


Schedule
Fri, April 14, 1:45PM-5:00PM (CDT)
Sat, April 15, 9:00AM-6:30PM (CDT)
See the detailed schedule below (scroll down)
Venue
Rooms: Ingraham Hall 206 and 336 (2nd and 3rd floor)
Address: 1155 Observatory Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Find it on the Campus Map here: https://map.wisc.edu/s/lt4bn5lt
2023 Conference Registration
No registration necessary. All welcome.
For in-person attendees: Please swipe your Wiscard or sign in with your name and email address on the paper form provided at the conference venue.
Questions about the conference should be directed to: tagsconference@rso.wisc.edu
Keynote speech:

Saturday, April 15, 2:00-3:30PM (CDT)
Ingraham Hall 206
Zoom Meeting ID: 981 4912 7544; Passcode: TAGS
Dr. Paul Vierthaler
Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies (and by courtesy Data Science)
College of William & Mary
Machine Learning and Imperial Chinese Source Material: The case of Jinpingmei
In this talk, Paul Vierthaler will introduce his recent work developing algorithms for automatically identifying source material in late imperials Chinese novels. He will discuss how he uses computational tools to study material appropriated by the pseudonymous author of the infamous 17th century Chinese novel Jinpingmei (Plum in the Golden Vase). This complex novel masterfully spins a highly salacious narrative out of older fictional, historical, poetic, and dramatic material. The multi-layered intertextuality within Jinpingmei makes it an ideal site of experimentation for developing and evaluating machine learning algorithms for source extraction. Vierthaler will use these experimentations as a starting point to talk about the promise of, and potential issues that come along with, using computational tools to better understand late imperial literary culture.

Conference Schedule
All times in Central Daylight Time (CDT or UTC-5:00)
Friday, April 14
1:45PM-3:15PM Panel 1A Embodying Identity / Panel 1B Society and Margins
3:30PM-5:00PM Panel 2A Culture/Counter Culture in Asia and Beyond / Panel 2B East and Southeast Asia in the 20th Century
Saturday, April 15
9:00AM-9:30AM Breakfast
9:30AM-11:00AM Panel 3A Sensuality and Sexuality / Panel 3B Memory and Resistance
11:15AM-12:45PM Panel 4A Family and Education / Panel 4B Transcendent Media
1:00PM-1:45PM Lunch
2:00PM-3:30PM Keynote Speech, Dr. Paul Vierthaler
3:45PM-5:15PM Panel 5A Language and Poetry in Asia / Panel 5B Transcending Borders
5:30PM-6:30PM Dinner
For panel descriptions and presentation titles, see tab content below (scroll down).
Panel 1A: Embodying Identity

Friday, April 14, 1:45PM-3:15PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 206
Zoom Meeting ID: 973 7274 0096; Passcode: TAGS
- “‘We are Chinese, and Chinese people do bother’: Making Meaning from Characterizations of the Chinese and Chineseness in Botan’s Letters from Thailand” — Hannah-Abigail Mosier, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Living with Chinese Identity in Thai Community: A Study of New Chinese migrants in Thailand” — Lishu Tang, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Bordering and De-bordering: Transcending Difference in Sichuan Province” — Mollie Gossage, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Absent Identity: Analysis of Repetitively Presented Non-Human Objects’ Metaphorical Meanings in Documentary of Asian Migrations” — Yishu Wu, Duke University
Discussant: John Tobin, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 1B: Society and Margins

Friday, April 14, 1:45PM-3:15PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 336
Zoom Meeting ID: 974 3161 7900; Passcode: TAGS
- “Translating for the Camera: The Voice in Pre-Cultural Revolution Documentary Films and Newsreels” — Tianyi Tina Liu, Duke, University
- “The Cinematic Burnout Society: Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day” — Karen Ren, McGill University
- “Reconstructing Prostitution in Japanese Colonies: Focusing on Karayuki-san and Simcheong” — Ruowei Wu, Duke University
- “Women at a Crossroads: Gender Dynamics among Urban-Urban Migrants in China” — Yali He-Schaefer, University of California-Los Angeles
Discussant: Qiuyue Lu, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 2A: Culture/Counter Culture in Asia and Beyond

Friday, April 14, 3:30PM-5:00PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 206
Zoom Meeting ID: 973 7274 0096; Passcode: TAGS
- “‘More Than Fantasies in the Clouds’: Articulations of the Cambodian Literary Imaginary and the (Re)negotiation of Postcolonial Modernity in Khun Srun’s The Accused” — Ben Rost, University of Washington
- “Asian Religions and Psychedelics in the 1960s American Counterculture” — Kyle Dougherty, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Redefining Shoujo: A Reclamation of Agency that Expands a Traditional Understanding of Gender” — Grace Najmulski, University of Iowa
- “Breaking and Broken Boundaries in Murakami Ryū’s Almost Transparent Blue” — Tzu-Lu Hung, University of Washington
Discussant: Mary Green, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 2B: East and Southeast Asia in the 20th century

