2/17/13

Deadline for Nordic Conference on East Asia

The 25th anniversary conference of the Nordic Association of Japanese and Korean Studies (NAJAKS) will be held in Bergen, Norway, on August 21-23, 2013. The conference theme is Translation, Education and Innovation.

Ethnomusicologist Keith Howard (Professor, SOAS) is one of the Keynote Speakers for NAJAKS 2013, and as one of the conference hosts I will be chairing the concluding plenary session. Music performances are also being planned, and we intend to organize a paper session on performing arts in East Asia. The deadline for abstract submissions is March 1st, 2013.

Click here for more information: http://www.najaks.org/


2/16/13

Visit to Beijing, China



Bergen University College is looking to strengthen its relationships with Chinese institutions, and plans are in the works for another visit to Beijing in just a few months. I look forward to visiting with Chinese colleagues, and I hope more Chinese researchers will come visit Bergen University College, especially to celebrate the move into the new campus in Kronstad:

  


In the upcoming trip to Beijing, I am hoping we can formally establish suitable partnerships for exchange of music teachers and students, online seminars, and various kinds of comparative research, including the Understanding Talent project:



Residency in Riga, Latvia



I look forward to spending a week soon in Latvia, giving lectures under the auspices of the Nordplus exchange program at the Riga Teacher Training and Educational Management Academy (RPIVA): http://www.rpiva.lv/



The main purpose of this trip to Latvia is to lecture for Master students and advise some Doctoral students at RPIVA, and plans are in the works for a collaborative research project as well.
Riga is a delightful city with a rich history and rapid new developments, and RPIVA has many new initiatives to strengthen education-related research.