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Two new factsheets on China’s global development model published

Over the past decade, China has seemingly exploded onto the international development scene. President Xi Jinping’s 2013 launch of the ‘Belt & Road Initiative’ heralded a newly assertive posture on China’s part, and since then there has been a lot of interest in what China is doing in places like Southeast Asia and Africa, what it means for a changing world political and babyÖ±²¥app order, and what it means for countries on the receiving end of China’s development projects and enhanced trade links. There has also been a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation regarding China’s increasingly prominent role on the global development stage.

Just when, for example, did China become a global development player? Was the Belt & Road really a departure from China’s previous foreign policies and practices? Does China mostly just build big infrastructures? Or is it involved in other kinds of development as well? How powerful is China in dictating the terms of its engagements with other countries? Is China creating a new alternative to the existing patterns of capitalist development? Or is it just the most recent power player within that existing system? Is there a distinct ‘China Model’ of global development?

Text, timeline  Description automatically generated with medium confidence , based at the Center for Asian Studies, has published two new factsheets aimed at answering these questions. The factsheets were developed in collaboration with the project, based at the University of Zurich, and the project, based at the Rachel Carson Center in Munich. They were written by an international team of 22 scholars who have been researching China’s development projects in Central and Southeast Asia for years. Contributors include CAS Interim Faculty Director Tim Oakes, former CAS postdoc Alessandro Rippa, and CU Geography alumni Jessica DiCarlo and Galen Murton.

The factsheets help readers understand that there are multiple versions of China’s development model and that the Belt & Road Initiative is just one part of a much larger set of practices that have a much longer history than just the previous decade. The contributors point out that China’s practices remain embedded within mainstream global development patterns rather than creating new conditions outside of these patterns. They also show how local governments and other stakeholders play a significant role in shaping these projects, and that China’s ability to do what it wants in these places is very limited.

Check them out here: and

Announcing a new certificate in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at CU Boulder

The Center for Asian Studies is excited to announce that CU Boulder students who are interested in learning about the Tibet and Himalayan region are now able to pursue a certificate in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies. Culturally and ethnically Tibetan areas constitute ¼ of the land area of the People’s Republic of China -- roughly the size of Western Europe -- as well as the country of Bhutan and parts of north India, Nepal, and Pakistan. As a focus of tension between the two Asian superpowers of India and China, this region is geopolitically crucial. The region is known as “the Third Pole'' and home to the headwaters of seven of Asia’s major rivers. It is a hotspot for global climate change, biodiversity and ecosystem services. 

CU Boulder is a leading center of research, teaching, and scholarship on Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, as well as environmental ciences, including climatology, hydrology, ecology, and geology.  Expertise on the region includes strong babyÖ±²¥app leadership in the departments of Anthropology, Geography, and Religious Studies and the Tibet Himalaya Initiative (THI), a multidisciplinary hub for research, teaching, and public engagement on Tibet and the greater Himalaya region housed within the Center for Asian Studies. The town of Boulder itself is a significant location in the history and spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the West.

Certificate Curriculum:

The certificate of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies requires 18 credit hours of coursework, of which 3 credit hours will be an introductory class, ASIA 1700 Introduction to Tibetan Civilization or ANTH 1105 Exploring a non-Western Culture: Tibet.  Students must complete 9 out of 18 hours at the upper division level, with a minimum of 12 credit hours taken on campus.  Students are welcome to use up to 6 transfer credit hours for either upper or lower division courses, including in language study and study abroad, and to petition for other electives to count for upper division credits. 

Spring 2023 Courses:

Students who are interested in the certificate should consider taking one or both of these upcoming spring 2023 courses:

ANTH 1105 Exploring a Non-Western Culture: Tibet: What is Tibet? Who are the Tibetans? This course will provide students with an in-depth anthropological introduction to Tibet and the Tibetan people. We will cover topics ranging from religion to politics, gender to human rights, guerrilla war against the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to the everyday lives of Tibetan peoples in the Himalayas. In addition to providing students with knowledge about Tibet, this class will also provide a brief introduction to cultural anthropology that will prepare students for future coursework in anthropology. 

