Upcoming Public Events
Presented or Co-sponsored by the USF Center
for the Pacific Rim
Unless otherwise stated, all events are free and open to the public. RSVP recommended for all events; if they are required, notice is made in the individual event notice. If reservations are not required, no seat guarantee is implied by your RSVP.
To receive email and/or postal mail notification of our upcoming events, sign up here. To RSVP call (415) 422-6828. For for more information call (415) 422-6357.
Thursday, December 11, 2008, 10:00 AM
USF Main Campus, McLaren Complex (NOTE that this is not our regular Fromm venue)
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
Ireland: Challenges and Opportunities in a Global Community
An Address by Mary McAleese, President of Ireland
 Women have been prime ministers and presidents in the greater Pacific Rim: in Pakistan, India, the Philippines, and Chile. Now the first Irish President born in Northern Ireland, Mary McAleese, won re-election for a second seven-year term. That's justice!
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the USF President's Office, the USF Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, USF University Ministry, the USF Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, the Asia Society Northern California, and the Commonwealth Club of California.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
Our Bay Area Trading Bridge to Asia
An Interview with R. Sean Randolph, President and CEO, Bay Area Council
Economic Institute
 Will the Bay Area remain relatively insulated from a recession? Dr. Randolph
thinks it might. Come hear why our trading bridge to Asia might save us during
the current economic crisis.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event
registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the USF School of Business and Management, USF Department of Economics.
Monday, November 3, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
A Discussion with Tamim Ansary
Author, West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story
 Tamim Ansary will discuss and sign copies of his book, West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story.
His memoir is this year's choice of the San Francisco Public Library and "One City One Book" partners.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event
registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Monday, October 27, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
Afghan Art and Artifacts
A visual presentation by Dr. Sanjyot Mehendale
 Dr. Sanjyot Mehendale, a UC Berkeley professor who has done archaeological fieldwork in Afghanistan and who is consulting at the Asian Art Museum on the exhibit "Afghan Hidden Treasures," will give a lecture and powerpoint presentation on the art.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Thursday, October 23, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
A Discussion with Dr. Jay Xu
Director of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum
 Dr. Jay Xu, the new director of San Francisco's Asian Art Museum, will discuss his present and future plans for the museum, which in his first year is hosting two majestic exhibits, one Chinese, one Afghan.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Friday, October 17, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
THE TAIWAN FILM FESTIVAL hosted by the USF Center for the Pacific Rim
The Gangster's God (2006,
Mandarin with English subtitles, 49 minutes)
 Reality show meets ethnographic eye! Every year during the Taidong Lantern Festival in eastern Taiwan, a group of men strip bare above the waist and stand on a sacred palanquin, allowing spectators to pound their bodies with bottle rockets. Those who take part in this ritual have always been shrouded in mystery, and rumored to be members of the gangster underworld. The documentary The Gangster's God enters the heart of these men's universe, recording their dramatic lives.
Director Ho Chao-Ti will
appear in person for a Q&A session.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center
for the Pacific Rim, will moderate the Q&A sessions. For a complete film
screening schedule, please visit the Festival website: http://2008tff.blogspot.com.
Presented by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco and the
Asia Society.
Thursday, October 16, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
THE TAIWAN FILM FESTIVAL hosted by the USF Center for the Pacific Rim
A Summer's Tail (2007, Mandarin with English
subtitles, 99 minutes)
 A beautifully rendered and charming coming-of-age tale,
Cheng's sixth film gently explores trials of the heart and coming to terms with
the larger world around us. Yvette (Enno Cheng) is a popular teen songwriter
living in a small town in southern Taiwan. Afflicted with a faint heart, she
slowly enters the romantic orbits of several people around her; the dreamy Jimmy,
an older school teacher Miss Xu, her best friend Wendy, and Akira, a Japanese
exchange student, all the while discovering how to live and love.
Director Cheng Wen-Tang will
appear in person for a Q&A session. Also, the film's lead actress, the singer Enno , will give a live musical performance .
