ASIANetwork Freeman Foundation
Student-Faculty Fellows Program
for Collaborative Research in Asia

Summer 2012 Program

Overview

The summer 2012 ASIANetwork Freeman Student-Faculty Fellows Program will be the fourteenth funded by the Freeman Foundation to support collaborative undergraduate research in East and Southeast Asia. Over $434,000 will be allocated to fourteen faculty mentors and sixty-two undergraduate students for study in teams numbering between four and six individuals. Ten teams will conduct research in China, one in Japan, one in Indonesia, one in Thailand, and one in both Thailand and Cambodia.

When the summer 2012 program is completed, 172 grants will have been provided to 772 student faculty fellows from 98 different colleges throughout North America. Four of this year’s recipients are from colleges previously not funded by this program. Consequently, its outreach continues to grow. ASIANetwork remains truly grateful to the remarkable commitment of the Freeman Foundation to this program, to ASIANetwork, and to the undergraduate students and their faculty mentors who are transformed by this experience. There is no other program like it.

The teams funded this year along with the titles and a brief description of their research proposals are given below.

 

Recipients:

Benedictine College

Mentor, Steven Day, Department of Language and Literature
Adam Baldocchi, ’12, Kathleen Thomas, ’12, Shelby Workman, ’13
“Modern Beauties, Marriage Markets, and Emergent Individualism
in Contemporary Chinese Society”

Three Benedictine College students will conduct independent research in the area of Beijing. Adam Baldocchi has noted that whereas in the past traditional matchmakers were utilized to help unite couples in marriage, today parents, who personally involve themselves in finding partners for their children, increasingly rely upon online dating and local “marriage markets” to find partners for their children. His study will examine the attitudes of youth toward parents who are making use of “marriage markets” to find suitable spouses for them. Kathleen Thomas will utilize interview and survey techniques to examine the impact of sweeping social reforms in contemporary China and the increased access to Western culture on the attitudes and behaviors associated with individualism in China. Shelby Workman’s research will focus on traditional standards of female beauty in China and how the Chinese revolution and globalization have changed traditional notions of beauty and the degree to which women now feel empowered to define femininity and beauty for themselves.

Colby College

Mentor, Hong Zhang, Department of East Asian Studies
Petya Andreeva, ’13, Bette Ha, ’14, Eliza Laamoon, ’13, Fiona Masland, ’12, Jennifer Tsang, ’13
“Redefining Old Age and Eldercare: Stories from China”

Because the combined impact of China’s one-child policy, population mobility, accelerated urbanization, longer life expectancy, and the transition to a market economy and consumer-oriented society have presented unprecedented challenges to traditional family care for the aged in China and have fueled worries over whether China is ready for the coming “silver tsunami”, this research team plans to work jointly to document changes in eldercare and old age experiences in urban (Beijing and Shanghai) and rural (Huanshan Township in Zhejiang Province and Feixiang County in Hebei Province) China. Each student will focus on different issues related to this study. The titles of their research are “Aging in Place: Developing Community-Based and At-Home Eldercare Models with Chinese Characteristics” (Andreeva); “Left Behind but Not Alone: Agency, Self-Sufficiency and New Eldercare Patterns in Rural China” (Ha); “Waltzing into Old Age: Active and Peer Aging in Urban Parks and Community Centers” (Laamoon); “Social Innovation and Service Delivery for the Elderly: ‘Partnership’ between Government and NGOs”(Masland); and “Redefining Filial Piety: Changing Attitudes toward Institutional Care” (Tsang).

College of Charleston

Mentor, Helen Delfeld, Political Science Department
Elizabeth Figliola, ’13, Susannah Hicks, ’12, Lua Parsi, ’12, Tara Schiraldi, ’12, Liza Wood, ’13
“Savages, Victims, Saviors and Their Engagement in Neoliberal Processes”

The College of Charleston research team bases its analysis on the discourse of human rights identified by Makau Mutua which is focused on the interplay between what he terms savages, their victims, and their saviors. Their study will focus on the One Tambon One Product project in Thailand in which the Thai government takes an active role in seeking Thai solutions for human rights abuses, and then on the international NGO activist community and the increasing engagement of the tourist industry in human rights concerns in Cambodia which relies upon international funding and support to confront human rights abuses. Student researchers will examine different issues related to this topic: grief tourism or thanatourism sites such as Phnom Penh’s Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (Figliola); the rehabilitation of women forced into the sex trade in Thailand and Cambodia (Hicks); the impact of tourist visits on Thai and Cambodian orphanages (Parsi); the influence of international support for women’s advocacy groups in these two countries (Schiraldi); and the impact of tourism and Western agricultural innovations on traditional agriculture (Wood).

