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ASA-JAAS
ASA-JAAS Delegate Report 2002
Conclusion
I want to end by, once again, thanking all those who made this trip as personally memorable and intellectually engaging as it certainly was for me. First, Professors Masako Notoji, Masako Iino, and Noaki Onishi of the Japanese Association of American Studies were the perfect hosts and organizers of this event, and the giving of their time and effort to make all of us feel welcome was truly phenomenal. All throughout the visit, individual faculty took of their time to make us feel welcome, and I especially want to thank Professors Julie Higashi and Masahiro Nakano of Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Professor Chizuru Ushida of Suzuka International University, and our traveling companions Professors Young Choi and Sangjun Jeong from Korea.
The personnel of the U.S. Embassies in Korea and Japan went beyond their call of duty to make this trip run smoothly and to share with me their own personal stories and expertise, starting with Richard Huckaby and Janina de Guzman in Korea, and especially Warren Soiffer in Japan. The Directors and Assistants of various American Centers in Japan were especially warm and helpful to me, including Max Kwak, Donna Welton, Maki Tagaya, Bruce Kleiner, and Ken Moskowitz, as well as Yoshitsugu Nakamura in Tokyo. I must truly thank the various translators throughout the trip who did their jobs with astonishing expertise, especially Masayuki Tominaga. And the trip would have been much less fulfilling had it not been for a number of cultural advisors, media specialists, and program assistants that shared with me parts of their country through their own eyes, especially Kyung Chung in Seoul, Yasuo Satake in Osaka, and Masayuki Miyauchi in Fukuoka.
My own academic life has been committed to intercultural exchange between peoples of different backgrounds and experiences. The JAAS-ASA exchange is truly an exemplary program in this regard at all levels, leading to lifetime change and profound international collaborations between participants. I know that my own scholarly life has been changed by this exchange, and I hope that I have had a similar effect on some that I have encountered in Korea and Japan. I will continue to work at more effective international collaborations in the future in various professional organizations in the United States, and hope to launch a few research projects that will require cross-national dialogue and exchange. I hope that this project continues to have this kind of an effect on participants on both sides of the Pacific for some time to come.
REPORT OF ASA DELEGATE TO THE JAPANESE ASSOCIATION FOR AMERICAN STUDIES CONFERENCE
Joshua Brown
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
I am pleased to submit this report of my trip to Japan as a member of the American Studies Association’s delegation to the Japanese Association for American Studies 2002 annual conference. I was in Japan from May 30 to June 11, 2002, during which time I visited Tokyo, Kyoto, and Sapporo (and, as a side trip, the town of Ito) and delivered four lectures on new media and visual culture issues to academic and public audiences.
The sudden offer to participate in this trip at the 2001 ASA conference came at a complicated moment, shortly after September 11 and new obligations in New York that stemmed from that event. But the conference theme of “Technology and Society” gave me the unusual opportunity to merge scholarly and professional issues involving the production of contentful digital technology that had been long troubling me and that I believe need to be more fully addressed in the field of American Studies. The chance to discuss such issues in a technologically advanced country like Japan, which is also so distinctive for its strong visual tradition, was impossible to pass up.
I would like to express by deep thanks to the Japan-American Friendship Commission, the Japanese Association for American Studies, the American Studies Association, and the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Japan for this unique opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with Japanese scholars and students and to observe and experience the rich cultural, social and intellectual life of their country. This was an unforgettable trip that provided me with a new perspective about my own work as a scholar and new media producer; moreover, it is my fervent hope that opportunities for future collaborations may grow out of the many conversations and presentations in which I participated and learned so much.
In particular, I want to thank Professors Masako Notoji, Masako Iino, and Naoki Onishi who coordinated my stay with such care and generosity and provided continuous help and advice. I also want to thank them for extending their welcome to my wife, Julie Joslyn, who accompanied me on this trip. Professors Yoshikatsu Hiyashi and Kazuto Oshio graciously assisted me in preparing for my JAAS presentation even before I arrived in Japan. I also would like to thank Professors Julie Higashi and Masahiro Nakano, as well as Ritsumeikan University Chancellor and President Toyo Omi Nagata, all of whom made our Kyoto visit both pleasurable and edifying (and special thanks to Prof. Higashi for meeting with me in New York). And I am grateful to Hokkaido University Vice President Shoichi Fujita and Director of International Relations Osamu Kawahara for their welcome to their campus; Ms. Eiko Tsuchida for her eloquent and insightful commentary; and Mr. Warren Soiffer, Program Development Officer of the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section, Ms. Maki Tagaya, Public Affairs Program Assistant of the Sapporo American Consulate General, and Mr. Yoshitsugu Nakamura and Mr. Masayuki Tominaga of the Public Affairs Section for handling the complicated arrangements, assisting in my presentation, and making our Sapporo visit an unusually rich experience. Finally, I must thank the ASA’s Stephen Sumida and John Stephens, and my fellow delegates George Sanchez and Jane Desmond whose companionship and commentary were always enjoyable, comradely, and enlightening.
SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES
Wednesday, May 29
My wife Julie and I departed from JFK at 11:50 AM on the recently inaugurated American Airlines nonstop flight to Japan.
Thursday, May 30
We arrived at Narita International Airport at 2:30 PM and, following Masako Iino’s meticulous instructions, took an airport bus to Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station, where we switched to a taxi to the Tokyo Garden Palace Hotel in the Ochanomizo district. Prof. Iino (Tsuda College, Tokyo) was waiting for us in the hotel lobby and, after depositing our luggage in our room, we took the first of our many walks to the venue for the JAAS conference at Meiji University. (Situating the delegates at a hotel that was only a short stroll to the conference was a wonderful arrangement that allowed us to become familiar with and comfortable in that bustling part of Tokyo while also greatly easing the necessarily frequent travel to and from the proceedings.) This was only the first of many occasions where our Japanese colleagues generously accommodated us. Knowing that I was concerned about the complicated and potentially troublesome technical requirements for my presentation, which not only relied on always fallible Internet connections but also a digital projection system, and learning that access to the equipment before the conference was limited, Prof. Iino and Prof. Kazuto Oshio (the moderator of my session) arranged with Prof. Yoshikatsu Hiyashi, who was coordinating the Meiji conference, to have me test the equipment that very evening. Prof. Hiyashi introduced me to Meiji’s technical support staff, who instructed me on how to gain access and operate the impressively elaborate digital presentation kiosk that I would need for my talk three days later. With their help, I was only momentarily disoriented by the Japanese characters on the monitor and quickly adjusted to the otherwise familiar layout of an Internet Explorer Web browser, not to mention touch-screen controls for room lights, projection screen, etc. (It was a very impressive setup.) As anyone knows who has negotiated the hazards of a computer-based class or talk, it is always wise to check the arrangements beforehand, and knowing the technical details for my JAAS session so early was unusual and very welcome. With that resolved, we went back to the hotel where we finally met fellow delegate Jane Desmond. Prof. Iino gave us our cash per diem, went over our respective itineraries, and took us to dinner at the hotel restaurant.
