Dear colleagues,

As part of University of Colorado Boulder's Introduction to the Anthropology of Japan course, the public is invited to attend a curated series of remote lectures exploring diverse aspects of Japanese culture over the Spring 2022 semester.


Below is information for our next three events! All Mountain Time 12:20-1:10pm, Noriko Manabe on 2/4, Daniel White on 2/11, and Levi McLaughlin on 2/18. Please note the separate Zoom registration links.


Best,

Kate



***

"Asian American rap in a world of anti-Asian racism"

Dr. Noriko Manabe

Associate Professor of Music Studies, Temple University

Visiting Associate Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures (AY2021-22), Stanford University

Fri, Feb 4, 12:20 PM - 01:10 PM Mountain Time, on Zoom

Registration Link:
https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpdOmprT0rG9R6IRc_O4hL7kZLOslnongb

Abstract:
While Asian American hip-hop artists have been successful as DJs or dancers, they have been less visible as rappers. The few Asian American rappers who have recently charted, such as Far East Movement or Rich Brian, tend to market themselves as party rappers. Nonetheless, a few Asian American rappers have engaged in political material; they have become particularly active in the recent spate of anti-Asian violence.

This paper explores the ways in which Asian American interracial relationships and politics are expressed in hip hop. Drawing from Wang, Hisama, Wong, Kajikawa, Ho and Mullen, and others, I first consider the reasons, including racial frames, which tend to exclude Asian American rappers from the mainstream music industry, as well as the ways in which interracial tension and fascination are played out in hip hop. I then explore case studies of Asian American rap regarding two events: Japanese-American internment during World War II and #StopAsianHate, the movement against anti-Asian violence in the wake of the pandemic.

Applying theories of storytelling (e.g., Johnson, Fernandes), I analyze tracks on Japanese internment by Japanese-American rappers Key Kool and Mike Shinoda, in which the rappers recount their grandfathers' experiences as internees and bear witness to an often-neglected aspect of US history. I then use Peircean semiotics and intertextual methods to analyze the lyrics, music, and visuals of the many songs that reference #StopAsianHate. Combined with the musicians' activities at rallies, performances, interviews, and social media, this music serves to teach the long history of anti-Asian discrimination in the United States, debunk Asian American stereotypes, and promote interracial unity. A soundtrack to the discourse, these tracks provide an outlet for the expression of "minor feelings" (Hong) and a tool for political mobilization.

***

"Automating Affect"

Dr. Daniel White
Senior Research Associate, Department of Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Fri, Feb 11, 12:20 PM - 01:10 PM Mountain Time, on Zoom

Registration Link:
https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqdOGupj8pHtPqrl0LSoS3iOWDVnZ6XhsY

Abstract:
What is an affect automated? This lecture situates discussions on affect, emotion, and technology in anthropology in the context of contemporary Japan. It asks what happens to the culturally specific dimensions of affective experience when it is 1) formulated as a theory, 2) modeled in a machine, and 3) used as a technological tool to collect data and interpret human behavior. The lecture will explore this question through examples of social robots in Japan with so-called artificial emotional intelligence. It will then use these examples to examine how hierarchies of state power and gender are reproduced through algorithmic embodiments.

***

"Religion in Contemporary Japan"

Dr. Levi McLaughlin
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, North Carolina State University
Fri, Feb 18, 12:20 PM - 01:10 PM Mountain Time, on Zoom
Registration Link:
https://cuboulder.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYuduqoqj4rH90eHpY5Mlb4WolqQkOPHfx7

Abstract:
This presentation will provide an introductory overview of religion in contemporary Japan. McLaughlin will introduce Japan's diverse religious landscape by describing how people's everyday interactions with Shinto shrines, Buddhist temples, and other religious sites, as well as within politics and other spheres, instantiate religion in Japanese contexts. He will summarize historical processes that inform dispositions that guide Japanese people's religious interactions, and he will examine distinctive ambiguities that surround "religion" as a Japanese category.


*Kathryn E. Goldfarb
*

*Assistant Professor of Anthropology*

*University of Colorado at Boulder*

Traditional Territories of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations


Mailing address:
Campus Box 233 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309

Office: Hale Science 466

Office phone: 303.492.1589