Green Mountain College

Mentor, Mark Dailey, Anthropology Department
Jessica McClusky, ’12, Alison Putnam, ’13, Jena Stevens, ’13,
Simon Winchell-Manning, ’13, Charlotte Wright, ’13
“Environmental Memory at the Edge of Empire”

The Green Mountain team of researchers will conduct a joint ethnographic study of how massive outmigration from several village sites in the subtropical, hilly interior of China’s Southeastern Fujian Province is affecting the human-environment relationship in these increasingly depopulated areas. Villages are being drained of people – and some abandoned altogether – while the social lives and physical settings of those that remain behind are being transformed. The group will employ a set of largely qualitative ethnographic methods to collect data on villager perceptions of environmental and social changes attending deruralization, including semi-structured interviews, observation and participant-observation, life histories, cognitive (or mental) maps, and photographic documentation.

Linfield College

Mentor, Michael Patrick Cottrell, Political Science Department
Morgan Christianson, ’13, Bridget Grant,’13, Kole Kracaw, ’13,
Leanne McCallum, ’13, William McHenry, ’13
“Governing the Stateless: New Perspectives on the
Plight of Burmese Refugees in Thailand”

This joint project explores the governance challenges posed by Burmese refugees in Thailand. By examining this complex issue from the vantage point of a variety of stakeholders – the Royal Thai Government (RTG), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of the Thai-Burma Border Consortium (TBBC), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Bali Process – it first aims to illuminate the divergent, at times contradictory, incentives that undermine cooperative efforts to solve the longstanding refugee crisis. It then draws from literature on experimental forms of governance to evaluate alternative pathways to overcome collective action problems that could have both theoretical and policy implications. While in Thailand, each student will undertake his/her research on an individual stakeholder working with Burmese refugee issues, and ultimately pool their analysis to identify similarities and differences among them and the major obstacles to governance and potential areas for enhanced cooperation.

Loras College

Mentor, Lee S. Zhu, Department of History
Shanae Kemen, ’13, Stephanie Schulze, ’13, Colleen Sullivan, ’13, Shanshan Zhu, ’13
“Buddhism and Christianity in Post-Mao China:
Case Studies of Lingyin Temple and Chongyi Church, Hangzhou, China”

The focus of this research endeavor will be Chongyi Church (a large Protestant church built by the China Inland Mission that can accommodate 5,500 worshipers) and Lingyin Temple (an important Buddhist temple founded in the fourth century which currently houses 110 monks and is a popular tourist destination for about three million visitors a year). Both are located in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, China. Student researchers will study the impressive emergence of these institutions during the last three decades, with two focusing on the relationship between Chongyi Church, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee, and the Hangzhou Religious Affairs Bureau, and the other two studying the relationship between Lingyin Temple, the Buddhist Association, and the Hangzhou Religious Affairs Bureau. The study will examine the relations of both institutions with the local government in seeking to provide both historical and comparative perspectives to better understand religion-state relations in post-Mao China and also the uneven abilities of Christianity and Buddhism to attract lay believers.

Roanoke College

Mentor, Stella Yingzi Xu, Department of History
Thomas Emerson, ’14, Zachary Hottel, ’12, Mathilda Nassa, ’15, Kathleen Chenya Ouyang, ’13
“Reinvented Tradition in the Age of Globalization:
The Silk Road and its Legacy in Contemporary China”

