Japanese Tea Ceremony, March 25 in Oakland.

The Carnegie Library Main Branch will present a Japanese Tea Ceremony with Yuko Eguchi Wright on March 25.

Tea Ceremony of Chado (The Way of the Tea), is a traditional Japanese art involving ritualistic preparation of tea. Influenced by Zen Buddhism philosophy, the core teaching of chado is to attain a spiritual state of selflessness and peacefulness through making and sharing one bowl of tea. Lean the history and philosophy of the Japanese Tea Ceremony while tasting Japanese tea and sweets.
This program is part of the celebration of the NEA Big Read project locally hosted by Gumberg Library at Duquesne University. An initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, the NEA Big Read broadens our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. This year’s Big Read is When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka – This story, told from five different points of view, chronicles the experiences of Japanese Americans caught up in the nightmare of the World War II internment camps.

The event runs from 2:30 to 4:30 in the International Poetry Room and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map).

Comparative Religions: Buddhism and Shinto, March 18 at Carnegie Library West End.

The third talk in a three-part series on Comparative Religions of East Asia at the Carnegie Library West End will be held on March 18 on the topic of "Comparative Religions: Buddhism and Shinto":

During the third and final comparative religion lecture at CLP-West End, we will focus on Japan to examine the island nation’s differences with it’s mainland neighbors. How Buddhism evolved there and how Shinto worship came to be, and what it symbolizes, will be the focus of our religious inquiry..

The event runs from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and are free and open to the public. The West End branch is located at 47 Wabash Street (map).

Veteran (베테랑), Train to Busan (부산행) comprise Korean Film Festival at Pitt, March 17 and 31.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures announced the lineup for its annual Korean Film Festival today, consisting of Veteran (베테랑) on March 17 and Train to Busan (부산행) on March 31.

A New York Times review summarizes 2015's Veteran:

Hwang Jung-min is cool and capable as the longtime detective whose investigation of a friend’s suicide attempt pits him against the conglomerate’s lawyers, thugs and paid-off policemen; he’s a quieter version of the Eddie Murphy or Mel Gibson cop who plays the fool but is good in a fight. The Korean heartthrob Yoo Ah-in plays the preening adversary, whose response to being shown up is to humiliate the nearest woman or assault the nearest pet.

A July 2016 New York Times review summarizes Train to Busan, the 2016 hit zombie movie:

The setup is lean and clean. A flattened deer, mowed down in a quarantine zone in Seoul where some kind of chemical spill has occurred (echoes of Bong Joon-ho’s 2007 enviro-horror film, “The Host”), springs back to life. Then, in just a few swiftly efficient scenes, we meet a harried hedge-fund manager and his small, sad daughter (Gong Yoo and an amazing Kim Su-ahn), see them settled on the titular locomotive and watch in dismay as a vividly unwell last-minute passenger lurches onboard. And we’re off!

Sprinting right out of the gate, the director, Yeon Sang-ho, dives gleefully into a sandbox of spilled brains and smug entitlement. (“In the old days, they’d be re-educated,” one biddy remarks upon spying an undesirable fellow traveler.) As zombies chomp and multiply, an assortment of regular folks face them down while furthering an extended critique of corporate callousness. The politics are sweet, but it’s the creatures that divert. Eyes like Ping-Pong balls and spines like rubber — I’d wager more than a few chiropractors were required on the set — they attack in seizures of spastic energy. They’re like break-dancing corpses.

Both movies will play in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and are free and open to the public.

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail at CMU International Film Festival, March 24 and 25.

In addition to the two films on Asia, the Carnegie Mellon University International Film Festival will show Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, a 2016 documentary on "the incredible saga of the Chinese immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings of Chinatown, New York."

Accused of mortgage fraud by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., Abacus becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend themselves – and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community – over the course of a five-year legal battle.

The movie will play on March 24 at the Harris Theater downtown and on March 25 at Carnegie Mellon. The screenings include a Q&A session with director Steve James. Tickets are available online.

Pitt hiring part-time instructors of Korean.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures is currently hiring part-time instructors of Korean for Fall 2017.

EALL anticipates openings for part-time instructors in the Korean language program beginning in the fall of 2017. Candidates must have native language proficiency, hold at least a college degree, and be authorized to work for the University. Prior experience in teaching foreign languages and familiarity with language pedagogy or linguistics is highly preferred. If interested, please send a resume or CV to Mi-Hyun Kim. The CV is required for initial screening. Candidates with desirable qualifications will be contacted for interviews in April/May 2017.