Friday, May 31
Thanks to our jet lag, Julie and I awoke at 4:30. Since we were awake and, as we soon discovered, the sun rises very early in Japan, we decided to go for a brisk run around the largely deserted Ochanomizu area (an ideal way to scope out the neighborhood (and locate that ubiquitous and reliable city institution, the all-night food shop). After our exercise, we dressed and, following our Frommer’s guide and a detailed map of Tokyo we’d purchased in New York, took the subway to the Tsukiji fish market where, amidst the brilliant colors of every sort of sea animal and plant, we had a delicious sushi breakfast. From there, we took the subway to Ginzu district to visit the renowned Itoya store to purchase art supplies and stationery (and order hong ko (carved seals—for our sons). Then we returned to the subway (by this time, we were exceedingly comfortable using the system, which is completely navigable thanks to consistent and clear signage in both Japanese and Roman characters) and traveled to the Hama Rikyu Garden along the Sumida River. Having carefully studied our Frommer’s beforehand, Julie had conceived an ideal if indirect way for us to head back to our hotel, by taking a boat from the Garden up the river to the Asakusa district. Even under an incessant sun, it was a rejuvenating trip, allowing us some respite from the city’s energetic streets and providing an equally rejuvenating view of the riverside. As we passed beneath the low bridges that cross the Sumida I was impressed by the ways that even new waterfront buildings provide residents access to the river, with numerous stairways leading down to gardened walkways that run parallel to the water (an urban shoreline designed for maximal pedestrian use. We disembarked at Nakamisedori in Asakusa and walked through the long crowded pathway, bracketed by cluttered stalls and shops, to the Sensoji Temple, our first encounter with the fascinating juxtaposition of the secular and sacred that seems to characterize the venues of urban temples and shrines. We then taxied back to the hotel to briefly rest before the scheduled international reception scheduled for the early evening.
Since Julie and I had already negotiated the trip from the hotel to Meiji University, we had agreed to reconnoiter with our fellow delegates in the hotel lobby to guide them on the short but circuitous route. In addition to Jane, we now met the two Korean guest delegates to the JAAS conference: Prof. Young Choi (Department of English Language and Literature at Ewha Women’s University in Seoul and president of the Korean American Studies Association) and Prof. Sangjun Jeong (Department of English at Seoul National University). We made it through the exuberant crush of Meiji students (reminiscent of the equally crowded urban campuses of the City University of New York) to the International Reception at the top of the University’s Liberty Tower. With a spectacular view of Tokyo as a backdrop, I was pleased to finally meet in person my JAAS e-mail correspondents of the last few months, in particular Prof. Masako Notoji (University of Tokyo) and Prof. Naoki Onishi. I finally caught up there with American Studies Association President George Sanchez and met another long-term correspondent, Mr. Warren Soiffer of the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy. I was also surprised and delighted to discover that I had long ago made the acquaintance of two longtime JAAS leaders. Meeting Prof. Tatsuro Nomura (American Studies and American History, Aichi Gakuin University), I learned that he had co-translated the work of the late distinguished labor historian Herbert Gutman, who founded the American Social History Project, which I now direct; I soon realized that at Herb’s request Prof. Nomura and I had corresponded some fifteen years earlier and that I had provided the archival illustrations for one of his translated books and drawn the cover art for another. I was also pleased to see again after some fifteen years Toyo Omi Nagata, JAAS vice president and chancellor and president of Ritsumeikan University, who had worked closely with Herb Gutman and ASHP. Warmed by this reunion, by the conversations with my new Japanese colleagues, as well as the gracious introductions, remarks, and toasts that filled the evening (closing with a decorous green tea ceremony (we ended the long day and headed back to our hotel.
Saturday, June 1
Julie and I spent the morning digesting another fascinating Tokyo cultural juxtaposition. We first visited the lavishly designed and densely wooded Meiji Jingu Shrine, spending some time in the (in early June still not fully in-bloom) Iris Garden and the thickly carped fishing pond. The idyllic nature of these wonderfully manicured and maintained grounds ended abruptly in the adjacent youth-oriented Harajuku area, exemplified by the Omotesando Dori (also known, as occasional street signs declared, as the Champs Elysees) lined by designer-name store after designer-name store and populated by phalanxes of young Japanese dressed in the latest fashions.
We returned to the hotel and then Jane and I went over to the JAAS conference to hear George’s keynote address, “Race and Immigration in Changing Communities of the U.S.“ As in the other sessions I attended at the conference, I was impressed by the engagement of the audience (as well as struck by the size of the attendance. Perhaps it was in part due to the fact that the audience was provided with the transcript of George’s talk, which they read along with his recitation (the sound of hundreds of pages being turned in unison accenting many of George’s observations), but the ensuing discussion was particularly acute, addressing questions about sources and interpretation that far exceeded the rigor that I’ve witnessed in other international, multi-lingual conferences.
After the keynote, George and I met my wife, who had been investigating the many music and musical instrument shops adjacent to the Meiji campus. Aware that we had to return in a relatively short time to attend the conference’s general reception that evening, we decided to explore the nearby Akihabara district, also known as “Electric Town,“ Tokyo’s focal point for consumer electronics. I consider myself fairly well-informed about the latest electronic equipment, but the plethora of sophisticated miniaturized digital gadgetry and programs (some of which I had never seen and some of which I couldn’t figure out—not to mention the avalanche of adolescent and post-adolescent males who flooded the streets and establishments under the flashing neon along the main Cho Dori, was like nothing I had ever experienced before.
