You are cordially invited to attend the thesis presentations of two candidates for the Master of Arts in East Asian Studies.

Cybersecurity, Innovation, and US-China Tech Competition

John Wong (University of Hong Kong) examines how Hong Kong's development into a regional and global hub is part of a larger process of globalization and the ways in which local policymakers and businesses asserted themselves alongside international competitors to promote the city's economic success.

This talk looks at the ways in which individual engagements with spirituality as well as definitions of spirituality itself, are deeply shaped by diverse religious, cultural, and political contexts beyond North American experiences.

In this talk, part of the 2021-22 China Innovation series, Dr. Peilei Fan will analyze the evolution of China's national innovation system since the launch of economic reforms, including some of the most recent significant changes, and highlight locations that have become part of the mainstream global innovation networks.

Anne Allison explores the nuances of kodokushi ("lonely death") and the implications of the social expectation for individuals to make their own mortuary arrangements on the temporality, sociality, and ontology of life as well as death in Japan.

Veteran journalist Jean Lee takes a closer look at how the Day of the Shining Star, a public holiday in North Korea celebrating Kim Jong Il's birthday, relates to the uptick in the country's missile testing, and provides insights on the operations of the Kim family and how North Korea uses cyber as a form of illicit moneymaking.

Rushan Abbas has been an activist since her university days, where she co-organized pro-democracy protests in the mid and late 80s. Since coming to the United States in 1989, she has been a tireless advocate for Uyghur rights. This talk is part of the exhibition Witness to Guantanamo , on view through February 27, 2022.

In this talk, Amy Stanley (History, Northwestern) shares how she used archival sources to uncover the story of a young Japanese woman who made a life for herself in 19th-century Edo (now Tokyo).