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble at Pitt, March 21.

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, following the cellist Ma and a collective of musicians from across the world, will play at Pitt on March 21. The official site summarizes:

Over the past 16 years, an extraordinary group of musicians has come together to celebrate the universal power of music. Named for the ancient trade route linking Asia, Africa and Europe, The Silk Road Ensemble, an international collective created by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, exemplifies music’s ability to blur geographical boundaries, blend disparate cultures and inspire hope for both artists and audiences.

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, the latest film from the creators of the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom and the critically-hailed Best of Enemies, follows an ever-changing lineup of performers drawn from the ensemble’s more than 50 instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers as they gather in locations across the world, exploring the ways art can both preserve traditions and shape cultural evolution.

Blending performance footage, personal interviews and archival film, director Morgan Neville and producer Caitrin Rogers focus on the journeys of a small group of Silk Road Ensemble mainstays from across the globe to create an intensely personal chronicle of passion, talent and sacrifice. Through these moving individual stories, the filmmakers paint a vivid portrait of a bold musical experiment and a global search for the ties that bind.

The movie starts at 5:00 pm in 125 Frick Fine Arts Center in Oakland (map).

Gene Luen Yang at Carnegie Lecture Hall, March 19.

The Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures series will host author Gene Luen Yang on March 19.

Gene Luen Yang is an award-winning graphic novelist and the 2016 Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. He has written and drawn over a dozen books including Duncan’s Kingdom, The Rosary Comic Book, Prime Baby, and Animal Crackers. His 2006 book American Born Chinese was the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award and the first to win the American Library Association’s Michael L. Printz Award. His 2013 two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints was nominated for the National Book Award and won the LA Times Book Prize. Yang also writes Dark Horse Comics’ Avatar: The Last Airbender series and DC Comics’ Superman. Secret Coders, his middle-grade graphic novel series with cartoonist Mike Holmes, teaches kids the basics of computer programming.

With his latest graphic novel, Level Up, Yang returns to the subject he revolutionized with American Born Chinese. Whimsical and serious, by turns, this story about a boy who wants to play video games and his parents’ high expectation for him to go to medical school, is a new look at the tale that Yang has made his own: coming of age as an Asian American.

Tickets are $11 and available online. The talk begins at 2:30 pm at the Carnegie Lecture Hall in Oakland (map).

Hit movie Your Name (君の名は) in Pittsburgh, from April 7.

The record-setting Japanese movie Your Name (君の名は) will be premiering across the United States on April 7, and will open in Pittsburgh at the Southside Works Cinema. The distributor provides a summary:

From director Makoto Shinkai, the innovative mind behind Voices of a Distant Star and 5 Centimeters Per Second, comes a beautiful masterpiece about time, the thread of fate, and the hearts of two young souls.

The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.

When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, it dawns on them. They want something more from this connection—a chance to meet, an opportunity to truly know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. But distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing more than a wish upon the stars?

Tickets are not yet available online, and more theaters carrying the film will be announced later.

Reading with Chinese lawyer and human rights activist Teng Biao at City of Asylum @ Alphabet City, March 21.

By May Tze for South China Morning Post.

City of Asylum @ Alphabet City will host Chinese lawyer and human rights activist Teng Biao on March 21.

Teng Biao will be reading an essay about his fight for human rights and freedom in China–why people like him join the struggle even after being persecuted severely–as well as a poem he wrote for his wife when he was kidnapped and detained by secret police in 2008.

. . .

Dr. Teng Biao is an academic lawyer and a human rights activist. He was formerly a Lecturer in the China University of Political Science and Law, a visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, and currently a visiting scholar at New York University and the Institute for Advanced Study. He co-founded “Open Constitution Initiative”, ”China Human Rights Accountability Center” and is also the Founder and President of the China Against the Death Penalty. His research interest includes human rights, criminal justice, constitutionalism, social movement and political transition in China.

The event begins at 8:00 pm, and is free and open to the public (RSVP requested). Alphabet City opened in September 2016 as the permanent home of City of Asylum, and is located at 40 W. North St. in the North Side (map).

Korean Hand Therapy workshop at Western Allegheny Community Library, April 8.

