Fall 2023 Endowed Lecture Series
The Center for Asian Studies is committed to providing opportunities for the University community to engage in Asian and Asian American cultures. We offer a variety of expert-led lectures throughout the semester such as, The Anlin Ku Lecture on Chinese Culture, Carmen R. & Joseph G. Schneidler Lecture on Pan-Asian Culture, Charlie’s TechTalks and more. See our upcoming and past lectures below.
Fall 2023
Concert: Musical Dreams of the Red Mansion
Sunday, September 24 from 2 to 4 p.m.
SSA Auditorium (SSA 13.330) in the Student Services Addition Building (SSA) at UT Dallas
Parking & Directions for the Musical Dreams of the Red Mansion
Join us for the Dallas Hua Yun Chinese Orchestra’s annual concert where they will be presenting an enchanting exploration of the classic Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Mansion.
In addition to repertoire pieces and solos, the orchestra will be featuring compositions by the celebrated Wang Liping, from the renowned 1987 television adaptation. This performance will weave the tales of romance and melancholy into a rich auditory experience. Join us for a mesmerizing journey through one of China’s most cherished literary works, brought to life in sound!
Lecture: “Writing Into Our Many Bodies: Narratives of Diaspora and Home” featuring Jai Chakrabarti
Wednesday, October 11 from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Jonsson Performance Hall (JO 2.604) in the Erik Jonsson Academic Center
Parking & Directions for Writing Into Our Many Bodies
Jai Chakrabarti presents his lecture, “Writing Into Our Many Bodies: Narratives of Diaspora and Home” along with a reading from his novel, A Play for the End of the World.
Jai Chakrabarti’s fiction masterfully weaves Indian and Jewish themes to depict the depths and heights of human experience. His hauntingly brilliant novel A Play for the End of the World explores the role of art in horrific circumstances, the persisting burden of survival, and the possibility of redemption. The novel received the National Jewish Book Award. In his award-wining short fiction, “whether the setting is India or the United States … there is a universality to the characters’ concerns.” (The New York Times)
Co-sponsors:
Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies
Crow Museum of Asian Art
U.S. India Chamber of Commerce DFW
Participating sponsors:
Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology
Hobson Wildenthal Honors College
Dallas Literary Society
Lecture: 11th Anlin Ku Lecture featuring Dr. Bernard Faure
Thursday, October 19 from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Jonsson Performance Hall (JO 2.604) in the Erik Jonsson Academic Center
Parking & Directions for the Anlin Ku Lecture
Dr. Bernard Faure (Columbia) will present the 11th annual Anlin Ku Lecture on Chinese Culture on the topic “New Perspectives on the Life of the Buddha.” He is an internationally renowned scholar whose recent book 1,001 Lives of the Buddha is the basis of his remarks.
The Anlin Ku Lecture series is co-sponsored with the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, & Technology and is generously supported and endowed by Jeffrey Robinson and Stefanie Schneidler.
Lecture: Asian-American Authors with Texas Connections featuring Sindya Bhanoo and Nina McConigley
Wednesday, November 8 from 4 to 5:30 p.m. [Reception at 3:15 p.m.]
BAHT Conference Room (JO 4.122) in the Erik Jonsson Academic Center (JO)
Parking & Directions for Asian-American Authors with Texas Connections
Join us for readings by Indian-American authors Sindya Bhanoo and Nina McConigley, followed by a panel discussion with Maurine Ogbaa and Rose Skelton.
An open reception with light refreshments will be held beforehand at 3:15 p.m. Please join us to meet the authors!
Sindya Bhanoo | Author
Her anthology of stories about Asian immigrants Seeking Fortune Elsewhere achieves a level of poignancy most writers can only dream of (Harvard Review). A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers, Bhanoo has received an O. Henry Prize and the 2023 Oregon Book Award for Fiction, among others. She is an assistant professor of English at Oregon State University.
Nina McConigley | Author
The stories in PEN Award recipient McConigley’s collection Cowboys and East Indians – “destined to be a classic” [Judges’ Citation] – describe “Wyoming with the same mythic nostalgia that many Southern writers write about the South.” She received an MFA from the University of Houston and currently is an assistant professor of English at Colorado State University.
Maurine Ogbaa | Panelist
Ogbaa’s scholarly research, fiction, and non-fiction focus on the experience of diasporic African women. Her creative writing has appeared in Prairie Schooner, AGNI, third coast, The Elephant (Kenya) and elsewhere. She is a UTD assistant professor of literature and creative writing.
Rose Skelton | Panelist
An award-winning reporter, author, and editor, Skelton is currently at work on Homescar, a collection of short stories set on an island in her native Scotland. Her fiction and nonfiction writing has been published in Four Way Review, Waxwing and Ecotone Magazine.