The evening general reception was a wonderful event with a sumptuous offering of delicious food and further opportunity to meet Japanese colleagues as well as a number of Americans attending the conference (including members of the Organization of American Historians’ delegation). I was particularly pleased to see Prof. Julie Higashi, one of our hosts at Ritsumeikan University (we had previously met in New York), and to be introduced by Prof. Yoshiko Takita (American Studies and Comparative Literature, University of Tokyo) to Eiko Tsuchida, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago who had been a graduate assistant to my friend Andor Skotnes during his visit to the University of Tokyo as a Fulbright scholar, and who was to comment on my presentation at Hokkaido University later in the trip.
Sunday, June 2
The day began with my conference session devoted to “Technology and Society.“ The breadth of the theme accommodated a range of perspectives and orientations among the three presenters. My paper considered my own intellectual and pedagogical engagement with new media and issues of content, user access and intervention that date back to the mid-19th century; the second paper by Takehiko Hashimoto (University of Tokyo), on “The Legacy of Efficiency: Standardization and American Society in the 19th and 20th Centuries,“ applied an engineer’s perspective to a persistent (but in the end transitional) technological challenge; and the third by Yoneyuki Sugita (Osaka University of Foreign Studies), on “Information Technology and Modern Scientific Thought in American Healthcare,“ questioned the “revolutionary” impact of new media on the practice of medicine.
My presentation, “From the Illustrated Newspaper to Cyberspace: Visual Technologies and Interaction in the 19th and 21st Centuries,“ thanks to our earlier foray to Meiji University, went off smoothly. Since I knew the room lights would have to be lowered and window shades drawn, I had brought a portable light with me to illuminate my reading (prompted by the wise advice supplied in Michele Bogart’s 2000 report on her JAAS trip). Although the three papers’ subjects, perspectives and orientations varied greatly, moderator Prof. Kazuto Oshio (History, Japan Women’s University) skillfully directed the follow up discussion to locate the common theme of critically assessing the social and political forces underlying the design and application of technologies. The questions directed to me insightfully touched on seminal issues of authenticity, authorship, and professional ethics that digitalization have brought back to center stage without providing any easy answers. I was particularly impressed by questions about the gendered assumptions behind commercial new media programming (particularly in 3-D narrative games (a format we are trying to twist toward critical and contentful purposes in The Lost Museum, our digital reconstruction of P. T. Barnum’s 19th-century American Museum)—and the ways my colleagues and I might transcend these market-based boundaries.
After a refreshing Bento Box lunch, I attended the third English-language session on “Citizenship and Participation,“ which included Jane Desmond’s “Performativity and the Limits to Citizenship: Performing Sexuality In the Public Sphere” and our Korean colleague Sangjun Jeong’s “Consumption Communities and Consumer Citizenship.“ The eclectic group of papers and dialogue among the session presenters gave me (as a non-Japanese speaker) a useful insight into the range of outstanding scholarship that is being done in the field of American Studies in Japan and Korea. Although, because of the number of papers included in the session, each speaker had to cut her or his respective presentation and the discussion part was consequently short, the distributed copies of the session papers allowed me to later delve into the full argument of each scholar.
We closed the day and our participation in the JAAS conference with a fun “all you can eat” meal at a Chinese Restaurant near Meiji University with Profs. Iino, Notoji, and Noishi and our Korean colleagues. Thanks to Jane’s careful planning, we were able to wrest the bill from our hosts. It was a welcome chance to socialize with our wonderful Japanese colleagues who, by this time, we all considered our fast friends.
Monday, June 3
Early the next morning, Julie and I traveled to George’s hotel where the three of us were picked up by an American Embassy van for a briefing by the Public Affairs Section. At the Embassy, Warren Soiffer gave us useful instructions about the intricacies of consecutive oral translation from English to Japanese and George and I had the opportunity to meet with Masayuki Tominaga, who would serve as our translator (in my case, later in Sapporo), and provide him with copies of the papers that he would have to contend with. We were then taken to Shinjuku Station where we met up with Jane, and Profs. Choi and Jeong to catch the bullet train to Kyoto.
During the ride I finally had a chance to talk at length with fellow delegate Sangjun Jeong and learn more about his scholarship and teaching in Korea. We discussed his study of E. L. Doctorow’s novel The Book of Daniel and how ethnicity and class figured in the Rosenbergs’ case, along the way also drawing comparisons between the roles of Jewish and Korean fathers in fact and fiction. It was an absorbing conversation that I hope was as informative for Prof. Jeong as it was for me.
We arrived in Kyoto and taxied to the ANA Hotel located right across from the Nijo Castle. After dropping off our bags, we walked over to the Castle. After being waylaid by a group of Japanese students looking for English-speaking visitors to interview for a class assignment, we walked through the formidable principal buildings (to the tune of the chirping nightingale floors designed to warn the shogun of approaching assassins (noting the intricate and magnificently preserved painted screens and surrounding gardens. Despite the heat and intense sun (we were later informed that Kyoto, like Tokyo, was experiencing an unusually warm June, staving off the rainy season), we decided to make our way by subway to the celebrated Handicraft Center, along the way stopping to view the brilliantly orange Heian Shrine.
That evening our Kyoto hosts Prof. Julie Higashi (International Education, Ritsumeikan University) and Prof. Masahiro Nakano (American Studies and Geography, and Director of the Center for American Studies at “Rits”) treated us to a traditional Japanese multi-course meal at a lovely restaurant near the university. Among the many subjects discussed was the distinctive animation art of Japan, Anime, and Prof. Higashi helped me discern the significance of the plots of a number of films I had viewed before my trip. She recommended several historically based animes that present critical views of wartime Japanese society, which I have subsequently watched.
Tuesday, June 4
The next day Prof. Nakano took us on a tour of several of Kyoto’s most beautiful sites. The morning was devoted to visiting the magnificent Kiyomizu Temple perched in the hills overlooking the city. Prof. Nakano instructed us on the procedures and meanings of the many charms and fortunes sold and displayed about the temple grounds, and we ascended and descended the steepled, bucolic landscape, sidestepping the extraordinary crowds of uniformed school children. After a refreshing lunch at a traditional noodle restaurant, we visited the Ryoanji Temple, traversing its arbored walks, and resting for a while in the shade of the temple steps facing the tranquil geometric perfection of its famous Zen rock garden. All of us deeply appreciated Prof. Nakano’s generosity in taking the time to take us on such a journey, as well as his efficiency in getting us to Ritsumeikan University later that afternoon in time to check our respective e-mails and freshen up before attending the graduate American Studies seminar we had been invited to address.
