Yoonsun Choi lecture “Race and Culture in the Family: Their Impact on Youth Outcomes of Asian American Adolescents", November 8 at Pitt.

A University of Pittsburgh press release promotes an upcoming free lecture on November 8th by the University of Chicago's Yoonsun Choi, part of a series from the Center on Race and Social Problems. Two excerpts:

Yoonsun Choi, associate professor at the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago, will deliver a free public lecture at noon Nov. 8 titled “Race and Culture in the Family: Their Impact on Youth Outcomes of Asian American Adolescents.” The talk will be held at the University of Pittsburgh’s Center on Race and Social Problems, School of Social Work Conference Center, 20th floor, Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

. . .

Choi has examined how race, ethnicity, and culture fundamentally shape the development of minority and immigrant youth, a growing population in the United States. According to Choi, how preteens and teens manage family issues, peer pressure, and stereotyping will often determine their mental health and academic outcomes. Choi’s studies have shown that multiracial youths—compared to single race minority youths—can have greater difficulty navigating the challenges related to race and identity. They may also face more alienation. If they feel marginalized at an early age, Choi says, it may lead to cigarette smoking, drug and alcohol use, and violence.

A Touch of Sin (天注定) at Waterworks Cinemas, November 9 and 12.

The Chinese movie A Touch of Sin (天注定) will play at the Waterworks Cinemas on November 9 and 12, part of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Film Festival. An excerpt from an October 2013 Los Angeles Times review:

"A Touch of Sin," the powerful if uneven new film by highly regarded Chinese director Jia Zhangke, is a corrosive depiction of the New China, an everything-for-sale society still figuring out how to cope with the dehumanizing effects of unbridled capitalism.

Jia, whose 2006 "Still Life" won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, has dealt with the problems of Chinese society in the past, but in a more allusive, elliptical way. Now his concern about the nakedness of the corruption and an increasing trend of individuals resorting to violence out of desperation has led him to modify his style in ways that are both awkward and effective.

Written by the director (who received the best screenplay award at Cannes), "A Touch of Sin" is an omnibus film of four separate but subtly linked stories that take place in different corners of the country and are based on real events that Jia, in a director's note, says "are well-known to people throughout China."

A Touch of Sin plays at 6:15 on Saturday the 9th and at 6:30 on Tuesday the 12th at the multiplex in the Waterworks Mall (map). It is one of four Asian films in the 2013 festival.

Pittsburgh City Council issues proclamation on Saitama sister city relationship.

"15 yr Sister City dedication w/ Saitama Mayor Shizmu & Chairman Hagiwara in Pittsburgh Council Chambers" - @billpeduto

A delegation from Saitama, Japan, toured sister city Pittsburgh from October 28 through November 1. The visit received little attention, though an affirmation of the sister city relationship came by way of a Pittsburgh City Council proclamation on the 29th:

The City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, hereby jointly reaffirm on the 15th year anniversary that the two cities enter into the sister city relationship in order to achieve the following common objectives:

• Promote friendship between the citizens of their respective cities,

• Foster mutual understanding and trust through cultural, social, educational, economic and sports activities,

• Follow the guidelines of Sister Cities International,

• Cooperate together in an ever-lasting effort to deepen friendship and goodwill, and

• Encourage the mutual growth and spirit of the continued Renaissance for both cities through the exchange of information and the promotion of trade and business development in the future.

The City of Pittsburgh and Saitama City hereby pledge to exercise their collective best efforts to achieve the above-mentioned common goals in order to deepen the friendship between the cities’ respective citizens and governments.
This agreement is hereby signed by the representatives of both cities, whose signatures appear below, in order to confirm the above accord.

The 29th day of October, 2013

In the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA

Phan Thi Kim Phuc, "The Girl in the Picture", at Sewickley Academy, November 7.

Sewickley Academy (map) will host Phan Thị Kim Phúc for two talks titled "The Girl in the Picture" on November 7 as part of the school's Sewickley Series of speakers and events. From a press release:

The Vietnam War knows many tragedies. A photograph of a young girl running naked down a road, her skin on fire with napalm, changed the way the world looked at war. The girl in the picture is Kim Phuc.

In 1997, Kim established The Kim Foundation, a nonprofit organization committed to funding programs to heal children in war torn areas of the world. During her time at the Academy, Kim will share her message of forgiveness with the community.

The two talks are scheduled for 11:15 am and 12:45 pm in the Middle School and High School assembly rooms, respectively. Both are free and open to the public.

Pittsburgh Sakura Project Fall Planting Day, November 2.

Kazuko Macher's entry placed second in the Pittsburgh Sakura Project's 2013 photo contest.

