler Area High School. The first place in the Beginner category went to Conner Hyatt from Upper St. Clair High School. Finally, first place in the Poster competition went to Lindsay Ross from Upper St. Clair High School.
 
This event is made possible through the generous support of the Elliott Group, Temple University Japan Campus, Japan Foundation Los Angeles, the Japanese Consulate General of New York, University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center, the Japan Iron & Steel Federation and Mitsubishi Endowments at the University of Pittsburgh, and all participating schools, students, and volunteers.
 
About The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania:
Established in 1986, The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania is an association ofindividuals, corporations and organizations that seek to promote local understanding of andmutually beneficial participation in the changing US-Japan relationship. The Society providesinformative, innovative programming in order to encourage a better understanding of thebusiness, cultural, social, educational and political practices and customs of Japan and the UnitedStates. More can be learned about the JASP at our website: http://japansocietypa.org/.
 

The University of Pittsburgh, in coordination with the Pittsburgh Asian Studies Consortium, is pleased to announce that it is holding the Pittsburgh Asian Studies Undergraduate Research Conference on February 25, 2023 at the University of Pittsburgh after a multi-year long hiatus due to the pandemic. Students are encouraged to sign up to give presentations of their undergraduate research projects and papers. This conference is an important event for both the Asian Studies Center and the University of Pittsburgh.
 
This is being organized as an in-person conference to allow students the opportunity to meet and network with one another on Pitt’s campus. Virtual participation cannot be accommodated except in the case of emergencies. Students interested in presenting will participate in panels, with speaking times between 10-15 minutes. Students interested in any region of Asia are encouraged to join. To register for the program, students only need to provide a subject for their paper/ title and the name and email of a faculty member who can vouch for them. Students who would like to attend the conference and hear the papers are also encouraged to register. For students planning on watching please ask them to indicate such in the title screen. The Undergraduate Asian Studies Research Conference will be an opportunity for undergraduates at any level to meet with other students interested in Asian Studies from around the northeast US.
 
Please encourage your students to participate. We are interested in every level of undergraduate student research, and we intend to publish papers from the conference digitally as part of our student research white paper series. This is an excellent opportunity to advance the professional development of your students and to contribute to the Pitt community. Students will gain valuable presentation and academic skills and will hopefully foster interest in Asian Studies.
 

On Wednesday, November 2nd, Dr. Fiona Hill, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Former Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs on the National Security Council, discussed her experience in the Trump administration, including her testimony during President Trump's first impeachment inquiry. Dr. Hill spoke to a packed house in the Alumni Hall Auditorium where the event was co-sponsored by UCIS. Dr. Hill also discussed Vladimir Putin's authoritarian vision for Russia, the subject of her new co-authored article in the centennial issue of Foreign Affairs. Finally, Dr. Hill addressed her remarkable journey from a coal mining community in northeastern England to serving three American presidents and what she has learned along the way about the best way to safeguard American democracy, the subject of her recent memoir, There Is Nothing For You Here. She also took questions from the crowd and autographed copies of her new book.

For many academics, especially those affiliated with a top-ranked research institution such as the University of Pittsburgh, being involved in the publication of an academic journal is a major accomplishment. So, in July 2021, when he was named the Editor for the Journal of Asian Studies, it was a high personal honor for Dr. Joseph Alter, the Director of the Pitt Asian Studies Center.
 
The Journal of Asian Studies, or JAS, is the premier peer-reviewed academic journal for the field of Asian studies and is the primary organ for the Association for Asian Studies. The journal was founded in 1941 as the Far Eastern Quarterly, but the scope and focus of the journal has shifted over time along with the changing nature of Asian studies and especially recently as Asia continues to play a bigger and bigger role in global affairs, a term Dr. Alter calls “Global Asia.” Indeed this “Global Asia”, or the growing impact that Asia, in particular the developing countries of China and India and the cultural exporters of Japan and South Korea, is what Dr. Alter would like his 5-year term as editor to focus on. Dr. Alter said that he is seeking to publish papers and academics that tackle this topic regarding the new and profound ways that Asia interacts with the rest of the world, and vice versa. 
 
Dr. Alter stressed is that while being named Editor for the JAS is a personal honor, it is also a big responsibility that he takes extremely seriously. Due in large part to his editorial predecessors, the JAS is a well-known and well-run academic journal that has a reputation for being the foremost journal regarding Asian studies. Dr. Alter also talked in-depth about the challenges that he will face as an editor for a membership-based publication. As more and more journals become open-access rather than subscription-based, journal editors must adapt to the changing technologies and continuously improve their publications to keep their readership willing to pay, a process that hinges on making sure that the journal is as good of a publication as possible and worth reading. Dr. Alter also readily shared that this is also an honor for the ASC and the University of Pittsburgh as a whole. As both the Director of ASC and the Editor of the JAS, he hopes this prestigious position will help to elevate the Center and the University, bringing in new resources and new academic collaborators. 
 
As editor, Dr. Alter said that he would continue to advocate for policies and highlight papers and books that meet and surpass the high bar for quality that has come to be expected from the JAS. There are two policy priorities that Dr. Alter seeks to put forth during his tenure. The first is that he wants to have more papers submitted and published by authors from Asia, especially the often-overlooked countries. Relevant to this point, his second policy regards publishing topics that deal with these lesser-known countries and topics that are often excluded from other journals.
 
Congratulations to Dr. Alter on this wonderful accomplishment and best of luck during his tenure as Editor for the Journal of Asian Studies.