The Western Allegheny Community Library in Oakdale will host a workshop on Korean Hand Therapy (고려수지침) with Bonnie Lowery on April 8:

Korean Hand Therapy is a modified system of acupuncture that is limited to the hands and requires no needles. By the application of direct pressure on the hands, or by placement of small metal pellets on specific points on the hands, signals are sent out to the entire body to relieve pain and to bring balance to the afflicted area. Korean Hand Therapy helps relieve headaches, sinus congestion, back pain, inflammation, migraines, and other physical conditions. This therapy offers immediate results! In this workshop you will learn how to relieve your back pain. Bonnie Lowery is a Korean Hand Therapist and has been practicing this art since 2008.

The event starts at 10:00 am in the library's Community Room and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 181 Bateman Road in Oakdale (map).

Japanese psychedelic band Kikagaku Moyo at Spirit, May 10

The Japanese psychedelic band Kikagaku Moyo will play at the Spirit in Lawrenceville on May 10. Doors open for the 21-and-over event at 8:00 and the show starts at 9:00. Tickets are $10.

Lineup for 2nd annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival at Row House Cinema announced.

Yesterday the Row House Cinema announced the lineup for the 2nd annual Pittsburgh Japanese Film Festival, which will run from April 7 through 13. Seven movies comprise the 2017 iteration, and, as the Facebook event page describes it, the "key themes this year include felines, friendship, and the samurai code for 2017": 1977's House (ハウス), 1962's Harakiri (切腹), 1993's Sailor Moon R: The Movie (劇場版 美少女戦士セーラームーンＲ) , 2014's Samurai Cat (猫侍), 2002's short film Ghiblies Episode 2 (ギブリーズ episode2), and 2013's Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い). Special events include Pittsburgh Taiko on April 10, a tea ceremony on April 12, and the remastered 1995 Ghost in the Shell (攻殻機動隊) as the closing film.

Tickets will go on sale March 15 at 5:30 pm, though a schedule is available online. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

2013 French-Chinese movie The Nightingale (夜莺) at Northland Public Library, May 10.

The Northland Public Library recently announced the May installment in its monthly Foreign / Indie Film Series, the 2013 French-Chinese movie The Nightingale (夜莺). The library summarizes:

Ren Xing is a spoiled ten year old who has everything. Her parents are never together at any one time due to business. However both will be away for an extended time and must find a babysitter for Ren Xing. As a last resort, Ren’s mother asks her husband’s father for help. Her husband hasn’t spoken to his father in many years due to an incident in his childhood. The grandfather is not up to date with the world, and doesn’t want to, so the two do not understand one another. However, the grandfather has to visit the grave of his late wife before his beloved nightingale dies, as the nightingale is eighteen years old . The nightingale is the last remnant of the time he spent with his wife. His wife had never heard the nightingale sing. To get to her grave site is a long trek. Will the two bond while on the trek? The movie is beautifully shot in the idyllic Chinese countryside.

The movie runs from 1:30 to 3:30 pm on May 10 and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 300 Cumberland Rd. in the North Hills (map).

Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism talk at Carnegie Library West End branch, March 11.

The second talk in a three-part series on Comparative Religions of East Asia at the Carnegie Library West End will be held on March 11 on the topic of "Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism":

The second lecture in our three part comparative religion series, hosted by Steve Joseph, will examine the themes, similarities and differences between Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Each religion (or philosophy, if you prefer) exerted great influence over social, political and religious thought and practice throughout China, Korea and Japan. Learn about their origins, basic tenants and points of emphasis.

The event rusn from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and are free and open to the public. The West End branch is located at 47 Wabash Street (map).

6th Annual Tomodachi Festival: A Celebration of Japanese Culture, April 1 in Oakland.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's Main Branch in Oakland will host the 6th annual Tomodachi Festival on Saturday, April 1.

Tomodachi is a Japanese word meaning “friends”. Help us celebrate the spirit of friendship through activities, art and food that showcase Japan, its people and rich history.

Activities include:

• Kamishibai storytelling, singing and dancing
• Origami Art
• Kimono try-ons
• Japanese inspired refreshments

The event runs from 2:00 to 5:00 pm in the Children's section of the library, and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map) and is accessible by buses 28X, 54, 61C, 61D, 67, 69, 71A, 71B, 71C, 71D, and 93.

7th annual Matsuri at CMU, April 11.

The Japanese Student Association at Carnegie Mellon University will present its 7th annual Matsuri on Tuesday, April 11. The spring matsuri (meaning festival in Japanese) benefits Minato Middle School in Ishinomaki city, which was destroyed by the March 11, 2011 tsunami. More information, from the festival's official site:

Originally a sacred ceremony of the Shinto belief, now a night full of street food, arcade games, and joyful performances, Matsuris are of great importance to the Japanese people, its culture and its traditions.