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center
for the Pacific Rim, will moderate the Q&A sessions. For a complete film
screening schedule, please visit the Festival website: http://2008tff.blogspot.com.
Presented by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco and the
Asia Society.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker Street between Golden Gate & Fulton)
The California Academy of Sciences Transformed
A visual presentation by Greg Farrington, Ph.D., Executive Director, California Academy of Sciences
 Greg Farrington earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Harvard University, served 19 years at the University of Pennsylvania as Dean of Engineering and Applied Science, and was President of Lehigh University before he joined the California Academy of Sciences in June 2007. He now faces a rare opportunity: to help a beloved institution with a 155-year history reinvent itself from the ground up. The only institution in the world to combine a museum, aquarium, and planetarium, as well as research and education programs, the California Academy of Sciences is uniquely positioned to redefine the role of natural history museums in the 21st century. Farrington calls himself the Chief Penguin in the greenest building in the Pacific region, an emerald gem designed by prize-winning architect Renzo Piano that adds a masterpiece to our city's Golden Gate Park.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the USF Office of the Associate Dean for Sciences, the Mechanics' Institute, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Monday, October 6, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Lone Mountain Campus, Room 100
(2800 Turk Blvd. at Parker)
Julia Whitty
An interview and book signing with the author of The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific
 Julia
Whitty's first book, A Tortoise for the Queen of Tonga, launched a sensational
career. Where else could a reader meet a 200-year-old tortoise, a stalwart companion
to generations of Tongan queens? Now in The Fragile Edge Whitty paints a mesmerizing,
scientifically rich portrait of teeming coral reefs off French Polynesia that
matches in beauty the Broadway musical, South Pacific. Her songs are the courting
songs of, among other sea creatures, the humpback whale. She is also a filmmaker
and deep-sea diver who has produced 70 documentaries for PBS, National Geographic,
and the Discovery Channel. Her book makes clear the urgency of saving the world's
coral reef.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, the California Academy of
Sciences, the USF Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good,
and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for
Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Friday, October 3, 2008, 1:00 to 4:30 PM (Reception Follows)
USF Main Campus, McLaren Conference Center
(Golden Gate Avenue between Masonic & Parker)
The 2008 Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco Annual Lecture Series
Endangered Philippines Environment:
Risking Future Generations
An afternoon symposium
 This symposium will focus on the overall state of environmental endangerment
in the Philippines, cleaning up air and water pollution, and conserving natural
resources in the Coral Triangle in southeast Asia. It will feature excerpts from
recently released documentary films on toxicity and the endangered Coral Reef
and Coral Reef Triangle in the Philippines as well as a photo exhibit. The event
is intended to follow upon and celebrate the grand reopening of the new California
Academy of Sciences on September 27, 2008 in Golden Gate Park, which will feature
a major exhibit of the living Coral Reef in the Philippines.
For complete schedule
and speaker bios, please visit www.pacificrim.usfca.edu/philippines.html.
For other information call (415) 422-6357.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event
registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, the California Academy of
Sciences, Pusod Pilipinas, Inc., and the USF Maria Elena Yuchengco Philippine
Studies Program.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
6:00 Registration; 6:30
? 8:00 pm Program
Mechanics' Institute
57 Post Street, San Francisco
The Six Faces of Genji: Manga Versions of The
Tale of Genji
 Manga has permeated every aspect of Japanese life, teaching people to bank, new employees how to make estimates for sewer repairs, and even young mothers how to develop networking strategies. The Tale of Genji, a one-thousand-year-old Japanese literary classic, has had a strong influence on Japanese society as well, with representations appearing in everything from ancient scrolls to modern yen notes. A visually evocative story about an elegant, romantic hero par excellence and his progeny, The Tale of Genji has spawned over 20 manga versions?from instructional tomes for children to sh�jo girls, ladies comics, and gag introductory manga . Dr. Lynne K. Miyake of Pomona College will introduce several of these graphic novels, exploring their richness, their special vision, and their contemporary take on this beloved tale.
