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The Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) is excited
to welcome new and returning students and faculty at the start
of Autumn Quarter for AY 2026-2027!
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ABOUT CEAS
The Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) serves as an interdisciplinary nexus, clearinghouse, and resource for the study of East Asia, engaging students, educators, scholars, and the general public. CEAS supports three active committees - the Committee on Chinese Studies, the Committee on Japanese Studies, and the Committee on Korean Studies - that sponsor events and workshops, provide grants and fellowships to UChicago students, and coordinate area-related programming. In sum, CEAS supports academic activities, research, library acquisitions, outreach, and public events to promote greater understanding of China, Japan, and Korea.
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CEAS EVENTS
From lectures to workshops, conferences, film series, cultural events, performing arts, and other programs,
CEAS-sponsored events continue to be FREE and open to the public.
Registration to attend all events is REQUIRED.
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“OBON”: STAGED READING OF
A WORK-IN-PROGRESS BY YU MIRI
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On Monday, September 21st, a full house at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, attended a staged reading of a work-in-progress entitled, "OBON," by acclaimed playwright and novelist, Yū Miri.
Based on oral history interviews that Yū and collaborator Michael Bourdaghs (Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, The University of Chicago) have carried out with approximately fifty members of Chicago’s Japanese American community, the play brought together a cast of nine, including both professional actors and community member interviewees, to reimagine the multi-generational history of a Japanese American Chicago, including the 20,000 persons who moved to the city from wartime incarceration camps and their descendants, as well as more recent arrivals from Japan and elsewhere.
Related events of "OBON," included additional readings at Theater Wit, and an event at DePaul University that included a reading by Yū Miri from her novel End of August, a performance of one scene from "OBON," and a roundtable discussion of Yū's work.
| This program was co-sponsored with the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights, and the Division of Arts and Humanities at the University of Chicago. | | | |
CEAS SPOTLIGHT LECTURE SERIES
(formerly the CEAS Lecture Series)
This initiative provides students, faculty, and members of the community an opportunity to interact with academics who are at the forefront of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Studies. The series invites distinguished scholars who present a topic that showcases their latest research and draws upon their expertise in the field.
The lineup for this year's CEAS Spotlight Lecture Series includes:
TINA LU
Colonel John Trumbell Professor of East Asian Languages & Literatures
Yale University
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
5 PM US Central Time
MIRYAM SAS
Professor of Comparative Literature and Film and Media
University of California, Berkeley
Thursday, February 25, 2027
5 PM US Central Time
ROSS KING
Professor of Korean Language and Literature
University of British Columbia
Thursday, May 6, 2027
5 PM US Central Time
AMY BOROVOY
Professor of Japanese Anthropology
Princeton University
Thursday, May 13, 2027
5 PM US Central Time
RUTH BARRACLOUGH
Korean Foundation Associate Professor of Modern Korean History
Columbia University
Spring Quarter
ISABELLA WEBER
Associate Professor
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Spring Quarter
Read more about this year's lectures by clicking here!
This series is presented in partnership with the
University of Chicago Library.
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CEAS is excited to continue BOOK GIVEAWAYS where current UChicago students can score a FREE copy of the author's book!
*Giveaways Now Open*
Check out details on the registration page for each talk!
UPCOMING TALKS
JONATHAN CHENG
China Bureau Chief
Wall Street Journal
Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots
of North Korea's Personality Cult
Discussant: Bruce Cumings (University of Chicago)
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
4:00 PM US Central Time
JULIA ALEKSEYEVA
Assistant Professor of English and Cinema and Media Studies
University of Pennsylvania
Antifascism and the Avant-Garde: Radical Documentary in the 1960s
Discussant: Yoonbin Cho (University of Chicago)
Tuesday, October 15, 2026
12:00 PM US Central Time
JAMES LIN
Associate Professor of International Studies and History
University of Washington, Seattle
In the Global Vanguard: Agrarian Development
and the Making of Modern Taiwan
Discussant: Johanna Ransmeier (University of Chicago)
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
5:00 PM US Central Time
Read more about this year's book talks by clicking here!
This series is presented in partnership with the
Seminary Co-op Bookstores.
*Please note that additional book talks may be scheduled for the fall quarter at a later time.
Check out the CEAS website for updates!
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Asia, 'Area,' and the End of Pax Americana
Rey Chow
Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor
in the Humanities
Duke University
Thursday, October 8th
5:00 PM US Central Time
Cobb Hall
5811 S. Ellis Avenue, Room 307
Click here to register.
The explicit ties of knowledge production to geopolitics have led some scholars to argue that Asian Studies in the United States is and must be American Studies. Whether we agree with this claim or not, what seems undeniable is that to study and write about Asia in North America, one finds oneself in a contentious system of value judgment that amounts to an ever-present, if intangible, affective economy. This is an economy in which external happenings such as wars, territorial disputes, and inequitable transnational conflicts have been metabolized over time in such ways as to have become perceptions, aspirations, shared assumptions, and self-reflections, which in turn find their circulation in interpersonal exchanges, stories, and rumors as well as in various types of idealization, glorification, and envy. Just as comparative literature, area studies’ counterpart in the literary humanities, has been making efforts to transform itself into a culturally inclusive discipline by going beyond Western Europe, so would it seem that area studies, too, needs an overhaul into a viable collective intellectual project. Can this be done?
