Governmental & Non-Governmental Export Projection of Culture with panelists Chan E. Park, Xiao Qiang, Isao Tsujimoto. This panel was moderated by Roger Janelli.
This conference will explore a number of broad threads under the rubric of "soft power." The overarching goal is to examine some of the important ways in which culture, product branding, export projection of national cultures, athletic events, and global NGOs serve to create a more unified (or divided) Asia.
To what extent are cultural and athletic activities used by national governments to project positive images? Do transnational groups such as NGOs operate independently of governments as cross national cultural unifiers? Are cultural products such as films, soap operas, and toys moving more easily across national borders in ways that foster some comprehensive sense of "Asian-ness" or "Asian identity?"- Institute of East Asian Studies, UC Berkeley
Bio
Park E. Chan
Chan E. Park is Associate Professor of Korean language, literature, and performance studies at Ohio State University.
Roger Janelli
Roger Janelli (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1975) is a Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literature at Indiana University. His research interests include; Korean culture and social organization, East Asian ethnography, Religion, Political Economy, Responses to globalization in East Asia. Professor Janelli's merits include a Research Fellowship at University of Tokyo (2000), serving on the Joint Committee on Korean Studies of the American Council of Learned Societies and the Social Science Research Council, for research on culture and political economy of South Korean business firms, 1987–88, and a Visiting Research Professorship at Yonsei University, 1986–87.
Xiao Qiang
Xiao Qiang is an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley. Qiang is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of China Digital Times, a bi-lingual China news website. A physicist by training, Qiang received a B.S. from the University of Science and Technology of China and studied as a PhD candidate (1986-1989) in astrophysics at the University of Notre Dame.
Qiang became a full time human rights activist after the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. Qiang was the Executive Director of Human Rights in China (1991-2002), and is currently vice-chair of the Steering Committee of the World Movement for Democracy. Qiang is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship in 2001, and is profiled in the book Soul Purpose: 40 People Who Are Changing the World for the Better, (Melcher Media, 2003).
Isao Tsujimoto
Isao Tsujimoto is the Director-General of the Japan Foundation, New York and concurrently the Acting Director of the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP), New York. Mr. Tsujimoto was appointed Director-General in October 2006 and since then has concentrated on the reorganization of both the New York office�s programs and its staffing. He currently oversees various Japan Foundation programs including Arts, Japanese Studies and CGP programs. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Tsujimoto was Councilor of the Cultural Affairs Department, where he initiated the establishment of a new fund, the "Japan-China Exchange Center," in 2005. Previous positions at the Japan Foundation include Director of the Los Angeles Office and Language Center (1996-2000) and Deputy Director of the New York Office (1989-1992). This is his third assignment in the US. Mr. Tsujimoto was also a Visiting Professor at Ritsumeikan University Graduate School of International Relations in Kyoto during 2005/06. He graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo in 1975 with a major in Japanese Literature.