ASIA 1700 Introduction to Tibetan Civilization: Explores the dynamic history of Tibet from its early empire to the present. Offers interdisciplinary perspectives on Tibetan civilization, including arts and literature, religion and politics, society and culture. 

ASIA 4700 Tibetan Literature and Culture: This course focuses on Tibetan literary writings, mostly secular, from the 12th to the 20th century. The course will familiarize students with the cultural, intellectual, and historical movements that contributed to the development of Tibetan literary tradition.  

RLST 4250: Buddhist Literature in Tibet: Tibet has a vast literary heritage in which Buddhist texts hold a prominent place. In creating this literature, Tibetan authors adopted a number of Buddhist models from India and also integrated Buddhist concerns into indigenous Tibetan oral styles. This course takes a thematic approach to the study of Buddhist literature in Tibet, and this semester we will pay special attention to the interplay between literary style and doctrinal content in several genres: songs of experience (nyams mgur), advice literature (zhal gdams), and tantric liturgies (sgrub thabs). Throughout the course, we think critically about rhetorical strategies, genre conventions, and ways of reading Buddhist literature in Tibet.
 Language courses:

Students interested in Tibet and Himalaya Studies have the opportunity to pursue study in four languages that are spoken in the region: Tibetan (TBTN), Nepali (NEPL), Hindi/Urdu (HIND), and Mandarin (CHIN). 

If you are interested in pursuing this certificate or have any questions you can reach out to Asian Studies program director Dr. Lauren Collins (collinlk@colorado.edu) or teaching assistant professor Dr. Tenzin Tsepak (tenzin.tsepak@colorado.edu).

Announcing a new Southeast Asian Studies track for Asian Studies majors

We are excited to announce that CU Boulder students who are interested in learning about Southeast Asia are now able to specialize in Southeast Asian studies through the newly approved Southeast Asia track for Asian Studies majors.

Southeast Asia is one of the most geostrategically and babyÖ±²¥appally important regions in the world. Not only is it home to Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, but it is also home to one of the world’s busiest and most important shipping lanes—the Straits of Malacca— and home to a rich diversity of people, religion, culture, geography, and history. The 11 countries of Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) have a total population of over 660 million and a combined GDP in 2020 of over $3.1 trillion.

Students who specialize in the Southeast Asia track will:

• Gain understanding of the immense cultural, religious, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of Southeast Asia, as well as knowledge of how such diversity has been shaped by a long history of exchange and interaction with communities and cultures within/beyond the region.
• Assess and appreciate how histories of imperialism, decolonization, nationalism, and war have shaped the contours of Southeast Asian history over the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Obtain familiarity with a wide range of issues facing contemporary Southeast Asian societies, including current debates around themes of social inequality, gender/sexuality, faith, human rights, democracy, urbanization, cultural heritage, etc.

Students who are interested in learning more about Southeast Asia should also consider two unique study abroad opportunities available this summer and fall.

Global Seminar: Primates of Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Cat Tien, Da Nang, Vietnam) – A 3 week babyÖ±²¥app led study abroad program in summer 2023. Interested students can learn more at the ANTH Global Seminars Info Session on October 12th at 4:30 PM in Hale 450 (Library).

Spend a semester studying at Gadjah Mada University (UGM)  in Yogyakarta, Indonesia – CU Boulder students can spend a semester taking courses in English at Gadjah Mada University, one of the highest-ranked universities in Indonesia, on a direct exchange program.
 