Friday, April 14, 3:30PM-5:00PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 336
Zoom Meeting ID: 974 3161 7900; Passcode: TAGS
- “Legacy of the Flying Tigers: Covert Aerial Interventions in East and Southeast Asia during the Cold War” — Daniel Jackson, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Developing Asian Land, Reforming Asian Labor: Sino-Indian Friendship and Economic Exchange, 1949-1960” — Yasser Ali Nasser, University of Chicago
- “Documenting Cultural Specimens in Maoist China: Visuality and Materiality of Feng Jicai’s The Brick-carving Art of Tianjin” — Yuzhe Li, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka: Understanding Structural and Cultural Violence” — Krishnayan Das, Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India
Discussant: Lin Ye, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 3A: Sensuality and Sexuality

Satuday, April 15, 9:30AM-11:00AM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 206
Zoom Meeting ID: 981 4912 7544; Passcode: TAGS
- “Deviant Divinity: The Sacred and Sexual Female Figures of Tang Romance Literature” — Genevieve Jacobs, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Smelling Flowers, Wearing Scents: A Sensuous Form of Knowing” — Dishani Roy, Presidency University, Kolkata
- “Mainstreaming Sex Work as an Institution” — Jarken Gadi, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune
Discussant: Bidisha Mukherjee, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 3B: Memory and Resistance

Satuday, April 15, 9:30AM-11:00AM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 336
Zoom Meeting ID: 953 2196 5269; Passcode: TAGS
- “The Indigenous Binaries of Resistance in Postcolonial India” — Satkirti Sinha, DeMonfort University, Leicester
- “South Asia’s Second World War: Exploring the Legacies of World War II in Indian Memories Through the Memoirs of Benegal and Crasta” — Amitrajeet Mukherjee, University of Delhi
- “Institutionalized Infringement of Human Rights during South Korea’s Developmental Stage: A Historical Analysis of the 1960s and 1970s” — Yoon Walker, SOAS University of London
- “Recording and Imagining Wartime Xikang, A Han-Tibetan-Yi Frontier 1939-1946” — Hanzhi Dai, University of Edinburgh
Discussant: Shatrunjay Mall, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 4A: Family and Education

Saturday, April 15, 11:15AM-12:45PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 206
Zoom Meeting ID: 981 4912 7544; Passcode: TAGS
- “A Children’s Story Database for Readers of Tibetan: Applied Linguistics As Translation Methodology for Enhanced Readability” — Dirk Schmidt, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “‘Mothers’ in Fluidity: Chinese Maternal Care Workers’ Emotional Labor in the US” — Ruochen Cao, University of California-Los Angeles
- “History Education in Shanghai’s Secondary Schools in the 1950s” — Guanhua Tan, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
- “Does Affirmative Action Impact Inter-Generational Mobility? Evidence from India” — Manisha Jain, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Discussant: Jennifer Reynolds-Strange, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 4B: Transcendent Media

Satuday, April 15, 11:15AM-12:45PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 336
Zoom Meeting ID: 953 2196 5269; Passcode: TAGS
- “Being Chinese: Debates about the National and Racial Identity of Eileen Gu on Chinese Social Media” — Shiyi Zhang, University of Southern California
- “‘Positive Energy’ and Affective Spectatorship: the (Self-)Representation of Migrant Workers in Rented Room Short Videos” — Suchen Ding, Duke University
- “East Asia’s Influence on American Hip-Hop” — James Van Gilder, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Borderless VTubing” — Danni Xu, Duke University
Discussant: Luwei Wang, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Keynote speech:

Saturday, April 15, 2:00-3:30PM (CDT)
Ingraham Hall 206
Zoom Meeting ID: 981 4912 7544; Passcode: TAGS
Dr. Paul Vierthaler
Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies (and by courtesy Data Science)
College of William & Mary
Machine Learning and Imperial Chinese Source Material: The case of Jinpingmei
In this talk, Paul Vierthaler will introduce his recent work developing algorithms for automatically identifying source material in late imperials Chinese novels. He will discuss how he uses computational tools to study material appropriated by the pseudonymous author of the infamous 17th century Chinese novel Jinpingmei (Plum in the Golden Vase). This complex novel masterfully spins a highly salacious narrative out of older fictional, historical, poetic, and dramatic material. The multi-layered intertextuality within Jinpingmei makes it an ideal site of experimentation for developing and evaluating machine learning algorithms for source extraction. Vierthaler will use these experimentations as a starting point to talk about the promise of, and potential issues that come along with, using computational tools to better understand late imperial literary culture.
Panel 5A: Language and Poetry in Asia