The Pittsburgh Sakura Project will hold its 2013 Fall Planting Day November 2nd from 10:00 to noon in North Park (map). The group has been planting cherry blossom trees (sakura) and other foliage around the boathouse since April 2009, and is looking for volunteers among the general public for 30 more this fall. More information is available on the group's website and on its registration flyer (.pdf).

Delegation from sister city Saitama to visit Pittsburgh, October 28 - November 1

From the 28th through a delegation from Saitama, Japan, will be in Pittsburgh touring their sister city. The itinerary includes a meeting with City Council and Bill Peduto, a visit to the University of Pittsburgh and its Japanese Nationality Room, a tour of Pittsburgh attractions like Phipps Conservatory and the Heinz History Center, a stop at the Akiko Kotani exhibition at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and a cherry tree planting with the Pittsburgh Sakura Project at North Park.


Part of a mural saying "Hello, Japan" to visiting students in 1990.

The roots of the relationship were education and economics. Flipping through old papers from the 1980s and 1990s shows examples of cultural exchanges between the two cities before sister city status was cemented on May 5, 1998. A couple from 1990 worth reading on the background of Omiya's (later called Saitama) interest in Pennsylvania and on specific exchange programs are "Keystone Oaks Embraces Japan's Culture" and "Visit Helps Relax 'Stiff' Japanese Stance Toward West". Additionally, the man who would become superintendent of the Mt. Lebanon School District wrote in the Reading Eagle that spring on what Japanese schools do well, raising points that are still found in casual analyses of Asian education systems today. Several items from Omiya were donated to the University of Pittsburgh, along with over $20,000 from various Omiya organizations and individuals, to decorate and develop the Japanese Nationality Room. A 1997 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article counted 16 visits from Omiya delegations to that point; the last visit here was in 2007. Unfortunately it's not much more than a nominal relationship these days, since Pittsburgh's economy rebounded and the need for humility diminished.

Pitt Players present[ed] The Yellow Jacket.

From 1942's The Owl, the University of Pittsburgh's yearbook (via Documenting Pittsburgh).

Around this time in 1941, the Pitt Players opened their season with "the delightful Chinese fantasy" The Yellow Jacket.

In line with the Players' policy of producing at least one experimental drama each year, Mr. Whitehill chose this allegorical satire of the Oriental theatre convention. Over make-believe mountains, across imaginary rivers, through mythical snow storms, Woo Hoo Git (John Reid) made his way in search of his lost heritage. Fantastic spiders did not daunt him, nor were the temptations of beautiful women in "the flowery paths of pleasant ways" enough to turn him from his quest. The play was comparable to an Oriental Our Town . . . The play was more than amusingly novel, and the Players presented it admirably.

A 2010 Theater Journal article, "Trying on The Yellow Jacket: Performing Chinese Exclusion and Assimilation", goes into the contemporary politics and modern interpretations of the play, which not surprisingly didn't age well.

Jackie Chan movie CZ12 (十二生肖) at the Waterfront.

The Hong Kong movie CZ12 (十二生肖) was released in the US on October 18 and is playing in Pittsburgh at the AMC Loews Waterfront. It stars Jackie Chan and was, until this year, the second-highest grossing Chinese-language movie in China. Hong Kong's South China Morning Post summarizes:

Reprising the adventurer/thief role he first played in 1987's Armour of God, JC (the character's name) is hired to steal animal head relics that once were displayed in the Summer Palace in Beijing. Along the way, he encounters a greedy collector (Oliver Platt) forging fakes, bumbling and accident-prone French folks, some pirates, and a beautiful antique activist (Yao Xingtong) who gets him to grow a conscience.

A cursory glance around the internet shows mostly poor reviews, though, including the SCMP's, which calls the movie "sad and sorry" and writes "CZ12 is like watching a former star athlete struggle in a meaningless game."

Showtimes for today and Thursday are 2:10‎, ‎4:40‎, ‎7:20‎, and 9:55pm‎, with 11:05am‎ and ‎4:35pm‎ on Friday and Saturday.

Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbor Totoro among four Asian movies at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Film Festival.

The Three Rivers Film Festival, which runs in Pittsburgh from November 8 through November 23, announced their schedule of films today, a lineup that includes four Asian movies and one Lao-language film. The four are the classic Japanese animated films My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ) and Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓), China's A Touch of Sin (天注定), and Singapore's Ilo Ilo (爸妈不在家). Schedules are available online, and we'll have more detailed posts on the movies in the next two weeks. (No, Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbor Totoro will not be shown back-to-back, as they often are.)

Panel discussion "Political and Economic Trilateralism in Northeast Asia: The Future of Relations Between China, Japan, and Korea" at Pitt, October 24.

From the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center Facebook page.

On October 24, the University of Pittsburgh Asian Studies Center will host "Political and Economic Trilateralism in Northeast Asia: The Future of Relations Between China, Japan, and Korea" at 12:30 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (campus map).