We wanted to share a snippet of this eventful festival here in Pittsburgh, right on the CMU campus. Come by to try a taste of Japanese street food, play some traditional Japanese games, and enjoy a range of performances from Japanese Taiko Drumming to Pop + Rock Fusions of Contemporary Japanese Music.

We have put in a lot of effort into authenticity; we purchase things online and ship them from Japan. We hand craft our booths to make it look like what you see on the streets in Japan. Enjoy the event to its fullest by paying attention to the small details!

We are also proud to annouce that 100% of the profits we make at this event will be donated to Minato Middle school in Ishinomaki, Japan. This school lost their whole campus due to the East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami of March 11, 2011. Please read more about our cause here.

Admission is free and the event is open to the public at the rear of the Cohon University Center (map). Additional information is available at the Japanese Student Association's website.

Downtown's Yuzu Kitchen, Lawrenceville's Ki Ramen among NextPittsburgh's seven new restaurants to try this spring.

Yuzu Kitchen, coming soon to 409 Wood St. (via @yuzukitchenpgh).

NextPittsburgh's list of seven new restaurants to try this spring includes Yuzu Kitchen and Ki Ramen, coming soon to downtown and Lawrencville, respectively.

Located in the heart of the business district on Wood St., Yuzu Kitchen will feature ramen dishes, tapas-style appetizers and robata grill items. Robata (short for “robatayaki”) in Japanese cuisine is similar to food barbecued on skewers. The menu will feature food with influences from Japanese, Chinese and Korean cuisines.

. . .

A restaurant and bar with traditional ramen as its main focus, Ki Ramen will serve different broths with the unique twist of homemade noodles instead of what most ramen places use.

Chinese-Canadian movie Old Stone (老石), documentary The Eagle Huntress part of CMU International Film Festival in March and April.

The Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival recently announced its films for the 2017 "Faces of Identity" iteration, with the 2016 Chinese-Canadian film Old Stone (老石) and the documentary The Eagle Huntress as part of the line-up. Old Stone will play on March 30 and will feature a panel discussion, and The Eagle Huntress will play on April 6. The schedule is available online, though tickets for these two movies are not yet for sale.

Japanese for English speakers coming to Duolingo in May.

Buried at the bottom of a Tribune-Review article yesterday about the launch of a Swahili language course by the Pittsburgh-based Duolingo is an update on the status of Japanese lessons for English speakers:

[Director of business development at Duolingo Rogelio] Alvarez said East Asian languages have been the most challenging. Some, such as Mandarin Chinese, don't have an alphabet but use tones, which is challenging to teach. Demand for those languages, however, has pushed the company. Alvarez told the Trib that Duolingo expects to launch a Japanese course for English speakers in May in response to high demand.

Thai N' Noodle Outlet coming soon to Squirrel Hill.

Coming Soon signage recently went up for Thai N' Noodle Outlet at 5813 Forbes Ave. in Squirrel Hill (map), in what was most recently Sukhothai Bistro. That replaced Cool Ice Taipei, a Taiwanese food place, back in June 2014.

Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale (劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン -オーディナル・スケール) in Pittsburgh, March 9.

The upcoming Japanese animated movie Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale (劇場版 ソードアート・オンライン -オーディナル・スケール) will play at several Cinemark theaters throughout Pittsburgh and at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont on March 9, the date of its US premiere. The official site provides a plot summary of the movie, which opened in Japan in February:

In 2022, the world of virtual reality was upended by the arrival of a new invention from a genius programmer, Akihiko Kayaba, called NerveGear. It was the first full-dive system, and with it, came endless possibilities to VRMMORPGs.

In 2026, a new machine called the Augma is developed to compete against the NerveGear and its successor, the Amusphere. A next-gen wearable device, the Augma doesn't have a full-dive function like its predecessors. Instead, it uses Augmented Reality (AR) to get players into the game. It is safe, user-friendly and lets users play while they are conscious, making it an instant hit on the market. The most popular game on the system is "Ordinal Scale" (aka: OS), an ARMMORPG developed exclusively for the Augma.

Asuna and the gang have already been playing OS for a while, by the time Kirito decides to join them. They're about to find out that Ordinal Scale isn't all fun and games…

Tickets for the 8:15 pm show at the Hollywood Theater are available online. The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont (map), and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station.

The movie will have 8:00 pm screenings at five local Cinemark theaters: Pittsburgh Mills, North Hills, Robinson, Monroeville, and Monaca. Tickets for those are available online as well.

