ALFP-Related Programs
In addition to regular programs, the ALFP hosts or supports various ALFP-related programs. Since 2005, the following programs have been conducted:
On September 26, the International House of Japan and the Japan Society co-organized a panel discussion under the title "Asian Women: Beyond Myths and Stereotypes" (with partial support from the Japan Foundation). For this panel, the I-House invited two fellows who had visited Japan on fellowship programs either organized or supported by the I-House. Ms. Urvashi Butalia, 2000 ALFP fellow participated in the panel as one of the panelists.
First, Ms. Sheridan Prasso, who came to Japan in 2003 on the US-Japan Media Fellows Program, made a presentation based on her recent publication The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient (Public Affairs, 2005). Ms. Prasso argued that the juxtapositional images of Asian women as "submissive, subservient and sexually available geisha" and "dragon ladies" are mere stereotypes. Ms. Prasso revealed the historicall and cultural backgrounds of such stereotypes, mainly created and perpetuated by the western media, such as Hollywood movies. Ms. Prasso then stated that we should not see people as "nationals" but as individuals.
Ms. Butalia questions the validity of "regional identity" such as "Asian Women" saying that the Asia Ms. Prasso discusses, namely East and Southeast Asia, and Ms. Butalia's Asia (South Asia) are different in many senses. Ms. Butalia also mentioned the violence we commit by slotting people into some kind of compartment and labeling them. Stereotypes or identities (stereotypes which we impose upon ourselves) can be disempowering, Ms. Butalia says. We have to think about what the stereotypes mean to us, and sometimes we have to stand up to resist and fight against them.
The discussion of Ms. Prasso and Ms. Butalia was followed by a number of critical questions and comments by the audience.
(From
left) Prof. Chiharu Takenaka (Moderator; Meiji Gakuin Univ.), Ms. Butalia, Ms.
Sheridan Prasso (Panelist; Journalist)
ICAS4
(August 20-24, 2005; Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China)From August 20 to 24, 2005, the 2004 ALFP fellows participated in the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS) 4, which was held in Shanghai, China. ICAS, hosted mainly by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS/ Leiden, The Netherlands), is a forum of Asia scholars from all over the world "to transcend the boundaries between disciplines, between nations studied, and between the geographic origins of the Asianists involved." ICAS 4 was hosted by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. To know more about ICAS, please visit the ICAS website.
Panel Discussion "Identity, Security and Democracy: Contradictions in a Globalizing Asia"
The ALFP supported the 2004 fellows' participation in ICAS as a post-program project, and organized a panel entitled "Identity, Security and Democracy: Contradictions in a Globalizing Asia." Five of the 2004 fellows (Ms. Karina Bolasco, Mr. Kinley Dorji, Dr. Kusago Takayoshi, Dr. Nguyen Van Chinh and Dr. Chandrika Sepali Kottegoda) presented the following papers:
- Kusago Takayoshi "Rethinking Quality of Economic Growth with People's Life Satisfaction in Post-WWII Japan" & Kinley Dorji "Gross National Happiness in Bhutan" (Joint Presentation)
- Karina
Africa Bolasco "A Sense of Asia in Filipinos"
- Chandrika
Sepali Kottegoda "Rescue, Violence and Discrimination in a Disaster:
An Exploration of Gendered Behaviour and Gender Policy in the Aftermath of the
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami Disaster and the Recovery Phase in Sri Lanka"
- Nguyen Van Chinh "Children in Domestic Service: Another Childhood Narrative"
The ALFP panel was attended by a full audience, and lively discussions took place after the fellows' presentations.
ALFP Booth
During ICAS 4, the ALFP Secretariat set up a booth to promote the ALFP. The booth was visited by participants in ICAS, many of whom showed a great interest in the activities of the ALFP. At the booth, the program reports of the previous years' programs and the ALFP Alumni Directory, as well as other promotional materials, were distributed.
Click here for ICAS photos
