Asian History Commons^™

Regimes Of Pain: Violence, Silence, And The Reproduction Of Power In Indonesia, Andi Achdian, Erna Ermawati Chotim

Jurnal Politik

This article examines political violence in Indonesia as a continuing mode of governance that extends beyond periods of open repression. Focusing on three historical episodes—the mass violence of 1965–1966, militarised rule in Aceh during the Military Operations Zone, and the racialised violence of May 1998—it argues that violence does not disappear after formal repression ends, but is reorganised within everyday life through bodily injury, social silence, fear, and learned endurance. To explain this process, the article develops the concept of regimes of pain, defined as forms of power that produce and normalise bodily suffering in order to sustain political order. …

Jadughar: The House Of Magic, Dhruvi A. Shah

Masters Theses

Jadughar or the House of Magic is what people call a 'museum' in parts of South Asia. The practice of museum making, at its origin, is the act of collecting, preserving, interpreting and representing a culture’s tangible and intangible heritage to make it accessible to diverse audiences. Since the early 19th century such practices have been performed at various kala bhandars (art centers) in India, without the need of a formal or institutional organisation. The British introduced the model of a ‘museum’ in South Asia, with the aim of not only preserving ethnographic collections, but also showcasing their power and …

Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 19 No. 1, 2025, University Of San Francisco

Asia Pacific Perspectives

Articles

Think Pieces

Photo Essay

Book Reviews

2nd Place Contest Entry: "Destablizing U.S.-Japan Relations: Nikkatsu Film Noir As Postwar Social Critique", Thomas Graham Buchanan

Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Library Research Prize

This is Thomas Buchanan's submission for the 2026 Eric M. Scandrett Graduate Research Prize, which won second place. It contains their essay on using library resources, a summary of their research project on how a generation of Japanese filmmakers in the 1950s and 1960s borrowed the formal strategies of Hollywood film noir to mount a critique of U.S. Cold War policy, and their bibliography.

Thomas is a student in the Master of Arts in Film & Media Studies program at Chapman University. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Emily Carman.

Thomas' thesis is the scholarship that emerged from the research discussed …

Between Commodity And Culture: Tea Advertising As A Site Of Imperial Ideology And Anti-Colonial Resistance In India, Sydney Pascal

Honors Theses

Between the late nineteenth century and Indian independence in 1947, tea advertising became a key site through which imperial authority and Indian nationalism were negotiated. Drawing on advertisements, trade journals, and visual marketing campaigns produced from the 1880s through the 1950s, this honors thesis argues that tea advertising was a cultural and political mechanism through which the British Empire attempted to normalize imperial consumption and legitimize colonial authority. British campaigns framed tea as modern and routine while obscuring the exploitative labor systems and landscape transformations that sustained plantation production in Assam. As nationalist movements expanded in the early twentieth century, …

Countryside Aflame: Fire As A Hazard In The Rural Philippines, 1850–1950, Greg Bankoff, Marie Beatriz D. Gulinao, David O. Lozada Iii, Mary Donna Grace Cuenca

History Department Faculty Publications

Fire has shaped human evolution, social organisation, and technological development, yet modern fire science remains anchored in categories derived largely from Western experience: wildland fires, the wildland–urban interface, and urban conflagrations. These frameworks obscure a fourth, largely overlooked regime– village fire– rural settlements that lack the structural protections, materials, and services characteristic of urban areas. In the Philippines, where rural settlement dominated into the twentieth century, village fire was the principal way people encountered fire risk. Using evidence from the Historical Data Papers (1951), this study reconstructs a village fire regime marked by highly combustible construction, new technological sources of …

“The Irishmen – Immigrants, Soldiers, And The Spark Of Revolutions”, Joshua Hanscheck

