China Symposium brings Asian history, culture to UNC Asheville

Here’s the press release from UNC Asheville:

UNC Asheville’s two-day symposium, October 1-2, “Chinese Histories in Global Contexts,” will feature two presentations which will be free and open to the public:

Shana Brown, a specialist in modern Chinese intellectual and cultural history, will present “The Culture, Politics and Philosophy of a Long Revolution.” Brown, associate professor of history at the University of Hawaii, is a Fulbright scholar who has spent years working and studying in East Asia. She is the author of “Pastimes From Art and Antiquarianism to Modern Chinese Historiography” (University of Hawaii Press, 2011). Brown’s talk takes place at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1, in UNC Asheville’s Karpen Hall, Laurel Forum.

Paola Zamperini, associate professor of Chinese literature and director of Chinese studies at Amherst College, will present “Moving Fashions: Wearing Gender in Late Imperial China.” Zamperini’s book, “Lost Bodies: Prostitution and Masculinity in Late Qing Fiction” (Brill University Press, 2010), addresses the way fictional characters handle passion, sexuality and love. Her talk begins at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, in UNC Asheville’s Karpen Hall, Laurel Forum.

The China Symposium, which also features special sessions for UNC Asheville faculty and students, is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and is directed by the Asian Studies Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. For more information, visit ist.unca.edu/asian-studies-asia, or call Asian Studies Director Surain Subramaniam at 828/232-2409.