CMMI Institute hiring Chinese-speaking Quality Analyst.

Pittsburgh-based CMMI Institute is hiring a Chinese-speaking Quality Analyst. An excerpt of the job posting:

CMMI Institute is dedicated to elevating organizational performance through best-in-class solutions to real-world challenges. The Institute is the home of the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for Development, Services, and Acquisition; the People Capability Maturity Model; and the Data Management Maturity Model which are process improvement models that create high-performance, high-maturity cultures. The models are used in thousands of organizations worldwide to deliver business results that serve as differentiators in the global market.

Summary:

As a member of the Quality Department, analysts provide CMMI Model and appraisal Method support for certified professionals by conducting quality reviews on SCAMPI appraisals, CMMI course deliveries, certification renewals, permission to use intellectual property and ethics and compliance issues. The Quality Department is responsible for protecting the CMMI Brand; analysts must assess the nature of product or service issues and resolve basic and complex technical and support problems.

The full posting, and application instructions, is available at the CMMI website.

Shaolin Warriors at Byham Theater, March 21.

The Shaolin Warriors, a touring martial arts group from China, will perform in Pittsburgh on March 21, 2017. The Byham Theater summarizes (inadvertently revealing a copy-paste from another theater's site):

In this all-new, fully choreographed theatrical production, the Shaolin Warriors bring remarkable skill, stunning movement, and death-defying martial-arts prowess to the Byham Theater stage. The Kung Fu Masters of the Shaolin temple begin training at a very young age in mental and physical disciplines. They perfect the art of hand-to-hand and weapons combat, performing feats live on stage typically seen only in the movies

Tickets start at $25 and are available online. The theater is located at 101 6th St. in the Cultural District (map).

Yin & Yang of Pu Erh Tea, March 10 at Bantha Tea Bar.

Bantha Tea Bar in Bloomfield-Garfield will host a discussion on Pu Erh Tea on March 10 with Johnny Shieh of TeaNami.

Teanami specializes in Pu Erh Tea from Yunnan, China. Pu Erh is the only tea that appreciates in value like wine - the more it ages, the more valuable it becomes! Instead of expiring, Pu Erh's taste becomes richer, bolder, and earthier.

Benefits of Pu Erh Tea:
~Aids digestion and metabolism
~GABA and theanine to reduce stress and anxiety
~Antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties
~Great Cha Chi, or tea energy!

The event runs from 7:00 to 8:00 pm at Bantha Tea Bar at 5002 Penn Ave (map). More information is available at the event's Facebook page.

Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs Town Hall in Pittsburgh, March 25.

The PA Governor's Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs will host a Town Hall meeting at the University of Pittsburgh on Saturday, March 25.

Please join the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs for an interactive dialogue. GACAPAA is responsible for serving as the advocate agency in the Commonwealth for our diverse AAPI communities. The Commission wants to hear about the challenges facing the AAPI communities in Greater Pittsburgh and how we can leverage our strengths to effectively advocate, promote resources and best serve our AAPI communities. Space is limited and your participation is critical. Please plan to attend. If you have specific questions or issues you want addressed please e-mail them ahead of time to tlawson at pa.gov.

The event runs from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm in room 2700 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public. The required registration can be completed online.

Three-part Comparative Religions of East Asia series at Carnegie Library West End, starting March 4.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh's West End branch will hold three Comparative Religions talks on East Asia, starting March 4 with "Comparative Religious - China, Korea and Japan".

For three weeks in March, CLP-West End will host Steve Joseph — Dean of Library Services and professor of Comparative Religions at Butler County Community College — for an hour long lecture and discussion of religions in East Asia.

This first lecture will focus on the neighbors China, Korea and Japan, and touch on religious themes that are present in all three cultures, as well as how practices of the same religion, like Buddhism, differ across East Asia.

The March 11 session is on "Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism":

The second lecture in our three part comparative religion series, hosted by Steve Joseph, will examine the themes, similarities and differences between Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. Each religion (or philosophy, if you prefer) exerted great influence over social, political and religious thought and practice throughout China, Korea and Japan. Learn about their origins, basic tenants and points of emphasis.

And the March 18 session on "Buddhism and Shinto":

During the third and final comparative religion lecture at CLP-West End, we will focus on Japan to examine the island nation’s differences with it’s mainland neighbors. How Buddhism evolved there and how Shinto worship came to be, and what it symbolizes, will be the focus of our religious inquiry.

The events run from 1:00 to 2:00 pm and are free and open to the public. The West End branch is located at 47 Wabash Street (map).