Four students will use the Silk Road as metaphor to understand transcontinental cultural interaction during the pre-modern period in order to explore the legacy of the Silk Road in contemporary Chinese society. The four projects each seek to reach a more comprehensive understanding of globalization in past and present. Thomas Emerson will conduct research on the early domestication (Sinification) of Buddhism and the revival of Buddhism in contemporary China. Zachary Hottel hopes to augment an earlier study he has completed on European missionaries in China and their interaction with Mongol elites during the 13th and 14th centuries, by studying the rapid growth of Christianity in China during the past three decades. Mathilda Nassar’s research will focus on the current status of Chinese medicine within the context of globalization, with a more particular focus on similarities in practice between Chinese medicine and traditional therapies in her home country of Palestine. Kathleen Ouyang plans to examine the merging and renovation of the previously existing Museum of the Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History in Beijing to create the National Museum of China in order to discern how the current museum reflects China’s concern about how to properly address Chinese history and culture in an age of globalization.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Mentor, Holly Ann Blumner, Theater, Film and Media Studies Department
Jemarc-Van Ruiz Axinto, ’14, Samuel DiDonato, ’14, Jean Drzyzgula, ’13,
Frances Pierce, ’13, Elizabeth Porter, ’14
“Ceremony, Theatricality, Festivity, and Festivals:
The Gion Festival of Kyoto, Japan"

This collaborative project by five students focuses upon studying festival practices at one of the three largest festivals in Japan, the Gion Matsuri. During the twenty-three days the group will spend in Kyoto witnessing the festival, each of the students will examine the Gion Festival from a different perspective. Jemarc-Van Ruiz Axinto will study the theatricality and movement evidenced in the festival. Frances Pierce will study costume and festival attire. Jean Drzyzgula will study neighborhood participation in sponsoring and protecting festival floats. Elizabeth Porter will study children and their participation in the festival, and Samuel DiDonato will study the effect of commercialization and urban development on the festival. Student researchers will produce a video documentary that includes footage of the floats being assembled, as well as the procession of the hoko and yama floats, and the traditional dances presented in conjunction with the festival. One student will also be learning a few of the traditional dances performed at the festival. The video, dance performance, and also an exhibition of photographs and artifacts from the festival will be shared with the St. Mary’s College of Maryland upon the return of the group.

St. Olaf College

Mentor, Xun Zhang Pomponio, Department of Economics
Daniel Habesland, ’13, Virginia Ma, ’12, Olivia Schares, ’12, Matt Venker, ’12
“Sustainable Development in Northwestern China:
Relationships between Water and People”

Current Chinese leaders state that they wish to build a “harmonious” society that includes harmony between nature and people, government and civilians, rich and poor, and the majority and minority. This study focuses on the challenge of producing a “harmonious relationship” between water and people in Northwest China. Relying upon close ties existing between the mentor and colleagues at Northwest University in Xian, an in-depth study of provincial and county level Water Resource Bureaus and two farming communities will be undertaken in Shaanxi Province. This will be followed by study focused around Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu, and Urumqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Using survey data, personal interviews, and quantitative analysis, each of the student researchers will study one important consideration related to the target societies: traditional approaches to water conservation and production patterns in agriculture (Venker) ; management of institutional schemes, measured in terms of efficiency, fairness, and effectiveness (Habesland); water policies and their impacts on the environment and people (Schares); and lastly, the impact of water shortage on children’s health and education (Ma).

University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire

Mentor, Ezra Zeitler, Geography Department
Der Lee, ’14, Becky Vang, ’14, Nou Vue, ’14, Choua Xiong, ’14, Chee Yang, ’14
“The China Hmong History Research Project”

The University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire has a significant Hmong student population, currently numbering 243 individuals, the largest minority group on campus. Five Hmong students have developed this proposal to enable them to visit Hmong populated regions in China, the Hunan Provincial and other museums known for their attention to Hmong history and culture, as well as various Hmong villages to help to identify who the Hmong and Miao people are in China and to study their oral histories, folklores, myths and language practices. Each student will focus on a different aspect of Hmong history and culture. Upon return to the United States, the group has a substantive agenda for introducing what they discover to the Hmong community in Wisconsin and, through participation in a variety of conferences, to the study of American multiculturalism. Given the broad-based support of academics throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota to this endeavor, the group hopes that this project will also stimulate the growth of a Hmong Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

Valparaiso University

Mentor, Jonathan Schoer, Department of Chemistry
Kelly Belisle, ’14, Tim Brown, ’12, Adam Dickey, ’13, Laura Mattson, ’14, Caitlin Soley, ’13
“The Dynamics of Nutrient Exchange and Reduction of Nutrient Loading
in Aquatic Ecosystems”