Dr.
Lynne K. Miyake is a professor of Japanese, Women's Studies, and Asian
American Studies at Pomona College. Dr. Miyake works in Heian prose narratives
dealing with issues of narration, gender, and cultural studies. She has published
articles (in Japanese and English) on the manga versions of The
Tale of Genji, the tale itself, and the impact of translation on the formulation
of the canon of Japanese literature in the U.S., among other topics. She also
is developing a book manuscript on the manga versions of The Tale
of Genji . Dr. Miyake received her B.A. from the University of Southern
California and her M.A. in Comparative Literature and Ph.D. in Japanese literature
from the University of California at Berkeley.
Free for Japan Society members and members of cosponsoring organizations; $5.00
Students;
$10.00 General Admission
Presented by the Japan Society of Northern California. Cosponsored by the Mechanics' Institute, USF Center for the Pacific Rim, and the UC Berkeley Insttitute of East Asian Studies.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker between Golden Gate & Fulton)
The Bonesetter's Daughter
Excerpts from and presentation by Stewart Wallace, Composer and Dr. Clifford
Cranna, Director of Music Administration at the San Francisco Opera
 This
world premiere of an American opera with roots in China is based on Amy Tan's
best-selling novel. The opera artfully integrates eastern and western cultures.
Set to music by Stewart Wallace, it is imbued with Chinese timbres and textures
that illuminate a story of a daughter uncovering her mother's past by encountering
her grandmother's ghost. Clifford Cranna is a 30 year award-winning
veteran of the San Francisco Opera. He will show a 10 minute documentary about
the opera and introduce the composer of The Bonesetter's Daughter, Stewart
Wallace, already
known here for his opera Harvey Milk. Wallace will discuss his music for The
Bonesetter's Daughter, the development of that opera, and will introduce
a singer and accompanist who will perform a selection from the opera.
Patrick Hatcher,
Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN
TO THE PUBLIC. Reservations recommended; call (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the San Francisco Opera, the USF Department of
Performing Arts, the Museum of Performance & Design, the Chinese Historical
Society of America, the Asia Society Northern California, the World Affairs Council
of Northern California, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded
by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Lone Mountain Campus, Room 100
(2800 Turk Boulevard between Masonic & Parker)
Anne Cherian
A talk with the author of A Good Indian Wife
 Born
and raised in Jamshedpur, India, Anne Cherian graduated from
Bombay and Bangalore Universities before coming to the U.S. where she earned
graduate degrees in journalism and literature from the University of California,
Berkeley. One reviewer of A Good Indian Wife wrote that she "appears
to be channeling Jane Austen in this wonderful novel" set in San Francisco and
India, and like Austen, "ever-so-gently challenges the reader's expectations
about the nature of romance and fidelity." The San Francisco Chronicle review
says she "knows her small cast of characters well," moving "with ease from office
parties to cafes to potlucks, deftly capturing the world of upwardly mobile immigrants,"
especially arranged-marriage couples. Come celebrate the publication of this
engaging first novel by a new talent!
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished
Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO
THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended.
Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the
Asia Society Northern California, the Mechanics' Insitute, USF?s MFA in Writing
Program, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama
Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Registration: 6:00 pm; Program: 6:30 pm ? 8:00 pm
San Francisco State University Downtown Campus
835 Market Street, 6 th Floor, Room #607
The Women of The Tale of Genji
 To commemorate the millennium anniversary of Murasaki Shikibu's literary classic, The
Tale of Genji, the Japan Society of Northern California is pleased
to present a series of events that celebrate this historic novel. Lecture events
will include a brief overview of the major themes in the work, so prior familiarity
with the story will be helpful but is not required to enjoy each presentation.
The series begins with a discussion of The Tale of Genji's
female characters and the significant roles they play in the story. Join Dr.