If you are interested in pursuing or learning more about the Southeast Asian Studies track in the Asian Studies major, you can reach out to babyÖ±²¥app director Dr. Lauren Collins (collinlk@colorado.edu) or academic advisor Christine Luft (christine.luft@colorado.edu)

Finding Beauty in Data: Exploring the Indian Subcontinent Through Climate Research

By Berkley Larson

Over the summer I had the opportunity to work on an incredibly exciting project to gather climate data on the Indian subcontinent to be made available to the scientific community. I have always had a deep love for the environment, spending all of my free time in the mountains or exploring whatever small corner of nature I could find near home. As soon as I realized my love for statistics and data, I knew that it was important for me to apply this to one of the greatest projects our society has been tasked with: exploring climate and the impact humans have had on it. The research being done throughout the Indian subcontinent is fascinating and there is so much we can learn from it. Throughout this experience I was able to gain so many valuable insights through observing and gathering data from academics based around the world. The science being done to determine environmental changes is mind boggling, and I found so much beauty in seeing how much can be learned from something as simple as a tree trunk or lake sediment. I am thrilled to have been a part of this project and can’t wait to see the impact that it will have. 

Berkley Larson is a junior majoring in Quantitative Finance. Participation in this research project was funded by the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Grant at CU Boulder.

Virtual Shakuhachi Research Made Possible by Seidensticker Grant

The Center for Asian Studies offers support for summer research or language study to graduate students working on Japan through the Edward G. Seidensticker Japan Summer Research Grant. Brandon Stover was a 2022 grant recipient and reports on his activities below. Applications for summer 2023 will be due on February 20, 2023.

I am studying how the Japanese shakuhachi flute is taught and disseminated online. I want to see what changes teachers have made in order to teach online (as opposed to in-person) as well as what such changes might be doing to the tradition. I also hope to look more specifically at how timbre and the idea of timbre is taught online.  Timbre is the different characteristics of sound that help us distinguish one sound from another. The shakuhachi is an instrument which makes broad use of different timbral sounds and colors, therefore, how these ideas are taught online is important for the future of the tradition. 

I began the summer taking lessons with Shawn Head. Shawn is an American-born shakuhachi performer and teacher who currently lives in Japan. He has cultivated a community of shakuhachi players and enthusiasts on Discord and through my grant-funded lessons, I was introduced to this community. I was able to attend several virtual masterclasses as well as perform for the group (albeit only half of a piece because I had to watch my then seven month old). 

I next took several lessons from Riley Lee, who is located in Australia. Riley has been teaching and performing for many years and is considered one of the best shakuhachi players outside of Japan. With Riley, I worked on a piece of music that I had learned from Shawn (Sanya - Mountain Valley) to see the differences in the way Riley taught online. My lessons were on Skype, so I was also able to see differences between the platforms. I was fortunate to be able to take an in-person lesson with Riley when he visited babyÖ±²¥app in June and learn a piece of music he composed for the shakuhachi (Fumai Inga - Without Ignoring Causation). 

Lastly, I took lessons with Kaoru Kakizakai, located in Japan. With Kaoru, I also learned a piece I learned from Shawn (Honshirabe - First piece). I was able to learn Tamuke (Hands Folded Together), one of the most well-known shakuhachi pieces and I performed it for a church service in early July. 

Thanks to the grant, I was able to take all these wonderful lessons and learn 7 different pieces of music. I also recorded each of my lessons and have been working to transcribe them. This data will be important in my research on the transmission of timbre. I found that different teachers use slightly different techniques. Often, the teachers resort to verbal or visual cues, holding their shakuhachi up close to the camera, in order to convey techniques used when trying to alter the timbre of the instrument. 

Shawn relies heavily on pre-recorded YouTube videos to help his students learn a piece of music. After the student becomes proficient enough with the notes, he is able to guide them in making it musical (through adjustments to timbre and dynamics). Kaoru relies heavily on practicing Robuki, playing the lowest note on the instrument for long periods of time. Through this technique, students can develop their sound without having to work on playing right or wrong notes or even changing fingerings. Riley uses repetition and mindfulness to help guide students toward an acceptable timbre and musicality. He asks his students to play the part again, this time holding in mind a certain part of the performance (maybe it is holding steady pitch, or volume, etc.). My main teacher, Justin Williams, also uses mindfulness to guide students. 

I plan to continue this research over the next few years as I write my PhD dissertation. I would like to say thank you again for the opportunity to study online timbre transmission and Shakuhachi.