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Headshot of Li-Ting Chang

Li-Ting Chang Awarded Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Fellowship

Posted on | by Thomas Mazanec

EALCS doctoral candidate Li-Ting Chang’s proposal, “Dear Darling”: The Love Letter as a New Cultural Sensation in Early Twentieth-Century China (親愛的愛人：二十世紀初中國情書文化熱潮), has been officially funded by the Board of Directors of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for a one-year fellowship (2026–2027). It examines the interplay between romantic love and the love letter, both of which underwent profound transformations from the 1910s to the 1930s. Focusing on the communicative genre of the love letter, her study aims to enrich our understanding of the literary and cultural histories of love by analyzing how literary discourse and romantic sentiment were channeled through everyday communication.

 

Congratulations to Yamauchi-sensei

Posted on | by Thomas Mazanec

We are proud to celebrate Yamauchi-sensei a Japanese language lecturer in our program, on receiving the 2026 Outstanding Teacher Award (Post-Secondary Level) in the California Teacher of the Year Awards for Japanese Language Professionals.

This prestigious award—presented by the California Association of Japanese Language Teachers (CAJLT), the Northern California Japanese Teachers’ Association (NCJTA), and the Teachers of Japanese in Southern California (TJSC)—recognizes educators who demonstrate excellence in teaching, professional development, leadership, and advocacy for Japanese language education.

The selection committee highlighted Yamauchi-sensei’s exceptional dedication to her students, her program, and the broader community. Her work reflects not only innovative and high-quality teaching, but also her leadership in advancing collaboration and strengthening connections across institutions and communities throughout California.

Her commitment to creating engaging, inclusive, and forward-looking learning environments exemplifies the very best of language education, and we are proud to have her as part of our community.

5/8 The Water Margin and Beyond: Chinese Narrative in Early Modern Japan (workshop)

Posted on | by William Fleming

Workshop: The Water Margin and Beyond: Chinese Narrative in Early Modern Japan
Friday, May 8th, 2026
space limited: RSVP required (contact: William Fleming)

Ellis Tinios (University of Leeds)
“Visualizing China in Print: The Water Margin and the print and book trade in Japan, 1805–38” (Zoom)

William Hedberg (Arizona State University)
“Some New Ways of Looking at Old Ways of Looking at Early Modern Translation”

Fumiko Jōo (Mississippi State University)
“Inventing the Past: Reincarnation and Antiquarianism in Santō Kyōden’s Ukibotan zenden”

Katherine Saltzman-Li (UCSB)
“Visualizing Tōjin in Edo-period Kabuki and Prints”

Yoshitaka Yamamoto (Yale University)
“Zhuge Liang in the Snow: Intersections of Vernacular Chinese Fiction, Painting, and Sinitic Poetry in Early Modern Japan”

Ye Yuan (Oberlin College)
“Colloquial Sinitic: Textual Colloquialism and Ming-Qing Popular Fiction in Early Modern Japan”

Yu Zhang (UCSB)
“When Outlaws Became Exemplary Women: Rewriting Gender and Virtue in Kyokutei Bakin’s (1767-1848) Keisei Suikoden”

William Fleming (UCSB)
“In-Laws of the Marsh: Water Margin Parodies from the Bakumatsu and Early Meiji Periods”