History Theses

The Irish, as a people and a revolutionary inspiration, have been the subject of research and discussion for much of the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A trope has emerged that the Irish could take over the world, if they were not so busy chasing the bottom of their pub glasses, but the trope – stereotypes about Irish drinking aside – is grounded in some truth. The diaspora encouraged many things: a revival in Gaelic culture, a general disdain among outsiders for the Irish as a people group, and, most importantly, a revolutionary fervor that seemed almost infectious. This fervor …

Imagining South Korean Nationhood Through Remembering And Forgetting The South Korean Military In The Vietnam War, Robinson P. Lee

Pitzer Senior Theses

Little more than a decade after being victimized by the devastating Korean War, South Korea fought in another devastating civil war in Asia, the Vietnam War. How is South Korean nationhood and political identity understood and articulated in the face of existential national questions presented by the Vietnam War? This thesis uses social and oral history approaches to put a myriad of primary and secondary sources in conversation with one another, building on the existing, limited English-language literature on South Korean military involvement in the Vietnam War. These approaches include examining narratives of Vietnam War atrocities, of an organized group …

Book Review: Macarthur As Spirit: A Review Of Spirit Power: Politics And Religion In Korea’S American Century, Jieon Yoo

Asia Pacific Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Women In Samurai Households From The Late Muromachi To Edo Periods Of Japan: An Examination Of Social Structure, Politics, And Economics, Brandy Sweigart

Research Awards

Japan and the samurai culture has fascinated many Western countries for generations, especially in modern media like video games and movies. However, the portrayal of the samurai household in these media are inaccurate to actual historical events—with this being especially true for women. Older historical research perpetuates these inaccuracies and stereotypes as well, painting women in a passive light. Samurai women in the Muromachi through Edo periods of Japan were not passive, however, directly influencing the social structures, politics, and economic structures of those medieval periods. Women in the conflict-ridden times of the Sengoku Period took it a step further—with …

An Analysis Of Portuguese Colonial Representations Of Sinhalese Women, Chandra R. De Silva, Ramani Hettiarchchi

History Faculty Publications

The history of Sri Lanka until recently has been written mostly as the history of men in the country. This has been particularly true of the early modern period, for which existing records are mostly those of visiting colonizers who were mostly men, writing about their dealings with those in power or with those from whom they could gain profit. This article is an attempt to collect and analyze the admittedly limited data on how the Portuguese who gained political authority over parts of the coastal areas saw local women. It is limited to the women of the majority community …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

From Fort To Prison: The Production Of Iloilo City, Ram Paulo A. Anayan

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

The foundation of colonial cities in the Philippines rests on violence. The Spanish policies of the reducción forced the natives to settle in pueblos where colonial power is ensured. The resistance of some natives brought about the divide between tagabayan (town dweller) and tagabundok (mountain dweller)—respective connotations of civilization and savagery (Lumbera and Lumbera, 36). This paper examines how this centripetal-centrifugal force of simultaneous identity-production and displacement is echoed in the metonymy of the fort on which the origins of Iloilo City stand. I navigate how this movement manifests in the consciousness of the city across historical periods represented by …

Elite Southern Views On Chinese Labor From Reconstruction To Exclusion, Spencer Livengood

The Ozark Historical Review

This paper discusses the shift in Southern attitudes toward Chinese immigrants during the period between the Civil War and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Immediately following the war, those attitudes were generally positive; however, once Reconstruction state governments were overthrown, the South’s political class rapidly aligned itself with western anti-Chinese voices in the papers and in Congress.

Women And Religion In The Mongol Empire, Karlie Barnett

The Ozark Historical Review

This article contributes toward the effort to uncover the impact of women on the making of the Mongol Empire in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It also considers how women among the Mongols interacted with religion in varied and distinct ways and how these relationships influenced the development of Eurasian religions and the Mongol Empire overall. These interactions, which took place in the personal realm, the political realm, and in the realm of patronage, had profound effects on the development of Eurasian religions and the Mongol Empire.

