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Pomona's Asian Studies program, an interdisciplinary major built around a faculty of 17 specialists, combines work in the humanities and social sciences with extensive language study. Students choose a geographic emphasis (East Asia, South Asia, KathmanduÑis strongly recommended). Pomona offers courses in both classical and modern Chinese and Japanese. Additional opportunities for language and cultural study are available through the Oldenborg Center, which includes residential Chinese and Japanese language sections.
Pomona's Asian Studies faculty have impressively broad teaching and research interests. Allan Barr does research in the field of Chinese literature of the Ming and Qing dynasties, particularly prose fiction. Sharon Hou's research covers the areas of classical poetry and intellectual history. She is also interested in the theory and pedagogy of advanced language instruction. Jianhsin Wu studies the Chinese domestic novel and has designed a language textbook for advanced beginners of Chinese. She is also interested in developing computer assisted instructional materials.
Among the Japan specialists, Margaret Dornish is interested in Asian religions and Buddhist studies, especially Zen Buddhism. Stanleigh Jones works in Japanese theatre, particularly the Bunraku theatre, and conducts research on early modern Japanese literature and culture. He is the translator of Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy and Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, as well as other works.
Kyoko Kurita specializes in modern Japanese literature and has a strong interest in comparative literature. Lynne Miyake works in classical Japanese literature with an interest in women's studies, narratology, and cultural studies. Leonard Pronko teaches theatre courses and has been staging Kabuki productions at Pomona since 1965. He is the author of Theatre East and West and Guide to Japanese Drama. Kazumi Takahashi does research in applied linguistic discourse analysis and is currently working on an analysis of the presentation of voice and emotion in oral and written narratives. Samuel Yamashita, who teaches Asian history, recently published a translation of Ogyu Sorai's work titled Master Sorai's Responsals, and is completing studies of Confucian academies in early modern Japan and the responses of ordinary Asians and Kamikaze pilots to World War II.
David Arase works mainly in the areas of Japanese politics and foreign policy and international relations of East Asia and has recently completed a book, Buying Power: The Political Economy of Japan's Foreign Aid. Hans Palmer specializes in comparative studies of the economic systems of Japan, China, and the United States and has begun research on the economic policy and health care issues in Japan.
The program expands its horizons in East Asia with the addition of President Peter Stanley, a historian of the Philippines and the history of America's relations with Asia.
In the Southeast Asian field, David Elliott concentrates on the international relations of Asia, with a particular emphasis on China, Southeast Asia, and Indochina. He is the editor of The Third Indochinese Conflict. Lynn Thomas does research on social organization in West Sumatra and Indonesia, and co-edited Change and Continuity in Minangkabau.
Steve Marks has extensively analyzed the Indonesian economy and is the principal investigator on an AID grant to continue his studies.
The Pacific Basin Institute, with its President, Frank Gibney, has joined Pomona College. He teaches courses about the "Pacific Century" and Japan's business economy and organizes conferences, arranges translations, and facilitates communications between Pacific Basin countries.
Specialists in South Asia include Zayn Kassam whose expertise includes Islamic and Indian philosophy, as well as gender studies in the Islamic world and South Asia. Tahir Andrabi carries out economic analyses of government policies in developing countries and issues of government delivery of social services in South Asia; his research is funded by the Asian Foundation on Government Reform in Pakistan. Betty Bernhard, department of Theatre, has received numberous fellowships to conduct research on folk, classical, and activist theatre in India. She has completed several video documentaries on these subjects as well as collaborated in directing plays about India. Carol Davis founded a street theatre troupe in Nepal to help teach health and sanitation issues to rural villagers. In addition, she has studied Asian forms of theatre and dance and mask carving in Bali.
Asian Studies majors typically go on to graduate school in the social sciences or humanities, pursue careers in business, study law or journalism, or enter government service.
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