@UIUC: East and Southeast Asia Reading Group

Hey all,

I finally got the bureaucratic matters ironed out so that we can get the
2006-2007 edition of the East and Southeast Asia Reading Group under way.
For those of you unfamiliar with the group, this is a place for graduate students
with an interest in the region and its cultures to get together and discuss
readings of interest without the professors. We will alternate reading our own
work with articles (or perhaps a chapter or two of a book) of interest. I am
seeking volunteers to present their own work, and suggestions for the articles.
Please contact me as soon as possible with your suggestions.

For our first meeting on October 13 we will be discussing Doyoung Park's paper,
"Fujiwara Seika's Renunciation of Zen Buddhism". This paper concerns the
relationship between Zen Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism in sixteenth and
seventeenth century Tokugawa Japan. Doyoung will be presenting this paper at
the upcoming Midwest Asian Studies Conference so please come with your
encouragement and constructive criticism to help prepare him for the
conference. You can pick up a copy of Doyoung's paper from reading group bin
labelled "East and Southeast Asia" located by the graduate student mailboxes in
309 Gregory Hall.

The group will meet at the coffee shop at the Krannert Center for the Performing
Arts at 2 PM. I would tentatively like to suggest the following schedule of
meetings for this term.

October 13
October 27
November 17
December 8

All meetings would be at the Krannert coffee shop at 2. Please feel free to invite
anyone else you think may be interested.

See you there,

David Stramecky, Coordinator
East and Southeast Asia Reading Group