Disruptions And Continuity In The Singaporean Chinese Community: Social Networks, Collaborationists, And The Black Market Under The British And Japanese Administrations, 1819-1960, Alison Fong

The Ozark Historical Review

This paper focuses on the Chinese community of Singapore and their experiences under the British colonial administration and the Japanese military administration from 1819 to 1960. It argues that the Chinese community utilized and transformed social networks formed during the British colonial era (1819-1942) to adapt to the upheavals that the Japanese Occupation of Singapore (1942-1945) and the return of the British administration (1945-1960) introduced. These social networks shifted to meet the needs of the Chinese community in response to changing social hierarchies and status quos. Some were based on traditional kinship systems, and others were based on mercantile and …

Review: Wombs Of Empire: Population Discourses And Biopolitics In Modern Japan, By Sujin Lee Available, Alexander Bay

History Faculty Articles and Research

A review of Wombs of Empire: Population Discourses and Biopolitics in Modern Japan by Sujin Lee.

The Influence Of Colonialism On The Development Of Religious Life In Timor Leste, Abdul Kadirsyam Salampessy, Rahadjeng Pulungsari Hadi

International Review of Humanities Studies

Timor-Leste is the youngest country in the world with unique religious dynamics. The Catholic population increased rapidly after independence, while the Muslim population decreased drastically due to political dynamics. The presence of Mari Alkatiri, an Arab-descended Timorese Muslim who became Prime Minister (PM) twice, is a depiction of the presence of Islam in a Catholic-majority country. The long history of colonialism in Timor-Leste has greatly influenced the landscape of religious life there. In its development, the people of Timor-Leste live harmoniously and democratically.

This journal uses a qualitative research method that focuses on the social and cultural phenomena of the …

Korean Pioneers: The History, Identity, And Legacy Of The First Korean Americans, Evan Gravdahl

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

In examining Korean American history, the starting date for their arrival is conventionally recognized as 1903, when roughly 7,000 laborers migrated to Hawaii. This first wave consisted primarily of young men, many of whom didn’t plan to stay in the US. However, as their stays continued and other Koreans continued migrating, they began developing a unique cultural identity within the United States. This paper aims to determine the unique identities that developed during this first wave of immigration between 1903 and 1945, how they assimilated, and how they interacted with other ethnic minorities and later waves of Korean immigrants.

The …

So Who Gets To Be Modern? Jadidism And Reform In Late Nineteenth And Early Twentieth Century Russia, Grant Douglas Linville

University Honors Theses

Jadidism was a sociocultural reformist project from the 1880s to 1920s developed by Muslim intellectuals in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. The Jadidist movement derives its name from the "new-method" (usul-al Jadid) schools that spread Jadid pedagogy, which revolved around the inclusion of secular topics and Western knowledge as well as instruction in local, Tatar, and Russian languages, in addition to the already present religious studies accompanied by Arabic and Persian taught in the Islamic educational institutions the maktab and madrasa (primary and higher education respectively). Over time Jadidism grew to encompass a host of societal …

Res Historica, Volume 4, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2025 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Samuel Sanders, and Julia Ackerman. The cover art for this volume is an open access image.

Consumptive Femininity: (De)Constructions Of Gender And Colonization In Korean Diaspora Literature, Jack Kelly

Honors Program Theses

This paper explores how two authors with Korean heritage use similar metaphors to write about the same historical traumas. I engage close readings of two novels—Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko and Yu Miri’s The End of August—to interrogate how each author uses images of food/food preparation as well as images of sexual encounters to draw links between exploited bodies and exploited land. Ultimately, I find that the differences in these two authors’ approaches reflect their distance from modern centers of empire. This reminds us of the importance of having a diverse literary and historical canon that centers on authors who have …

Fermented Resistance: The Role Of Kimchi In Preserving Korean Identity Through Colonialism And Modernization, Francis M. Ferreira