This event is co-sponsored with the Critical Inquiry at the University of Chicago.
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SYMPOSIUM
OCTOBER 24th | 9:50 AM - 5 PM US Central Time
IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL
To attend IN-PERSON, click here and select the appropriate date.
To attend VIRTUALY, click here.
VENUE: Cochrane Woods Art Center
(5540 S. Greenwood Avenue, Room 157)
WORKSHOP
OCTOBER 25th | 10 AM – 4 PM US Central Time
IN-PERSON ONLY
To attend, click here and select the appropriate date.
VENUE: Center for East Asian Studies
(1155 E. 60th Street, Room 319)
*PLEASE NOTE THAT THE SUNDAY WORKSHOP WILL BE CONDUCTED
IN JAPANESE*
Join the Center for East Asian Studies for a symposium and a workshop featuring TAKAHASHI Akinori. He is Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Arts and Letters at Tōhoku University in Sendai, Japan. A specialist in the intellectual and cultural history of early modern Japan, he has published widely on topics including kyōka (comic 'crazy poems'), regional intellectual history, and the possibilities for new kinds of scholarly archives. He is the author of Edo no tenkinzoku: Daikansho tedai no sekai (The Itinerants of Edo: The World of the Local Magistrate Clerk; Heibonsha, 2007).
These events are co-sponsored with the Kim-Park Program for the Study of the Book at the University of Chicago Library, with generous support provided by the Ume Fund.
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CelloGayageum
Cello
Sol Daniel Kim
Gayageum
Dayoung Yoon
Sunday, November 8th
3 PM US Central Time
Logan Center
Performance Hall
(915 E. 60th Street)
Click here for tickets.
Founded by Austrian cellist Sol Daniel Kim and Korean gayageum virtuoso Dayoung Yoon, CelloGayageum bridges the soulful depth of Western classical music with the mesmerizing elegance of Korean gug-ak (traditional music). Their original compositions—rooted in Korean folk melodies and infused with global sensibilities—will take audiences on a journey across continents, cultures, and centuries.
This event is co-sponsored with UChicago Presents.
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20TH TETSUO NAJITA
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE IN JAPANESE STUDIES
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The CEAS Committee on Japanese Studies at the University of Chicago is pleased to announce that Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies Emeritus at Cornell University, Naoki Sakai, will deliver the 20th Annual Tetsuo Najita Distinguished Lecture in Japanese Studies.
This series was launched in 2007 by the CEAS Committee on Japanese Studies to honor the legacy of Tetsuo Najita, Robert S. Ingersoll Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of History and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and his contribution to the university during his long career.
Click here for more information.
| | | | Please note that the above-mentioned events are NOT a comprehensive listing of all upcoming events. Be sure to check out our WEBSITE and view our Upcoming Events section to see additional forthcoming events and relevant updates! |
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UNIVERSE OF LANGUAGES
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
2:00 - 4:00 pm CST
Cobb Qudrangle
ACADEMIC OPPORTUNITIES FAIR
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
3:00 - 6:00 pm CST
Main Quad
Learn more here!
ENGAGEMENT EXPO
(formerly Students Activities and Resource Fair)
Friday, October 2, 2026
3:00 - 5:00 pm CST
Main Quad
Learn more here!
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UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LIBRARY
East Asian Collection Orientation
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CEAS FILM LIBRARY
CEAS maintains an extensive East Asian Film Library available to students, faculty, and staff at the University FOR FREE. The collection includes approximately 8,000 films, including historical films, documentaries, television series, and contemporary cinema from China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
The CEAS Film Library is open for browsing and borrowing by appointment only. For more information on borrowing and/or returning films, please click HERE.
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STUDENT GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS
Each year, CEAS accepts applications from UChicago undergraduate and graduate students for various grants and fellowships in Chinese, Japanese and Korean studies. These awards support language study, pre-dissertation and dissertation research, and professional training related to East Asian Studies. Additionally, we offer conference travel grants to graduate students for expenses related to travel to present a paper at a conference and copy editing grants for graduate students preparing manuscript and final dissertation submissions.
Click HERE to learn more about the many funding opportunities CEAS offers and application deadlines.
SOCIAL MEDIA
While the CEAS WEBSITE provides important information and resources for those interested in East Asian studies, be sure to visit our other social media channels including
TWITTER (X) and FACEBOOK where we provide important
updates and reminders on events and news!
Visit the official CEAS YOUTUBE channel where you can view any events that you may have missed!
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UChicago CEAS Awards
2026 CEAS M.A. Thesis Prize in Japan Studies
The University of Chicago Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) sponsors an annual prize of $250 awarded for the best University of Chicago M.A. theses dealing with topics related to Japan.
CEAS is pleased to announce Yike Ren (MAPH) and Brennan Chang (MAPSS) as this year's winners.
Read more here.
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We are always interested in supporting students and faculty
with the resources that our Center has to offer.
See who to contact depending on your inquiry!
Abbey Newman
grants and fellowships, and outreach initiatives
Connie Yip
CEAS events and social media
Myra Su
film library
Hyeonjin Schubert
payments and reimbursements
The CEAS team looks forward to another fruitful year of activities, programs, and collaborations with faculty, students, and the community!
Michael Bourdaghs, Interim Director
Abbey Newman, Associate Director
Connie Yip, Assistant Director, Programming
Myra Su, Outreach Coordinator
Hyeonjin Schubert, Center Administrator
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