The seminar offered George, Jane and me a signal opportunity to talk with Japanese American Studies students. As usual, I was the one speaker who also had to contend with the exigencies of an Internet-based presentation. Our hosts had arranged a digital projector and laptop for my use, but in this case there were problems that seemingly stemmed from the server housed at the City University of New York Graduate Center: I later learned that the GC experienced repeated blackouts during my Japanese visit, inadvertently complicating my talks. Luckily, due to the many mishaps I have experienced in doing such presentations, I had brought my own laptop computer that had The Lost Museum Web site installed on it and I was able to easily attach it to the projector. I only go on at length about this minor inconvenience to note the importance for future delegates (among whom I hope will be other American Studies scholars engaged in new media work (to prepare a number of alternative means to carry out their presentations, whether they are back-up computers or CD-ROMs. In any case, our respective talks went well and, in my case, I was asked salient questions about the history of museums in the United States and the differences between the cabinet-of-curiosities pastiche of mid-nineteenth century institutions like Barnum’s American Museum and the elite, hierarchical museums, exemplified by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the end of the century.
While George and Jane remained to continue talking with the seminar students, Julie Higashi whisked our two Korean colleagues, Julie and me off to a waiting car to meet Chancellor Nagata at a resplendent and extremely old restaurant along the Kamo River, a rendezvous that the chancellor had arranged upon his return from the JAAS conference (Chancellor Nagata had also worked previously with Prof. Jeong). It was a unforgettably ceremonious meal, served by the restaurant’s owner and staff dressed in traditional kimonos, highlighted by one course comprising a fish native to Kyoto that was considered inedible until an elaborate technique was devised to successfully remove its needlelike bones. During the meal, we had a lively and enlightening discussion about the academic cultures of our respective countries before Chancellor Nagata left to catch a bullet train to Tokyo.
We had agreed beforehand to rendezvous with George and Jane back at our hotel for a final drink before our group dispersed the next day (Jane, Julie, and I were staying in Kyoto, but George and Profs. Choi and Jeong were leaving the next morning). The World Cup game slightly delayed our gathering (since Korea was playing), but we did meet and exchanged numbers and addresses and also congratulated our Korean friends on the victory of their team. Traveling with the Korean delegates was an unexpected bonus for the American delegates, giving Jane and me (George had attended the Korean American Studies Association conference the week before) the opportunity to get to know and talk with other Asian American Studies scholars. The JAAS’s decision to include Korean scholars in this exchange was a valuable and farsighted effort that we greatly appreciated and hope will be a continuing feature of the yearly conference.
Wednesday, June 5
The next day was unscheduled, allowing Julie and me to explore Kyoto. We went for a run in the morning, stopping an Internet café that had been recommended by the hotel, and then browsed in a Manga shop (the popular Japanese comic books that, like anime, involve an aesthetic and narrative structure strikingly different from its American counterpart). After freshening up back at our hotel, we walked to the Kyoto Museum. Although we could only decipher some of the exhibition captions, we were able to get a general sense of the history of the city, conveyed in a range of technically sophisticated and beautifully designed displays (including dioramas that combined miniature reconstructions with holographic re-enactments). From edification we easily transferred to consumerism, visiting the Sanjo shopping arcade and, in particular, the Jejugia music store where we purchased CDs of Japanese Taiko music. Continuing through the crowded Kawaramachi Street, past a stunning array of stores, we finally investigated the Takashimaya department store, mesmerized especially by the displays of food and peripatetic shoppers.
We rendezvoused with Jane that evening and first had drinks on the hotel’s rooftop “il Bar,“ catching up on our various explorations and also talking about Jane’s work on the International Forum for U.S. Studies, particularly her recent visits to South Africa (where I did some collaborative work in the 1980s). Then we repaired to a nearby yakitori-ya to savor the grilled foods and experience the close but comfortable quarters of a neighborhood “pub.“
Thursday, June 6
The next morning Julie and I rose at 4:45 to catch a bus to Osaka Itami Airport for our flight to Sapporo where I was scheduled to deliver a public lecture at Hokkaido University under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy. Ms. Maki Tagaya, Program Assistant for the Sapporo U.S. Consulate General Public Affairs Section, who did a magnificent job coordinating our visit, picked us up at Chitose Airport. After stopping at the Renaissance Sapporo Hotel to leave our bags and reconnoiter with Mr. Soiffer, we arrived at Hokkaido University and went directly to the venue for my lecture. The large conference hall was well equipped with a crystal-clear digital projector and Internet hookup, but once again problems in New York complicated the arrangements; however, by this time I was an old hand at alternatives, and I quickly set up my laptop containing my presentation. Mr. Soiffer, Ms. Tagaya, Julie, and I were then escorted by Hokkaido Vice President Shoichi Fujita and Director of International Relations Osamu Kawahara to lunch at the faculty center conference room; along the way, as we walked past buildings reminiscent of a New England college campus, Prof. Fujita explained the history of Hokkaido and its connection to Amherst College. Our lunch conversation moved from Hokkaido’s history to a number of topics about Japanese culture and society, including changing patterns of child rearing and the changeable nature of the Japanese counting systems.
After introductions by Vice President Fujita and Mr. Soiffer, I presented my paper, “The Lost Museum: Reconstructing a 19th-Century Experience in the Digital Age,“ which was consecutively translated by the Embassy’s astounding Masayuki Tominaga. As I had been warned, translation into Japanese greatly extended the length of my presentation (the 30-minute paper stretched to 90 minutes) and required careful attention to pacing, but Mr. Tominaga and I consulted beforehand about where I would make breaks for his translation and, although long, the presentation seemed to go well. The paper discussed the American Social History Project’s Web-based re-creation of a 19th century museum, considering the challenges of digitally resurrecting antebellum and Civil-War era U.S. history and the opportunities, hazards, and ethics of such work. The comments by Eiko Tsuchida (Lecturer, Institute of Language and Culture Studies, Hokkaido), who also served as the session moderator, were delivered both in English and Japanese and brilliantly caught the essence of the problem underlying this digital project: how to be true to an experience in the past and yet provide present-day “visitors” with a critical historical perspective. The following questions from the audience, which due the high quality of the questions was more like a discussion, was one of the best interchanges I have had on the question of new media and content. Thanks to Mr. Tominaga’s precise simultaneous translation, I was able to follow the various issues raised by audience members that touched on questions about the fate of actual museums in the digital age, opportunities and problems that the Web provides present-day artists, and the pedagogical conundrum of providing students with access to heretofore unavailable information or artifacts while possibly sacrificing their ability to discern between actuality and artifice. After my talk, I was able to briefly talk to Prof. Noyuri Mima (Media Architecture, School of Systems Information Science, Future University-Hokodate) and Prof. Yuri Nishihori (English, Institute of Language and Culture Studies, Hokkaido); Prof. Mima’s involvement in new media pedagogy and Prof. Nishihori on the Hokkaido University Museum linked to themes in my presentation as well as the ongoing work of the American Social History Project in New York, which I invited them to visit so that we might extend and elaborate on this exchange.