2006 documentary Blindsight at Carnegie Library in East Liberty, February 28, part of Silver Screen Stereotypes: Disability in Film series.

The East Liberty branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will show the 2006 documentary Blindsight on February 28, part of the library's Silver Screen Stereotypes: Disability in Film series.

Set against the breathtaking backdrop of the Himalayas, this documentary follows six Tibetan teenagers on their journey to climb a 23,000 foot mountain. 104 minutes.
Join us as we watch recent film portrayals of persons with disabilities and ask:

• Are the portrayals accurate?
• What’s the message being promoted?
• What film needs to be made to promote an accurate or positive image?

The ways in which individuals and groups are portrayed in popular media can have a profound effect on how they are viewed by society at large. Persons with disabilities are beginning to be portrayed more in popular cinema. Yet, many of those representations remain inaccurate and may be offensive. This film series is intended to stimulate discussion about how persons with disabilities are portrayed in film and should not be considered an endorsement of the films’ accuracy or appropriateness

The event runs from 12:00 to 3:00 pm. The library is located at 130 S. Whitfield St. (map).

Poet and writer Ocean Vuong at Pitt, February 25.

The University of Pittsburgh's F.O.R.G.E (Facilitating Opportunities for Refugee Growth and Empowerment) will host Vietnamese-American poet and writer Ocean Vuong on February 25. The event starts at 6:00 pm in the William Pitt Union's Lower Lounge (map).

Kizumonogatari parts 1, 2, and 3 at Hollywood Theater in April.

Parts 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont will be the only theater in Pennsylvania to show Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu (傷物語III 冷血篇 ) when it makes its US premiere in April. The theater will also show Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu (傷物語Ⅰ 鉄血篇) and Kizumonogatari Part 2: Nekketsu (傷物語II 熱血篇) in April, both of which played at the Hollywood last year.

Tickets for the three Kizumonogatari Part 3: Reiketsu shows on April 15, 16, and 18 are available at the theater's website. Tickets for the two $15 double features of parts 1 and 2 are available there as well.

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont (map), and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station.

Korean Film Series at Butler's Maridon Museum, March through May.

Butler's Maridon Museum announced today its South Korean Film Series, starting March 24. Four movies will run in its latest film series: 2002's The Road Home (집으로), 2015's The Beauty Inside (뷰티 인사이드), Masquerade (광해: 왕이 된 남자), and 2010's The Yellow Sea (황해). The first is The Road Home (집으로) on March 24 at 6:00 pm.

The Maridon Museum is an Asian art museum at 322 N. McKean St. in downtown Butler (map) that runs film series periodically throughout the year, in addition to art classes, book club meetings, and its regular exhibits.

Tickets still available for Korean troupe Bereishit Dance Company (브레시트무용단) at Byham Theater, March 4.

via FocusNews.

Tickets are still available for the Bereishit Dance Company's first performance in Pittsburgh on March 4 at the Byham Theater. From the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust:

In this first-ever Korean dance presentation for Pittsburgh Dance Council, the Seoul troupe Bereishit presents contemporary work that draws upon eastern Asian culture. Witness Bereishit’s amazing display of space and rhythms choreographed with kinesthetic clarity and power. Elements of street dance and multimedia add to Bereishit’s potency.

Sport meets dance in the rigorous male duet BOW, inspired by the Korean tradition of archery. The intensely physical Balance and Imbalance juxtaposes the dancers alongside some of Korea’s most revered traditional storytelling genre drummers and pansori vocalists.

Tickets range from $10 to $60. The theater is located at 101 6th St. in the Cultural District (map).

Stephan Haggard and "Hard Target: Dealing with North Korea" at Pitt, March 14.

Advance notice for a talk on North Korea at the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center with Dr. Stephan Haggard of UC San Diego.

North Korea poses a number of challenges to the new Trump administration, from its nuclear and missile programs to the possibility of political instability. Diplomacy with North Korea is further complicated by pressing humanitarian and human rights questions and the complexities of dealing with China as a partner in negotiations with North Korea. How has the US dealt with North Korea in the past and is there a different way forward?

The talk will be held from 12:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

"The Trauma of ‘Liberation:' National Unity and Memory on the Ethnic Margins of Maoist China" at CMU, February 24.

Via DissertationReviews.

Dr. Benno Weiner, an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University, will present "The Trauma of ‘Liberation:' National Unity and Memory on the Ethnic Margins of Maoist China" as February's installment of the Socialist Studies Seminar. The talk runs from 3:00 to 5:00 pm in Baker Hall 246-A (map).