Satuday, April 15, 3:45PM-5:15PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 206
Zoom Meeting ID: 981 4912 7544; Passcode: TAGS
- “Language Policy, Linguistic Violence, and Cultural Genocide in China” — Hadley Spadaccini, The Georgia Washington University
- “The World of Poetry in Trans-Asia: From Language to Metrics and Beyond” — Jihye Yun, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- “Clouds and Water: Buddhist Monastics’ Poetic Practices Beyond the Non-Establishment of Words” — Liting Wang, University of California-Los Angeles
Discussant: Maria Tsoy, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Panel 5B: Transcending Borders

Satuday, April 15, 3:45PM-5:15PM (CDT)
In-person: Ingraham 336
Zoom Meeting ID: 953 2196 5269; Passcode: TAGS
- “Maritime-Bandit or Maritime-Bounty? Lin Feng and the Ming Officials” — Calvin Lin, University of British Columbia
- “The Emergence and Digital Afterlife of Transboundary Haze in Southeast Asia” — Jing Hao Liong, Duke University
- “Tocqueville On/In China” — Wenjin Hannah Fang, Duke University
Discussant: Hyemin Park, University of Wisconsin-Madison



Related Events on the UW-Madison Campus
Thursday, April 13, 7:00PM
Shih-shan Susan Huang, Associate Professor at Rice University
UW-Madison Department of Art History Gombar/Dychak Lecture 2022-23
Conrad A. Elvehjem Building, Rm. L140
“The Dynamic Spread of Buddhist Print Culture: Mapping Book Roads under Mongol Rule”
Elite Uighurs active in China under Mongol rule in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries played a major role as middlemen spreading Buddhist print culture. The talk examines selected individuals as sponsors, users, and transmitters of Buddhist books
over long distances. It draws on Buddhist printed fragments excavated in Turfan, Xinjiang and an epigraphic source found in Quanzhou in southeast China. Taken together with the Mongol postal relay system, visualized in an online map using ArcGIS, the elite Uighurs’ vast network extending from China to the Uighur homeland in Central Asia can shed light on the dynamic spread of Buddhist print culture under Mongol rule.
Friday, April 14, 11:00AM-12:30PM
Shih-shan Susan Huang, Associate Professor at Rice University
Graduate Student Workshop (Lunch Provided)
Chazen Museum Conference Room
“Workshop Practice & Ritual Performance in Chinese Religious Art: Set Paintings Made in Ningbo in the 12th Century”
Guidance for the workshop:
Professor Huang has provided four articles. Participants can choose to read any of the four articles that she provided. The workshop will not discuss these articles one by one, but rather use them as sources of conversation to discuss the “workshop practice” and “art and ritual.” You can find articles through the link of the box folder here.
Friday, April 14, 12:00PM-1:30PM
Dr. Jonathan Z. S. Pollack, Madison Area Technical College
Center for Southeast Asian Studies – Friday Forum
Ingraham Hall
“Cost-cutting vs. Community: The Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching Southeast Asia at Madison Area Technical College”
Federal financial-aid programs have imposed increasingly strict guidelines for courses that are part of students’ academic programs and therefore aidable. Students at two-year colleges often need significant remediation in math, English, and science. As a result, courses in Southeast Asian history are defined as “non-program” courses for a growing number of students, and enrollments are falling as a result. Concurrently, the Madison area’s growing Hmong community is a natural audience for courses in the history and culture of this area. This talk will describe how UW—Madison and Madison Area Technical College can navigate these challenges to create more opportunities for education in Southeast Asia at the community-college level.
Saturday, April 15, 5:00-7:00PM
Thai Student Association (TSA), UW-Madison
Memorial Union – Multicultural Greek Council
Free entry & No need to sign up
“Songkran” (Thai New Year)
Conference Organizers
The Trans-Asia Graduate Student Conference is presented to you by the Trans-Asia Graduate Student Association (TAGSA).
Wisconsin Involvement Network: https://win.wisc.edu/actioncenter/organization/tagsa
Email: tagsconference@rso.wisc.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tagsconference/
Primary Contact, Chair
Mary Green (M.A. student, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures)
Second/Financial Contact
Tiantian Cai (PhD student, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures)
Committee Members (alphabetically)
Teresa Görtz (PhD candidate, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures)
Genevieve Jacobs (M.A. student, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures)
Bidisha Mukherjee (Ph.D. student, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures)
Nalin Sindhuprama (PhD student, Dept. of Anthropology)
Maria Tsoy (PhD candidate, Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures)