University of Pittsburgh hiring Teaching Professor of Korean Studies, starting 2023-2024 academic year.

The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures is hiring a Teaching Professor of Korean Studies (Open Rank).

The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh invites applications for a Teaching Professor (of any rank) position in Korean culture and visual culture, pending budgetary approval. The successful candidate should possess primary disciplinary training in Korean literature and culture and strong competence in film and media studies, performance studies, or a closely related discipline. A Ph.D. in Korean Studies or a related field is required by the time of appointment.

The appointment starts on September 1, 2023. The teaching load is six courses per year. The appointee will teach current undergraduate courses, develop new courses in the area of their specialization, help develop a new Korean major, and participate in the department’s interdisciplinary MA program. The successful candidate must demonstrate strengths as a teacher at all levels. The candidate must have a native or near-native user of Korean and English in all language skill areas. In addition, the new hire should be willing to take an active leadership role in the vigorous growth of the Korean program and collaborate closely with the established Korean language program. Besides working closely with other Korean studies faculty, the individual hired for this position is expected to collaborate with Asianists in other units to promote Korean studies and visual studies.

More information, as well application instructions, is available on the job ad.

Japanese film Small, Slow but Steady (ケイコ 目を澄ませて) in Pittsburgh on September 30 for SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival.

The Japanese film Small, Slow but Steady (ケイコ 目を澄ませて) will play in Pittsburgh on September 30 as part of this year's SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival.

Director Shô Miyake adapts a boxing memoir from Keiko Ogasawara— who turned professional despite the difficulties of lifelong deafness. “A highlight of the Encounters program at this year’s Berlinale,” (Variety), the film fictionalizes it’s subject as Keiko Ogawa, played with stern intensity by actor Yukino Kishii. The film from the structural trappings of the biopic, as it adopts a focused, in-the-moment approach to Keiko’s life and career: we see her struggles inside and outside of the ring. Keiko’s story is the base from which we learn about the larger struggles between the independent boxing community and the pressures of corporatization and conglomeration as COVID 19 sunk so many small community locations. The film’s sound particularly resonates: without any music, we are free listen to the small punches and rhythms that pierce this boxer’s story.

It plays at the Harris Theater at 6:30 pm and tickets are available online. Pitt affiliates with valid university cards may enter for free.

Fantuan hiring Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist.

Fantuan, a delivery service catering to Asian restaurants and groceries that expanded to Pittsburgh in 2020, is hiring a Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist.

Fantuan was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2014. With the mission of “life made easier,” we are now the largest Asian food service platform in North America. Our goal is to provide a one-stop platform connecting people and their local communities. In addition to food delivery services, our business also includes advertising and promotion, online shopping malls, self-pickup, and other online services. We invite you to explore how Fantuan can help you advance your career and fulfill your goals. Apply online now!

Responsibilities:

· Formulate marketing strategies and complete strategic goals based on the development needs of the platform.

· Develop promotional plans to increase brand awareness.

· Build relationships with target groups, including schools, professional associations, and other potential partners.

· Understand customer needs and carry out marketing activities.

· Actively expand business partners and maintain relations with existing partners.

· Achieve the monthly sales and order number targets.

· Formulate user manual to help customers register, install and use company products.

· Organize Offline promotion of company products

· Travel to, visit, and conduct sales activities with customers.

· Analysis of sales data,Manage sales activities and results.

Maelstrom, Pitt's 2022 Japan Documentary Film Award, screening in Pittsburgh on September 29.

The documentary Maelstrom, which was named winner of the 2022 Japan Documentary Film Award over the summer, will screen in Pittsburgh on September 29 as part of the SCREENSHOT: Asia Film Festival. The award is given biannually by the University of Pittsburgh's Japan Council and the SCREENSHOT: Asia festival.

Maelstrom is [Mizuko] Yamaoka’s story of “loss and rebirth” due to a drastic life change from a car accident that damaged her cervical vertebrae. A profoundly humanist tale of tragedy and rebirth, Yamaoka's intimate documentary is both a telling of her own losses and a portrait of human experience.

The documentary will play at the Alumni Hall Auditorium in Oakland (map) from 7:00 pm, and tickets are available online.

2022 Japanese film Mobile Suit Gundam Cucuruz Doan's Island (機動戦士ガンダム ククルス・ドアンの島) in Pittsburgh, September 27 and 28.

The 2022 Japanese film Mobile Suit Gundam Cucuruz Doan's Island (機動戦士ガンダム ククルス・ドアンの島) will play in Pittsburgh on September 27 and 28. From the distributor:

After Jaburo, the EFF plan an operation to capture Odessa, headquarters of Zeon's Attack Force. White Base heads to Belfast to resupply. However, White Base receives new orders; to head to an island known as the "Island of No Return".

It plays locally at the Cinemark in McCandless and tickets are available online. The 7:15 pm September 27 show is in Japanese with English subtitles, while the 7:30 pm September 28 show is dubbed in English.

1997 Wong Kar-wai film Happy Together (春光乍洩), 2021 Taiwanese film Moneyboys (金錢男孩MONEYBOYS) at 2022 Reel Q Film Fest in October.

The schedule for the 2022 Reel Q Pittsburgh LGBT Film Festival was just announced, and it features the 2021 Taiwanese film Moneyboys (金錢男孩MONEYBOYS) and the 1997 Wong Kar-wai film Happy Together (春光乍洩) on October 8 and 15, respectively. A synopsis of Moneyboys, which plays on October 8 at the Row House Cinema:

Fei works illegally as a hustler in order to support his family, yet when he realizes they are willing to accept his money but not his way of life, there is a major breakdown in their relations. Through his relationship to the headstrong Long, Fei seems able to find a new lease on life, but then he encounters Xiaolai, the love of his youth, who confronts him with the guilt of his repressed past.