2016 Park Chan-wook film The Handmaiden (아가씨) at Erie Art Museum, March 8.

The 2016 Korean movie The Handmaiden (아가씨), directed by Park Chan-wook, will play at the Erie Art Museum (map) on March 8. An October four-star review on RogerEbert.com provides a summary:

Park Chan-Wook’s “The Handmaiden” is a love story, revenge thriller and puzzle film set in Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1930s. It is voluptuously beautiful, frankly sexual, occasionally perverse and horrifically violent. At times its very existence feels inexplicable. And yet all of its disparate pieces are assembled with such care, and the characters written and acted with such psychological acuity, that you rarely feel as if the writer-director is rubbing the audience’s nose in excess of one kind or another. This is a film made by an artist at the peak of his powers: Park, a South Korean director who started out as a critic, has many great or near-great genre films, including “Oldboy,” “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,” “Lady Vengeance” and “Thirst,” but this one is so intricate yet light-footed that it feels like the summation of his career to date.

Doors open at 6:00 pm and the movie starts at 7:00. Tickets are $5.

"Interpretation and Processing of Japanese Reflexives" at Pitt, February 24.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of Linguistics will host PhD candidate Noriyasu Li and his colloquium "Interpretation and Processing of Japanese Reflexives" on February 24.

My research investigates how native speakers (L1) of Japanese link reflexives to their antecedents through experimental research on specific sets of anaphoric pronouns – zibun, zibun-zisin, kare-zisin, and kanozyo-zisin. The research also examines how L2 learners acquire these properties in Japanese. Although it is well known that co-reference with these reflexives can be ambiguous (Aikawa, 2002), I analyze how L1 Japanese speakers successfully construct anaphoric relations among determiner phrases and resolve ambiguity through an analysis of case and argument structure of the verb. The interaction between case and the predicate in reflexive-antecedent binding, to my knowledge, has not been thoroughly addressed in the literature to date, and this point is the innovative focus of my research. Further, I expand the scope of reflexives to all reflexive forms in Japanese, and cross-linguistically analyze acquisition between typologically related (e.g., Korean) and unrelated (e.g., Chinese) languages.

The talk begins at 3:00 pm in 332 Cathedral of Learning (map) and is free and open to the public.

Teaching English in South Korea information session and panel, February 21 at Pitt.

On February 21 from 6:30 pm, the University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host an information session and panel about opportunities to teach English in South Korea. The session will be held in 4130 Posvar Hall (map).

Documentary The Eagle Huntress at newly-opened Tull Family Theater, through February 23.

The Eagle Huntress, the 2016 documentary about a 13-year-old girl training to be an eagle hunter in Mongolia, is playing at the recently-opened Tull Family Theater in Sewickley through February 23. A brief synopsis from the distributor:

THE EAGLE HUNTRESS follows Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, as she trains to become the first female in twelve generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter, and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries.

Set against the breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe, THE EAGLE HUNTRESS features some of the most awe-inspiring cinematography ever captured in a documentary, giving this intimate tale of a young girl's quest the dramatic force of an epic narrative film.

While there are many old Kazakh eagle hunters who vehemently reject the idea of any female taking part in their ancient tradition, Aisholpan's father Nurgaiv believes that a girl can do anything a boy can, as long as she's determined.

Tickets and showtimes are available from the theater's website. The Tull Family Theater is located at 418 Walnut St. in Sewickley (map), about 15 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

Traditional Chinese music group Purple Bamboo at Carnegie Library in Oakland, February 26.

Purple Bamboo, a group of traditional Chinese musicians, will perform at the Carnegie Library in Oakland on February 26.

Founded in 2015, Purple Bamboo performs traditional and contemporary Chinese music. Purple Bamboo has played at a variety of local venues, and is comprised of Ai-Lin Chen on the guzhen (a plucked string instrument), Kai Liu on the dizi (a transverse flute), and Mimi Jong on the erhu (a two-stringed spike fiddle).

The troupe has recently been joined by world-class pipa (a four-stringed lute) virtuoso Jin Yang, a graduate from the prestigious Central Conservatory in Beijing and former professor at the Wuhuan Music Convervatory. Please join us in welcoming them!

The event runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm in the first floor's Quiet Reading Room and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 4400 Forbes Ave. in Oakland (map) and is accessible by buses 28X, 54, 61C, 61D, 67, 69, 71A, 71B, 71C, 71D, and 93.