Our evening, thanks to Mr. Soiffer, was spent at the Jumbo yakatori-ya in the Susukuo district, which had come highly recommended by the Asian Wall Street Journal. Its proprietor regaled us with his amazing collection of CDs and delicious cooking and generous drinks.
Friday, June 7
Our free day in Sapporo was spent taking advantage of the running path along the Toyohira River and walking around the city (which was a bit more frenetic and populated by tourists than usual thanks to that evening’s impending World Cup match between Argentina and England in Sapporo. We did make the acquaintance of British soccer enthusiasts (it was hard to avoid them (at the Kirin beer garden, but made it out of the city before the much feared match. Our flight back to Tokyo was uneventful and, following Masako Notoji’s detailed instructions (which she faxed to us in Sapporo) we made our way from Haneda Airport and checked in to the Komaba Eminence Hotel in Shibuya.
Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9
Previous to our trip, my wife had made arrangements for us to stay in a traditional Japanese inn (calling from New York) during our weekend break between presentations. We left Saturday morning by JR train to Ito, a hot springs spa on the Izu peninsula coast. Getting out of the major cities gave us a chance to experience a different side of Japanese culture. Our stay at the Ryokan Inaba was tranquil and, frankly, therapeutic, including memorable meals, comfortable nonwestern accommodations, and soothing sojourns in hot springs.
Monday, June 10
Julie and I spent the day locating a spectacularly fashionable Internet café in the Shibuya section of Tokyo, shopping for presents, and returning to the Meiji Jingu Shrine to see if the irises were now in full bloom (they were, surrounded by innumerable photographers and painters).
Early in the evening we met Prof. Notoji at the train station outside the University of Tokyo Komaba campus (a short distance from our hotel) and she escorted us to the venue where I would deliver a talk to an American Studies seminar. Before the session began, Prof. Notoji kindly showed me a videotape demonstration of a prototype Web site called Crosscurrents. This extremely accessible project composed of a wealth of multimedia resources, careful captioning, and contextual presentations (in both English and Japanese (offers students a comparative profile of U.S. and Japanese culture and society. It struck me immediately as a valuable and instructive international project (addressing, among other aspects, the current admirable effort to internationalize both U.S. American Studies and U.S. history, as well as, especially for American students, a much-needed sophisticated and informative international perspective (and I was equally engaged by its interface and design. As I expressed to Prof. Notoji, I would be pleased to help out in any way to help further this most-worthy project.
I then delivered my talk, “Fractured Views: 19th-Century New York City in the Pictorial Press, 1865-1877,“ to a group of Komaba undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. Once again, as in all my presentations in Japan, I was provided with a great digital set up and, this time, the New York connection came through as well. My paper discusses the ways the city was visualized in Gilded Age illustrated newspapers and how the exigencies of the city’s development, the unique nature of the production of the illustrations (engravings before the invention of the half-tone), and the intervention of readers changed the nature of representation. It is a demanding argument, in part because it touches on so many aspects of city life in the past, and the participants’ understanding, and capacity to critically address archival images impressed me. The discussion ranged from questions about the origins of pictorial racial and ethnic stereotypes to the ways that pictorial conventions convey ideas and confirm beliefs, and thanks to the participants’ citing analogous Japanese examples (the seminal Japanese animation character, Astroboy, being one salient example (I learned a great deal myself.
Thanks to Prof. Notoji, this was a wonderful way to conclude our visit, made all the more so by our subsequent meal at a spacious yakatori-ya in the rollicking Shibuya district. The accompanying conversation with Prof. Notoji, Hiroshi Okayama (a lecturer in the Department of Area Studies in Komaba), and Erika Sunada (a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University) ranged over contrasting and comparable academic, cultural and intellectual issues in the U.S. and Japan. Only the late hour forced a conclusion and, with pleasure mixed with regret, we parted.
Tuesday, June 11
After our last brisk morning run in Japan, we took the bus from Shinjuku Station to Narita Airport for our return flight to the U.S.
SUGGESTIONS
In closing, I would like to offer a few suggestions that might frame future exchanges. The first is simply practical, but I found such “helpful hints” in previous delegate reports extremely useful. Assuming that there will be future delegates who will use the World Wide Web or other digital technology as part of their JAAS presentations, I want to reiterate the importance of coming to Japan with a number of alternatives should something go wrong on the technical side. I want to emphasize that my own difficulties were all caused by server problems in New York; the technical arrangements at all my Japanese venues were impeccable and undoubtedly the result of our hosts’ conscientious efforts. Aside from bringing along small flashlights or a portable light to read by, I recommend bringing along CDs with the needed programming and materials (in fact, two CDs (one compatible with PC, one with Mac) and also a laptop containing the programming and materials. It is, of course, also advisable to check your set up before the event.
I will not elaborate about taking into account the length of consecutive translation from English into Japanese (previous delegate reports have made useful recommendations. But I think it is safe to say that all of the ASA delegates found they had to cut their original presentations and future delegates might opt for drafting shorter versions of their standard papers.
Finally, I also want to reiterate the importance of future exchanges that involve the presentation and discussion of new media projects. Such projects, at least potentially, can stretch the boundaries of traditional scholarship and creatively address crucial issues of pedagogy, perception, research, and presentation. This work will only become more critical over time. I believe the ASA and JAAS can play an important role in promoting an international dialogue (and perhaps collaborations (that could help shape the production and practice of outstanding digital educational and intellectual materials. My conversations with colleagues in Japan and the astute questions and observations of the various audiences I encountered suggest that U.S.-Japanese interaction in this area would be particularly valuable.
