Each semester, Oldenborg collaborates with faculty and invites noted scholars, writers, activists, and professionals to speak on topics of cultural and international interest. To suggest a speaker, email Oldenborg co-directors, Carolina De la Rosa Bustamante and Eileen Cheng .
Spring 2024
January 30
Fengshui in Chinese Law: Where People Debated Economy, Environment, and Politics
Tristan Brown, S.C. Fang Chinese Language and Culture Career Development Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Co-sponsored with the Claremont Colleges Library, the Wig Teaching Innovation Grant, the Asian Languages and Literatures Department, and the Asian Studies Program at Pomona College
February 5
Creating Urban Commons in Post-Growth Japan
Sam Holden PO 12', Urban activist in Tokyo, Translator
Co-sponsored with the Asian Languages and Literatures Department, the Anthropology Department, and the Asian Studies Program at Pomona College
February 26
“Purifying” irradiated ecology: An analysis of the Discourse on Radioactive Waste and Nuclear Governance in Post-Fukushima Japan
Ina Kim, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine
Co-sponsored with the Asian Languages and Literatures Department and the Asian Studies Program at Pomona College
March 4
China’s New Hygiene Ambassadors: Students, Teachers, and “School Hygiene” in Republican China, 1911—1945
Sarah Yu, Assistant Professor of History, DeSales University
Co-sponsored with the Asian Studies Program, the History Department, and the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College
March 21
Lady, Frau, and Chinese Beauty: Societal Change in Word History
Zhuo Jing-Schmidt, Professor, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Oregon
Co-sponsored with the Asian Languages and Literatures Department at Pomona College
March 22
Reclaiming Resistance: Antiracist Research and Decolonial Feminism in the Dominican Republic
Ruth Pion, Social Researcher & Archeological Technician at Instituto Antropológico y Arqueológico Antillano; CUNY DSI Threaten Scholar Fellow
Co-sponsored with the Latin American Studies and the Gender and Women's Studies Programs at Pomona College
March 25
Biwa: Traditional Art of Storytelling in Japan
Nobuko Fukatsu, Biwa musician
Co-sponsored with the Asian Languages and Literatures Department at Pomona College
March 28
How (not) to Read a Scroll Painting in the 21st Century
Chloe Estep, Assistant Professor of Modern Chinese and Sinophone Literatures, University of Pennsylvania
Co-sponsored with the Asian Studies Program at Pomona College
April 4
Living U.S. Foreign Policy: Promises, Values, and Contradictions
Michelle Strucke, Director, Humanitarian Agenda and Director, Human Rights Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Co-sponsored with the International Relations Program and the Politics Department at Pomona College
April 5
The Mothers of the Believers: Early Muslim Women as Symbols of Orthodoxy
Daniel Watling, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Pomona College
Co-sponsored with the Religious Studies Department at Pomona College
April 9
Lights, Camera, Reform: The Revival of Ukraine’s Cinema
Mykyta Tyshchenko, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, The Ohio State University
Co-sponsored with the German & Russian Department at Pomona College
April 15
Michel Journiac : Body, Gender, and Politics of Art
Antoine Idier
Co-sponsored with the Romance Languages and Literatures Department at Pomona College
April 16
The Invisible Classic: The Plum in the Golden Vase and Its Place in Early Modern Chinese Fiction
Brendan O'Kane
Co-sponsored with the Asian Studies Program at Pomona College
April 18
Banished Men: How Migrants Endure the Violence of Deportation
Abigail Andrews, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, San Diego
Co-sponsored with the Sociology Department at Pomona College
April 30
Conversation Courses: A Roundtable with the Language Residents
Oldenborg Language Residents
Co-sponsored with the Foreign Language Resource Center at Pomona College
Fall 2023
September 7
An Interdisciplinary Conversation on Landscape
Shari Daya, Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town
Pippin Anderson, Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town
Co-sponsored with the International and Domestic Programs Office at Pomona College
September 14
Addressing Economic Security in the Context of Climate Crisis
Shailaja Fennell, Professor of Regional Transformation and Economic Security, University of Cambridge
Co-sponsored with the International and Domestic Programs Office at Pomona College
October 11
The Wars Within Line Papin's The Girl Before Her
Line Papin, Writer, Ink & Blood (Joint Imprint of Kaya Press and the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network)
Co-sponsored with the Romance Languages and Literatures Department at Pomona College
October 12
Lalo García’s Journey from Migrant Farmworker to Deportee to World Famous Chef
Laura Tillman, Journalist, author and audio producer
Co-sponsored with the Latin American Studies Program and the Economics Department at Pomona College
October 26
Being There: Reflections on a Claremont Faculty-Student Study Tour to Palestine/Israel
Bahar Acu, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Pitzer College
Heather Ferguson, Associate Professor of Middle East and Ottoman History, Claremont McKenna College
Emiliano Huet-Vaughn, Associate Professor of Economics, Pomona College
October 27
2023 Oldenborg Grant Recipients
Maria Duran Gonzalez, PO '24
Lucia Cappella, PO '23
November 3
Breath and Bamboo: Shakuhachi, the traditional vertical flute of Japan
Kaoru Kakizakai, Master of the Shakuhachi
Co-sponsored with the Music Department at Pomona College
November 6
Making Sense of Attitudes Toward Ukraine and Russia in Kazakhstan: A Qualitative Study
Azamat Junisbai, Professor of Sociology, Pitzer College
Co-sponsored with the German & Russian Department at Pomona College
November 13
China’s Soft Power Strategy at the Confucius Institutes in the United States
Michael Sun, Assistant Professor of Political Science, The Citadel
Co-sponsored with the Asian Studies Program, the Politics Department, the Pacific Basin Institute, and the Wig Teaching Grant Program at Pomona College
November 14
2023 Yidan Endowed Fund Recipients
Diana Truong, PO '24, My Vietnamese-American Experience: Language Learning and Cultural Connections Across Time & Space
Griffin Campion, PO '24, Found in Translation: Language Immersion in Osaka, Japan
November 17
Art and Resistance in Belarusian and Ukrainian Context. From Theatre Solidarity to Nobel Peace Prize
Andrei Kureichik, Belarusian playwright, theatre and film director and civic activist, Henry Hart Rice Associate Research Scholar and Lecturer and Fortunoff Fellow at Yale University
Co-sponsored with the German & Russian Department at Pomona College
December 5
Oldenborg Cinema: Short Films and Comic Sketches
Oldenborg Conversation Class Students & Language Residents
If you would like to hear about Oldenborg events, please join our mailing list at Friends of Oldenborg, or write us at Oldenborg@pomona.edu. Dining hall access requires a meal purchase; 5C students swipe in and 7C faculty/staff sign in. Community members should purchase their meal tickets in advance at Café 47.