Hae Yeon Choo book talk "Decentering Citizenship: Gender, Labor, and Migrant Rights in South Korea" at Pitt, February 22.

A reminder for a February 22 book talk in the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Sociology by Dr. Hae Yeon Choo of the University of Toronto.

Decentering Citizenship follows three groups of Filipina migrants' struggles to belong in South Korea: factory workers claiming rights as workers, wives of South Korean men claiming rights as mothers, and hostesses at American military clubs who are excluded from claims—unless they claim to be victims of trafficking. Moving beyond laws and policies, Hae Yeon Choo examines how rights are enacted, translated, and challenged in daily life and ultimately interrogates the concept of citizenship. Choo reveals citizenship as a language of social and personal transformation within the pursuit of dignity, security, and mobility. Her vivid ethnography of both migrants and their South Korean advocates illuminates how social inequalities of gender, race, class, and nation operate in defining citizenship. Decentering Citizenship argues that citizenship emerges from negotiations about rights and belonging between South Koreans and migrants. As the promise of equal rights and full membership in a polity erodes in the face of global inequalities, this decentering illuminates important contestation at the margins of citizenship.

The talk runs from 12:00 to 1:30 pm in 2432 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

Chinese movie Duckweed (乘风破浪) continues in Pittsburgh through February 22.

The 2017 Chinese movie Duckweed (乘风破浪), which opened in Pittsburgh on February 10, will continue at the AMC Loews Waterfront theater through February 22. A Variety review summarizes:

The protagonist, Lang (Deng Chao), is a car racer living in 2022 Shanghai. Upon winning a national rally, he publicly and sarcastically “thanks” his dad, Zheng (Eddie Peng), for his rough upbringing and lack of encouragement. He offers Zheng a ride to show off his driving, but crashes the vehicle.

While hovering between life and death, Lang time-slips to 1998, and lands in an alley where he witnesses a young Zheng’s righteous but foolhardy actions. Together with dimwit Liu Yi (race-car driver Zack Gao) and computer nerd Little Ma (Dong Zijian, “Mountains May Depart”) they pose like younger selves of the aged vigilantes in Guan Hu’s “Mr Six,” upholding honor codes borrowed from ’80s Hong Kong gangster films.

The movie opened in China on January 28. Tickets and showtimes are available via Fandango. The theater is located at 300 West Waterfront Dr. in the Waterfront shopping complex in Homestead (map), across the Monongahela River from Greenfield, Squirrel Hill, and the rest of Pittsburgh.

"Visualizing Chinese Media Ideologies: Biao Qing Bao and its Development in Chinese Internet Culture" at Pitt, February 17.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures will host MA Candidate Yixin Liang and her colloquium "Visualizing Chinese Media Ideologies: Biao Qing Bao and its Development in Chinese Internet Culture" on February 17.

My thesis addresses Biao Qing Bao, a new type of internet meme consisting of an image and a text caption, and development on the Chinese internet. In this presentation, I will use the concept of media ideology proposed by Illeana Gershon to explain how people's conception of mediated codes of communication shapes their practice and usage of technology and media. In this sense, Biao Qing Bao, as one of the semiotic codes created and circulated on the internet, is not only a type of visual entertainment that references Chinese pop culture, but also an indicator of fluid media ideologies and power dynamics in Chinese society. I will focus on two significant moments in the development of Biao Qing Bao: the internet censorship launched by the CHinese government and the Facebook campaign in 2016 to discuss how Biao Qing Bao was transformed from a visual weapon to confront hegemony to an icon of national identity.

The talk begins at 12:00 in room 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.

How To: Asia: Chinese Brush Calligraphy, February 15 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host a Chinese Brush Calligraphy demonstration as the next installment of its How To: Asia series.

Our intern Bliss Hou will teach the fine art of traditional brush calligraphy.  Bliss will give a demonstration and then participants will have an opportunity to write their own Chinese characters.

The event starts at 3:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map). The event is free though RSVP is requested to the email address on the flyer.

Speed Language Partnering: Korean, March 1 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center is hosting a Speed Language Partnering: Korean on March 1 with a group of students visiting from Gwangju's Chosun University. From this week's ASC newsletter:

Interested in improving your Korean language skills or want to help new language learners? Join us at our speed networking event where native and Korean speakers of all levels will converse in a series of brief exchanges. ASC has partnered with the Chosun University exchange students from the English Language Institute (ELI) to participate in this event on Wednesday March 1 at 12 Noon in 4130 Posvar Hall.