REPORT ON MAY 30-JUNE 12, 2002 TRIP TO JAPAN
August 15, 2002
Jane Desmond
Associate Professor of American Studies
Co-director, International Forum for U.S. Studies
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52246
In every regard, my trip to Japan exceeded my expectations. Although I have traveled abroad extensively and worked closely with colleagues outside the U.S. since co-founding the International Forum for U.S. Studies in 1995, I had never traveled to Japan, and my contact with Japanese colleagues had been very limited. I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to be exposed to the American Studies community in Japan, and to meet both formally and informally with colleagues. I have a better sense of the intellectual contours of the Japanese scholarly community now, and a better grasp both of the history of American Studies in Japan, and the current issues and debates that animate scholarship there. I also have a greater sense of the impediments that limit exchange between American and Japanese specialists on the U.S., and ways that I might assist in increasing access to each other’s work in the future.
First, I must publicly thank my all-wonderful hosts, especially those who coordinated the whole trip, Prof Iino, Prof. Onishi, and Prof. Notoji. All were involved both in the careful planning that preceded my visit, and in behind-the-scenes arrangements during the trip itself. Professor Masako Iino was my main contact, and a special thank you both for her thoughtful hosting and her welcoming presence, as well as her intellectual stimulation is needed. Indeed, at every event, our Japanese colleagues were eager to help, concerned for our comfort, our ease of travel and communication, and to connect with our special scholarly interests. They truly went out of their way, despite their own busy schedules, to enhance every aspect of our travel. I eagerly look forward to the opportunity to return to Japan and to the possibility of developing collaborative research with colleagues there. One of the strongest outcomes for me personally is the sense of enthusiasm I now have for pursuing further work with colleagues in and from Japan.
Below I sketch the activities of the trip:
Professor Masako Iino hosted Josh Brown, his wife Julie, and myself for dinner at our hotel the day we arrived. I especially appreciated the translation of the Japanese Association for American Studies (JAAS) conference program that she had made, so I could see the full range of topics.
Attending and participating in the JAAS conference at Meiji University in Tokyo was certainly a highlight of the trip. A special reception for all the international visitors gave me the opportunity to talk to many Japanese scholars, especially some distinguished members of the founding generation of JAAS. The following day I attended the plenary session where the JAAS and U.S. American Studies Association presidents were scheduled to speak. Due to illness Dr. Kensaburo Shinkawa was unable to participate, but more than 200 people attended Dr. Sanchez’s address.
While the rest of the American visitors took a break after that address, I chose to stay for the next plenary session, which was devoted to America in the post-September 11th, period. One of Prof. Iino’s students translated for me during that fascinating and illuminating discussion.
Sunday was a full conference day, with a lively morning session on Technology and Society in which my colleague Josh Brown presented, and a luxurious hour for discussion following the panel allowed the audience to really explore the issues. In the afternoon, I presented my paper “Performativity and the Limits to Citizenship: Performing Sexuality in the Public Sphere,“ as part of the panel on “Citizenship and Participation,“ which also included excellent papers by Sangjun Jeong, Hisae Orui, and Juri Abe. I especially appreciated having received these papers in English in advance, and admired the way the Chair of the session, Prof. Kubo, managed to pull the multi-disciplinary strands together to help generate a lively discussion after. This panel was very well attended, with about 70 people in the audience if my memory serves me correctly. Since I was presenting work from a brand new project on Gay political protests, I greatly appreciated the audience’s engagement and stimulating remarks.
While the rest of the American group left after the session, I was invited to attend the Gender Studies working group for which my colleague Rui Kohiyama, (whom I knew from her time in residence as a Fellow at the International Forum), translated. The discussion, by a group of 20 men and women, focused on pedagogy. I was glad to get this glimpse of gender studies in Japan, since it is one of my own specialty areas.
As I reflect on the conference, I realize that in addition to the sessions I attended and participated in, it was those events that I specifically received translation for that remain among the strongest memories—the 9/11 plenary, and the gender studies group. I would suggest having students accompany guests to similar events and asking them to give brief translations of the key points in discussions as they unfold. I had experienced this once before, in 2001 at the Russian American Studies Association meetings in Moscow, which were held almost exclusively in Russian, and it worked extremely well.
After a great deal of insistence, our U.S. group was finally able to host our Japanese hosts and our Korean colleagues for a final thank-you meal at the end of the conference. A lively discussion of trends in higher education in the three countries was a centerpiece of the evening, which was also accompanied by a lot of laughter and picture taking.
The next three days, (June 3,4,5) were spent in Kyoto. Tuesday featured the seminar for graduate students in the Kyoto area held at Ritsumeikan University and very ably organized by Prof. Julie Higashi. I gave a paper on “Transnational American Studies,“ exploring the possibilities and impediments to collaborative work across national borders. I especially enjoyed the opportunity at the reception following the talk to meet with graduate students and hear about their work.
That evening Prof. Sanchez and I joined Prof. Nakano for a very traditional dinner at a wonderful restaurant. Prof. Nakano had been our very conscientious host all day, including a visit to a temple, and tasty noodle lunch, and now a very special dinner. I appreciated the time for a more intimate gathering, and the time to hear more about Prof. Nakano’s own work, since he had already heard about ours.
The next day I returned to Tokyo on my own, without a hitch thanks to the many phone calls and faxes from Profs. Iino and Notoji, who wanted to make sure the train and taxi rides went smoothly since I do not speak or read Japanese. Friday was a free day for me, and I was very pleased to be able to attend a live Kabuki performance, thanks to Prof. Iino getting my ticket in advance, and to one of her students for escorting me through the maze of subways with perfect aplomb. As a specialist in performance, the Kabuki show was a personal highlight of my time visiting. After the show I joined Prof. Iino and her husband for a lovely dinner in the heart of Ginza. This gave us time to talk informally about scholarship in Japan, and about my idea of having Japanese delegates travel to the International Forum for U.S. Studies following their attendance at the U.S. American Studies meetings. I will pursue this idea with Warren Soiffer of the American Embassy in Japan.
I spent the weekend in Yokohama with my friend and colleague Prof. Rui Kohiyama, who took me to a Buddhist pet cemetery, at my request, as part of my work on the death and display. We also visited a nearby temple where we watched traditional archery practice. I am grateful to Dr. Kohiyama for finding such places and events that were of special interest to me because of my work. In addition, the time spent together informally gave us an opportunity for extended discussion about American Studies in Japan, especially regarding issues related to the translation of American texts into Japanese and of Japanese scholarship into English. The issue of translation is a crucial one if American scholars, few of whom speak Japanese, are to become more familiar with the work of our Japanese colleagues. I will explore some ideas in the future for ways that the International Forum might assist in making Japanese work more accessible to U.S. scholars and students. Just making the table of contents of the JAAS journal (already in English) more widely available might facilitate American colleague’s exploration of that work and ultimately the inclusion of such work on their syllabi for courses.