John Wallace of the University of California, Berkeley and cultural anthropologist
and author Dr. Liza Dalby as they examine the work, moderated by Dr. Ellen Susan
Peel of San Francisco State University. The panel of experts will consider the
position of women in Japanese society?their power as well as their limitations?during
the Heian period.
Dr. John R. Wallace teaches premodern Japanese language and literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Specializing in Heian period women's memoirs, Wallace is the author of Objects of Discourse: Memoirs by Women of Heian Japan. He is currently working on the poetry of Ono no Komachi and Ise as early precursors to the romantic persona constructed by Heian memoirists. He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University.
Dr. Liza Dalby has lived and studied in Japan periodically since her early teens. After earning her undergraduate degree at Swarthmore and graduate degree at Stanford in cultural anthropology, Dalby returned to Japan to research and complete her dissertation on the place of geisha in modern Japan. She is the author of several books including The Tale of Murasaki , a novel which chronicles life in Japan's golden age of high aesthetics as told through the voice of Lady Murasaki at the end of her life.
Dr.
Ellen Susan Peel is a professor in San Francisco State University's
Department of Comparative and World Literature. The author of Politics, Persuasion,
and Pragmatism: A Rhetoric of Feminist Utopian Fiction, she also has published
articles on teaching The Tale of Genji. Peel earned her undergraduate
degree at Harvard University and completed her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature
at Yale University.
$5.00 Japan Society members, members of cosponsoring organizations, and students; $10.00 General Admission
Seating is limited; advance registration is recommended to ensure a seat. To register, please visit the Japan Society of Northern California's website at www.usajapan.org or call 415-986-4383.
Presented by the Japan Society of Northern California. Cosponsored by the USF Center for the Pacific Rim and the UC Berkeley Insttitute of East Asian Studies.
Monday, September 8, 2008, 5:00 p.m.
USF Main Campus, McLaren Conference Center
(Golden Gate Avenue between Masonic & Parker)
The USF Center for the Pacific Rim,
the Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought,
and University Ministry present the Justice Lecture Series with
Greg Mortenson
Co-author of Three Cups of Tea and Director of the Central Asia Institute
 Three
Cups of Tea is a New York Times Best Seller for a good reason -
it is an inspirational read. While trying to climb K2, the world's deadliest
peak, Greg Mortenson received help from an impoverished Himalayan village. When
he left, he promised the native Pakistanis that he would return and build them
a school. Fifty-five schools later, he is a legend in the mountains of Afghanistan
and Pakistan. Against all odds he has built schools, especially for girls, in
the very region that gave birth to the Taliban and sanctuary to Al Qaeda. A real-life
Indiana Jones from Montana, he will tell you how he escaped kidnappers and fatwas
issued by enraged mullahs. Three Cups of Tea was Time Magazine?s
Asia Book of the Year in 2006 and won the 2007 Kiriyama Prize for non-fiction.
Patrick
Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the
Pacific Rim, will conduct the interview.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; for further
information call (415) 422-6357.No reservations, arrive early.
Cosponsored by the Office of the
President, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Law at the
University of San Francisco. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies
at USF.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker between Golden Gate & Fulton)
Fabulous Frida
An illustrated lecture by
John Zarobell,
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
 In her unique way Frida Kahlo is a treasure among Mexican painters.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, the Chinese HIstorical Association of America, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
Thursday, August 28, 2008, 5:45 PM
USF Main Campus, Fromm Hall
(Enter on Parker between Golden Gate & Fulton)
Ming Masterpieces
An illustrated lecture by Michael Knight, Senior Curator of Chinese Art, Asian Art Museum
 Eight years in the making, the Ming dynasty exhibit shows Chinese treasures seldom seen in the West.
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher, Ph.D., a Kiriyama Distinguished Fellow at the USF Center for the Pacific Rim, will moderate.
FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; reservations recommended. Please call our event registration line at (415) 422-6828.
Cosponsored by the Asia Society Northern California, the Chinese HIstorical Association of America, the World Affairs Council of Northern California, and the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning. Funded by the Kiriyama Chair for Pacific Rim Studies at USF.
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