Asian History Commons^™

Spartans In Vietnam: Michigan State University's Experience In South Vietnam, Jake T. Alster

Grand Valley Journal of History

In this article, the relations between various colleges (with special attention to Michigan State University) and the United States Government are explored in relation to America’s effort in nation building in South Vietnam in the late 1950s. During America’s efforts in Vietnam more reliance was put upon collegiate institutions to help negotiate foreign policy. One of the major issues regarding South Vietnam was technical assistance, and how we should implement assistance into the third world. Michigan State University, under the presidency of John Hannah, became the most important university in the technical assistance program. John Ernst argues that this was …

Mandala And Charisma: The Federalist Potentials In Traditional Indonesian Political Culture, Yuhao Wen

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This research explores the federalist elements in the mandala (a graphic art pattern in Southeast Asia) and political charisma to discuss their constructive roles as traditional Indonesian political culture in federalizing Indonesia. Since August 17, 1945 when Sukarno declared the independence of the country in Jakarta, the newly–born Indonesia was also finalized as a centralized presidential republic. However, till today, societal diversities in Indonesian society are continuously increasing, the tendency of federalization, therefore, has never entirely faded away. Both the mandala and political charisma de facto have spontaneously generated their own initiatives for federalization since ancient times. Upon illustration of …

China's Use Of Economic Hard Power In The 21st Century, Taylor Shippen

BYU Asian Studies Journal

China’s growing willingness to project military power may make the nightly news, but military power is not China’s greatest tool in achieving political ends. Since Deng Xiaoping began his reforms in 1978, economic influence has been the source of many of China’s diplomatic breakthroughs with the West. Although there is some dispute among scholars about what to call China’s growing influence (Klein 1994: 39; Huang 2013), for the purposes of this paper, China’s growing persuasiveness will be based on Joseph Nye’s definition of hard power, which he defines as “the ability to use the carrots and sticks of economic and …

Oro?: Word Choice, Character, And Translation In Rurouni Kenshin, Tasha Layton

BYU Asian Studies Journal

Anime is one of the most common forms of entertainment in the United States. Its ubiquitous presence causes some Western viewers to forget that anime is, in fact, foreign film. One of the only things that reminds us of this fact is the strangeness of the scripts, particularly the grammar—a quirky grammar that is often a target for anime critics and comedic imitators. While it is true that the Japanese language used in anime is quite stylized, there are more important explanations for why the English versions sound unnatural. Audiences often think only of the denotations and semantic functions of …

On The Fringe: China's Disability Laws Through The Lens Of The Traditional Culture, Brandon Christensen

BYU Asian Studies Journal

Explosive economic growth over the last two decades has dramatically increased China’s standard of living and given rise to a rapidly growing middle class. Political reform, however, has been slow to follow with decades-old legal restrictions on civil liberties still firmly in place. Among China’s underdeveloped civil protections is the right for people with disabilities to enjoy freedom from popular and institutional prejudice in language or action, especially when seeking employment. Recent revisions of China’s disability laws provide increased employment protections, but latent prejudicial language and traditional stereotypes in the law suggest these revisions may not reach the core objective …

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BYU Asian Studies Journal

No abstract provided.

Modified Motorcycles: Stories From Chiang Mai, Thailand, Erin Meyers

BYU Asian Studies Journal

Motorcycles in Southeast Asia

Over the last two decades, a revolution has taken place on the streets of Asia. The ubiquity of motorcycles as a primary form of transportation has increased substantially. Since 1990, motorcycle ownership rates in Indonesia and Vietnam have increased by over 300 and 1,000 percent respectively (Muir and Brown 2011). Similarly, the number of motorcycles registered in Thailand has grown by over 280 percent, from 4,778, 220 vehicles in 1990 to 18,451, 518 in 2012 (Number). Asia has the highest level of motorcycle ownership in the world now (Barter 1999).