One group of three students will work with Dr. Schoer and professors and graduate students at Zhejiang University to examine the dynamics of nutrient (primarily phosphorus, P) exchange between various components of aquatic ecosystems and investigate approaches to manage nutrient (primarily phosphorus and nitrogen compounds) loading into these systems. This is essential because the large amount of fertilizers (key contributors to increasing nutrient levels) historically used in Chinese agriculture impact the aquatic ecosystems in eastern China which are especially susceptible to excessive plant growth and algae blooms followed by devastating crashes of dissolved oxygen levels and subsequent fish kills when the algae and plant life begins to die. The second group of two researchers will work with Dr. Schoer and professors and graduate students from the Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University to examine the water quality in part of the Tai Hu watershed in Zhejiang province and assess mechanisms of reducing nutrient (primarily phosphorus and nitrogen compounds) loading into the watershed. These projects will become a basis for establishing ongoing collaborations between faculty and students in the STEM disciplines at Valparaiso University and colleagues at these two Chinese universities. Results of the studies will be published in peer-reviewed academic journals and presented at appropriate disciplinary conferences.

Vassar College

Mentor, Yu Zhou, Department of Geography
Jiayi Bao, ’14, Emily Denn, ’14, Zachary Kent, ’13, Gaelin Monkman-Kotz, ’12, Michael Norton, ’14
“Attitudes and Practices of Beijing Residents Regarding Sustainability in
Their Choice of Foods, Transportation and Home Appliances”

This research group will work together to investigate three targeted areas: the nascent movements favoring ecological agricultural practices and food consumption, green forms of transportation, and the choice of energy efficient household appliances within Beijing. Particular emphasis will be placed on determining how environmental consciousness and practice emerge within a developing country, and how this consciousness and practice is shaped by different social, economic and cultural priorities. Several key questions will be addressed through this study, including what motivates Chinese citizens to adopt sustainable practices, and what discourages them from doing so? What types of governmental actions can effectively influence their behavior, and what internationally-accepted best sustainable practices work in China?

Warren Wilson College

Mentor, Siti Kusujiarti, Sociology Department
Annie Pryor, ’13, Elizabeth Miano, ’12, Breanna Ryan, ’14
“Unveiling the Mysteries of Aceh: Local and Global Intersections of Women’s Agency”

This research focuses on specific ways in which matrifocal traditions, the globalization of feminism and Islamic revivalism shape women’s identities in Aceh – Indonesia’s most Muslim-dominated province. Each student will explore a different topic. Annie Pryor’s study relates to the phenomena of veiling as a manifestation of Shari’ah law in Aceh and how education impacts women’s perspective on veiling. Historically, wearing a jilbab, or headscarf, symbolizes womanhood in the Islamic world, however, wearing jilbab today symbolizes not only a woman’s morality and maturity, but also her personal style and is thus a form of agency. Elizabeth Miano will explore how globalizing forces are inspiring women’s assertion of their agency through resistance to the implementation of Shari’ah law in Aceh and the ways they empower themselves and others to define their identities as Muslim, Indonesian, Acehnese and women simultaneously. Breanna Ryan will study three particular elements found in Aceh: matrifocality, particularly when examining marriage, property and inheritance practices; merantao, the encouragement of men to leave their villages for extended periods of time; and muslihat, the use of indirect means to attain a goal. While these traditions and customs appear to represent a society in which women experience power, they also underscore a belief that a woman’s role is within the domestic sphere, not the political and urban economic spheres.

Washington & Jefferson College

Mentor, Yongsheng Wang, Department of Economics
McKenzie Graf, ’13, Alexander Smith, ’13, Savannah Sprowls, ’13, Aaron Szafran, ’13
“The Impact of Recent Labor Shortages in China”

Each member of this research team will explore a topic closely linked to increasing problems faced in various Chinese locales due to recurrent labor shortages. McKenzie Graf will study the response of employers to labor shortages which vary from raising wages, to developing other non-wage incentives, for instance, better working hours, paid vacation time, free or inexpensive room and board, and career training, to entice workers to seek jobs in their companies. Alexander Smith will study the impact of the massive Chinese stimulus package focused on interior and rural China on the migration of workers from these regions to coastal areas. Savannah Sprowls will more broadly consider recurrent patterns of migration in the Chinese labor market and the causes of these patterns. Finally, Aaron Szafran will focus his research on the benefits and costs considered by plant owners and managers opting to relocate their enterprises to inland cities, or even to hire undocumented workers from neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Laos. Research will be undertaken during a 25-day period spent in Qingdao, Shanghai, Wuhan and Shenzhen relying on a range of contacts which Washington & Jefferson College and the mentor has established in China.

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