And a synopsis of Happy Together, which plays at on October 15th at a yet-undetermined location:

Join us for a special 30th anniversary of this landmark film. A gay couple from Hong Kong takes a trip to Argentina in search of a new beginning but instead begins drifting even further apart.

Tickets are available online. The full festival, featuring full-length and short films from all over the world, will run from October 6 through 15.

Food delivery service Hungry Panda hiring Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist for Pittsburgh area.

Hungry Panda is again hiring a Mandarin-speaking Business Development Specialist for the Pittsburgh area. As PennsylvAsia noted in Summer 2020, more Chinese delivery options, like Fantuan and Chowbus, have made their way to Pittsburgh.

Job Requirements:

• Must be fluent in Mandarin and English
• Educational requirements: Bachelor’s degree and above
• Experience in business negotiation, sales and marketing management is preferred
• Working experience in Internet companies is preferred
• Strong time management and project management skills
• High sensitivity on market trend, high sensitivity on data
• Strong commercial acumen and a desire to work with restaurants, not afraid to be refused, have top-notch people skills
• Excellent teamwork ability, cooperate with different teams to promote business cooperation, and be able to efficiently complete business negotiations independently
• Have a valid driver licence and a vehicle

Fourth edition of "Fail-Safe: Los Angeles x Pittsburgh"---featuring Asian-American artists Young Joon Kwak, Kim Ye, Caroline Yoo, Davine Byon, and Stephanie Tsong---at Kelly Strayhorn Theater, November 11 and 12.

The November 11 and 12 edition of "Fail-Safe: Los Angeles x Pittsburgh" will prominently feature a number of LA- and Pittsburgh-based Asian-American artists and performers.

Fail-Safe is a recurring variety performance show which brings together artists exploring performance across disciplines to present new experimental projects in early stages of development. Organized by Angela Washko, Scott Andrew, and Jesse Stiles, this fourth edition of Fail-Safe will create a dialogue about performance between Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. Fail-Safe: Los Angeles x Pittsburgh comprises two evenings of new and in-progress performance works by interdisciplinary musicians, performance artists, and dancers from these two cities. On both evenings, visiting artists will be preceded by a lineup of Pittsburgh-based artists whose practices share affinities.

On November 11th, Los Angeles-based artists Young Joon Kwak and Kim Ye present a new experimental performance work from their series Rites of Matrilineal Dissent. The digitally mediated performance takes audiences through a journey of failure and discovery, of new selves and new bodies, and new forms of love and kinship. Pittsburgh artists include Caroline Yoo, Goofy Toof, London Williams, and MICHIYAYA Dance featuring Anya Clark.

On November 12th, visiting artist duo Xina Xurner (Marvin Astorga and Young Joon Kwak) will present their cathartic music performance combining DIY and power electronics, mutated vocals, and bad drag to expand ideas about queer and trans bodies. Pittsburgh artists include Swampwalk, Sacred Sauce (Samira Mendoza & Gladstone Butler), and Davine Byon. The performances will be followed by a dance party hosted by Formosa (Jellyfish).

Please be advised: these performances will explore the topic of sexuality and some may include nudity.

Tickets are available online. The Kelly Strayhorn Theater is located at 5941 Penn Ave. in East Liberty (map).

2004 film Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) in Pittsburgh, September 25 - 28.

The 2004 film Howl's Moving Castle (ハウルの動く城) will play in Pittsburgh from September 25 through 28, part of this year's Studio Ghibli Fest. From the distributor:

From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, and acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki, comes the Academy Award®- nominated fantasy adventure for the whole family.

Sophie, a quiet girl working in a hat shop, finds her life thrown into turmoil when she is literally swept off her feet by a handsome but mysterious wizard named Howl. The vain and vengeful Witch of the Waste, jealous of their friendship, puts a curse on Sophie and turns her into a 90-year-old woman. On a quest to break the spell, Sophie climbs aboard Howl’s magnificent moving castle and into a new life of wonder and adventure. But as the true power of Howl’s wizardry is revealed, Sophie finds herself fighting to protect them both from a dangerous war of sorcery that threatens their world.

It plays locally at AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in McCandless, Monroeville, and Robinson, and tickets are available online. Please note, the shows on the 25th and 28th are dubbed in English, while the shows on the 26th and 27th are in Japanese with English subtitles.

Rashomon (羅生門) downtown at Harris Theater, October 2.

The 1950 Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon (羅生門) will play at the Harris Theater on October 2. A synopsis of the film, from a 2002 Roger Ebert review:

The film opens in torrential rain, and five shots move from long shot to closeup to reveal two men sitting in the shelter of Kyoto's Rashomon Gate. The rain will be a useful device, unmistakably setting apart the present from the past. The two men are a priest and a woodcutter, and when a commoner runs in out of the rain and engages them in conversation, he learns that a samurai has been murdered and his wife raped and a local bandit is suspected. In the course of telling the commoner what they know, the woodcutter and the priest will introduce flashbacks in which the bandit, the wife and the woodcutter say what they saw, or think they saw--and then a medium turns up to channel the ghost of the dead samurai. Although the stories are in radical disagreement, it is unlike any of the original participants are lying for their own advantage, since each claims to be the murderer.

Tickets and showtime information is not yet available. The Harris Theater is located in downtown's Cultural District (map).