My final two days in Japan are among my favorite. On Monday June 10, Professor Kohiyama hosted my guest lecture at Tokyo Women’s Christian University on “Performance Studies and/as American and Gender Studies.“ A large group attended. I knew many of the undergraduate students would be struggling with such a long address in English, and spoke slowly. Dr. Kohiyama then did an excellent and very extensive resume of the main points of the talk in Japanese, which prepared the way for a very lively discussion period. Lunch afterward allowed for more informal conversation, and the day included a visit to the women’s studies center on campus, where I was able to find out more about their programming in women’s studies.
Tuesday followed a similar format, when I visited Tsuda College, hosted by Professor Masako Iino. For her graduate seminar, I delivered the “Performance Studies And/As American Studies” paper, and enjoyed a good discussion with students during the question and answer period. This was followed by a lunch for students and faculty, which gave me a wonderful opportunity to talk to a dozen graduate students about their interests. While we ate, the students took turns occupying the seat next to me, and we had one-on-one discussions about their intellectual interests. This was great fun, and useful for me too as it gave me more insight into the Japanese educational system, especially those issues that the next generation will be engaged with. I would have been happy to do even more of this type of informal discussion and mentoring with graduate students. This group was interesting and energetic, and so obviously excited by the program they are a part of.
Following this reception, I visited a class meeting of the course “Space and Place in America,“ taught by visiting Fulbrighter John Howard. This also gave me a chance to see Japanese students in action, highly excited by their work. At my request, Professor Iino and I then took an hour ourselves for one-on-one conversation so I could become more acquainted with her scholarly work on immigration, and to discuss a bit more the International Forum for U.S. Studies. The close of the day was a relaxed meeting over tea with three of Professor Iino’s advanced graduate students. Like the time at lunch, but in a more intimate setting that allowed for less rushed conversation, I really enjoyed the opportunity to meet these young scholars, to advise them informally, and to hear more about their future plans. I would have been very happy to spend more time like this during the whole visit, not instead of any of the scheduled activities, but in addition to them. These young people represent an exciting generation of scholars-in-the-making, and are clearly a credit to the excellent mentoring they are receiving from their professors.
REPORTS OF THE JAAS GRADUATE STUDENT DELEGATES TO THE HOUSTON CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION IN 2002
Erika Sunada
(Smith College/Hitotsubashi University)
The annual conference of American Studies Association was held in Houston Texas, from November 14 to 17, 2002. This was the first time for me to attend an academic conference in the United States and I leaned a lot from the experience.
I enjoyed choosing and attending a variety panels and listening to different papers. Kristen Hoganson’s paper, presented in “Kitchens, Chapels, and Prada: Consumer Spaces and Global Exchange,“ was particularly interesting. It was titled “Kitchens as Crossroads: The Popular Geography of Food, 1865-1920” and discussed the significance of cookbooks and recipes printed in women’s magazines and food advertisements in the newspapers during this period. By explaining how people came to know about the exotic foods and cuisines from all over the world, Hoganson analyzed how the foreign foods introduced to American table were “domesticated” by women. This domestication often reflected American understanding of and prejudice toward “foreign” or less civilized countries. The introduction and process of domestication, in turn, influenced how women in America imagined the world as well as how they understood America on the world map.
In the same panel discussed above, Carolyn Thomas de la Pena gave a paper that analyzed the Prada shop in SOHO in New York. She showed how fancy and innovative interior of the Prada shop represented the brand’s concept of “global citizenship.“ Even though the subject does not seem academically serious enough for a conference paper, her paper was a fascinating research on consumer culture and cultural studies. It was very impressive and refreshing to know that something like a Prada shop could be studied in such a manner.
Several Japanese scholars’ papers were interesting, too. I especially liked Tsuyoshi Ishihara’s “Juvenile Delinquents or Democratic Heroes?“ He discussed the Japanese translations of Mark Twain’s Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer in the postwar period. Using visual materials, Mr. Ishihara explained how the translations were controlled by and also reflected the social reality of Japan during that period. I thought it was a unique and innovative way of looking at one of the most popular American literatures in Japan.
I also went to a panel that focused on more practical issues. On Friday morning, there was a panel titled “Academic Job interview in American Studies.“ I decided to go to this session because I am interested in how graduate students plan and prepare for getting jobs in America. Some professors, including Amy Kaplan, who would become the president of ASA in 2003, were on the panel and were giving students practical information. The audience was about fifty people, mostly young, and they actively asked questions. The panel seemed very helpful, and it was good to see senior scholars encouraging younger scholars in such a way.
The presidential address delivered by President Stephen Sumida on the Friday evening was interesting. He spent a lot of time discussing international American Studies and encouraged U.S. scholars of American Studies to exchange their academic opinions with non-US scholars. Following the address, a dance party was held in the hotel. The party gave me a good chance to talk to other scholars.
I also enjoyed the book exhibit. I had seen book exhibits at Japanese conferences, but the one at ASA conference was very large, and many publishing companies were displaying a lot of books on American Studies. They were sold at discount, too, and I decided to buy some.
Although I enjoyed going to different panels, I was also disappointed because too many interesting panels were going on at the same time, and it was impossible to attend everything I wanted to go. I thought the panel could have been organized better so that the audience could go and see more of what they want.
Overall, I was impressed to see many differences from Japanese conferences and was able to learn a lot about how a conference can be organized as well as about many recent issues in American Studies. I am very thankful for this opportunity.
Masako Nakamura
Asian American Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
With the support of American Studies Association (ASA) and Japanese Association of American Studies (JAAS), I was given this great opportunity to attend the annual meeting of ASA, “The Local and the Global” and “Seventh Conference of Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage—-Redefining ‘Nuestra America’: A Transnational Perspective on the Local and the Global,“ held in Houston, Texas, in November14-17, 2002. I attended the conference during November 15-17 and the three days of the conference were very fruitful. As a Japanese graduate student who studies about the United States in the United States, I have been inspired and stimulated intellectually and culturally in many ways through the conference. It gave me an opportunity to gain a better understanding what the United States is and what the Americans are and to reaffirm the significance to learn about both local and global issues on the United States from a comparative or transnational perspective.
What I have learned through the conference was fourfold. First of all, the conference intellectually inspired me. Some of the sessions I went to were “California Youthscapes: Criminalization, Deportation & Resistance,“ “Cultural Politics of Multiculturalism (roundtable),“ and “A Long Road Back: Japanese Americans in Postwar America” on November 15 and a part of “Narratives of the Pacific/Pacific Narratives” on November 17. In “California” session, two papers focused on gang culture of Chicano youth in California and one paper discussed Chicana/o youth activists and rap music. I have read about youth and gang culture among Asian Americans but I have never learned about Chicana/o youth culture and I found the session interesting in comparison with Asian American youth culture.
In “Cultural Politics” session, five panelists critically discussed President Bush’s policy on multiculturalism after September 11, 2001, from diverse perspectives: some discussed from a perspective of Afghan Americans, African Americans, and Chicana/o, and others focused on media representation of MTV, and philosophical issue. Each of their papers was interesting but I found many of the papers too broad in its focus. I also wondered what the roundtable would be like if the roundtable had some perspectives of Asian Americans, Native Americans, and homosexual people and discussed more local issues.
In the “A Long Road Back” session, three papers discussed a part of post-Japanese American experience, which showed us how a new direction of Japanese American study is shifting from pre-war experience, internment during World War II, and redress movement. Besides these sessions, I also visited other sessions and they amazed me by the diversity of the topics and multi-disciplinary approaches to the topics. I have learned the dynamics and flexibility of American Studies that has kept redefining what the United
States is and what the Americans are by offering a fresh perspective.
Secondly, not only learning from the panels but also seeing how the conference was operated and organized helped me to understand an aspect of what the United States is and what the Americans are. The conference was held at a hotel, which was a part of huge construction with other twin hotel and one of the biggest malls in the nation. Offering tours for historical or cultural sites such as a tour of Houston’s Contemporary Arts Museum and Orange Show “Eye Openers” tour is also uniquely American as a way to historically and culturally explore the city where the conference is held. Seeing some panels on teaching and job interview and dancing salsa at a reception were also a unique experience for me to know the diversity of the idea, what a conference can be, in comparison with a conference in Japan.
Thirdly, I have had a better understanding of American society through going out of the hotel where the conference was held and meeting ordinary people who live in a local community of Houston. On November 16, I was very fortunate to have a lunch meeting, as informal interview, with seven Japanese women who married American soldiers after World War II and immigrated to the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, at a Japanese restaurant. Each of them generously shared their life history with me and I was very fascinated by the richness of their life history, which is an experience of post-war Japanese immigrants. They showed me around the city, and gave me a ride to my hotel after the lunch, and asked me to come back to Houston to visit each of them for personal interview. Without having a chance to go to Houston for the conference, I would not have had this opportunity to learn the experience of Japanese immigrant women who live in a city in the Southwest as well as the diversity of people in Houston and the diversity of American cities.
Lastly, meeting and talking with not only other American scholars but also other Japanese graduate students who study about the Untied States in different disciplines such as American Studies, History, and English in U.S. academic institutions was a very positive and encouraging experience for me. Especially, it was encouraging for me to talk with other Japanese students who presented their papers introducing a comparative or transnational perspective on the interpretation of the United States. It was a great opportunity for me to exchange information and resources with other students and learn from them.
Through attending the conference, I had this great opportunity to obtain a better understanding of the United States globally and locally, as the conference title aimed. Learning about the United States also makes me reconsider Japan from a more comparative and broader perspective. The next assignment for me is to make the best of what I have learned through the conference and successfully transform it into my own research in a productive way. Thank you very much for giving me this wonderful opportunity to learn about not only the United States but also Japan and U.S.-Japan relations.
Rika Rihwa LEE
Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa
What is the meaning of “Doing American Studies” today? Two significant points were raised. One is the issue related to the global and local. Since overall theme for the conference was “The Local and the Global”, quite a number of empirical researches that focused on the issue of “local” and “global” were presented, however, much focus was given to the “local”. In the session of “Regionalism and Multiculturalism: Hidden histories/ Present Possibilities”, the idea of “region” was contested with “regionalism”, in order to differentiate its usage of geographical sense to demographical and cultural sense. In “Popular Memory and the Production of Local Knowledges”, as well as in “Epistemology of the Global in the Local: Perspectives from Ethnography and the U.S.“, the context and perspective of “local” was in query. In these presentations, the idea of “local” and “region” was raised as a question to time and space. In other word, it was an attempt to re-map the idea of “local” and “region” in the contemporary demographical, political, economical, and cultural understandings. Moreover, these questions raised the issue of “particularism” and “universalism” in the global and local context: “Is there a local culture?“ In sum, the perspectives represented in these sessions was an attempt to refine the meaning of “local and global” within American Studies by emphasizing the idea of “local”.
The other point was the issues related to the racial and ethnic analysis. In “Racial Boundaries, Identities, and Anti-Racist Politics”, the interrelation of class, gender, and citizenship to the race and ethnicity was contested. It clearly demonstrated the complex form of discriminations and stereotypes in the race and ethnic issues today. It also raised the question of how to study the ethnic and racial issues as a multi-dimensional one, rather than to be studied as the unit of analysis. In “Theorizing Asian America”, as well as in “Creating Ethnic America” and “Narratives of the Pacific/Pacific Narratives”, there was more emphasis on the creation of subjectivity of racial and ethnic minorities. These sessions, in turn, raised the question of ethnic and racial boundary within them. In other word, it raised the issue of “placeness” and “imaginary” boundary of the racial and ethnic boundary, in contrast to the concrete boundary imposed on them. These multi-perspective analyses on ethnic and racial issues represented the emerging trend within ethnic and racial studies that emphasizes the multiple layers of boundaries, categories, and frameworks. As the Presidential Address stressed the importance of ethnic studies in the American studies, elements of race and ethnic issues were certainly the key issues that embraced the theoretical and methodological challenges in the American Studies.
Personally, as a first time to attend the annual conference of American Studies Association, it was a great opportunity to know the key ideas and central issues in American Studies today, as well as to relate my research agenda to the field of American Studies, and to the American Studies in the United States. The opportunity to acquire this sense of “Doing American Studies” could not be realized, for a student of being abroad, without the travel fund. Thus, I truly would like to appreciate for this great opportunity that enhanced my study and encouraged my interest in American Studies.
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