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis began with a simple observation during my year abroad in Seoul: kimchi was everywhere. It appeared at every table, in every household, and soon, in every question I had about Korean identity. What started as a personal curiosity evolved into a deep historical inquiry into how this single dish — made of fermented cabbage, radish, and spices — came to represent the soul of a nation. This thesis traces kimchi’s journey from a humble survival food in agrarian Korea to a symbol of resistance during Japanese colonization, a tool for reclaiming identity after liberation, and ultimately, a globally …

Damn The Dams: Framing ‘Schizophrenic’ Discourses Of The Hindu Right, Nandita Ghosh

Critical Humanities

This article examines the concept of schizophrenia as a cultural metaphor in order to analyze the Hindu Right’s contradictory language-framing politics within the public domain, particularly in relation to building mega dams on rivers Narmada and Bhagirathi. In so doing, it intends to examine the nature of the public domain itself that enables such framing politics within the context of late 20^th-early-21^st-century global capital. Language battles in the public domain have intensified during this period, especially through various forms of digital media. In India, the various groups that form the Hindu Right have often mixed the …

Asia In Saint Louis: Synergy Of Library Instruction, Digital Humanities, And Community Engagement, Joan Wang, David Romney

Journal of East Asian Libraries

This article explores the integration of library instruction, digital humanities, and community engagement through the "Asia in Saint Louis" project at Washington University in St. Louis. Led by subject librarians Joan Wang and David Romney, in collaboration with digital humanities specialists and local community organizations, the project aimed to digitally reconstruct and showcase the histories of Asian Americans in St. Louis from the late 19th to the 20th century. Funded by the Missouri Humanities Council, the project employed ArcGIS StoryMap technology to create a series of interactive narratives. These StoryMaps, supported by archival research and community involvement, highlight key themes …

Korean Newspapers And The “Irish Problem”: Japanese Censorship In Colonial Korea, 1920-1930, Jaehyun Kim

Student Work

Jaehyun Kim’s thesis, “Korean Newspapers and the ‘Irish Problem’: Japanese Censorship in Colonial Korea, 1920-1930,” touches upon a subject that scholars of colonial Korea have given insufficient attention to. Kim asks why there featured so many colonial Korean run newspaper articles on the Irish Independent movement in the 1920s and 1930s when the Japanese colonial government actively censored Korean newspapers. Indeed, in the wake of the March First Independent Movement, the colonial authorities shifted its harsh military rule to a more conciliatory cultural policy, allowing Koreans to vent their nationalistic sentiments within the confines of state control. However, the level …

The One-And-A-Half Chinas’ Problem: Taiwan And The Origins Of Peaceful Reunification, 1978–1988, Lucas Miner

Student Work

Lucas Miner’s thesis, “The One-and-a-Half Chinas’ Problem, Taiwan and the Origins of Peaceful Reunification, 1978–1988,” deals with attempts by the Chinese Communist Party and the Guomindang to achieve unification between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Taiwan during the early phase of China’s reform era. The thesis seeks to update our interpretation of Cross-Strait relations by exploring the origins of peaceful reunification, tracing its early evolution from 1978 to 1985. Primary sources from both sides of the strait—especially from the rich repository at the Academia Historica in Taipei—allows Miner to construct a nuanced and significant narrative that uniquely incorporates …

Houses Built For Gods: Articulations Of Urban Hokora In Kyoto, Steele Engelmann

Anthropology Undergraduate Honors Theses

Amidst the urban landscape of Kyoto, Japan, there are thousands of hokora, small neighborhood shrines. This study uses social theories of pilgrimage and space to examine the articulation of hokora, community, and personal desire. As sites of local pilgrimage, hokora form networks of communal, but also individual, aspirations across the urban spiritual landscape of the city. This thesis argues that communities are connected to the larger social structures of Kyoto through hokora. As such, neighborhoods are reproduced and displayed through their hokora’s entanglements with the urban, social, and religious landscapes of Kyoto. Therefore, this study deploys an ethnographic approach to …

Res Historica, Volume 3, Lynneth Miller Renberg Phd, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta

Res Historica

The 2024 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lynneth Miller Renberg, Johnathan Sorce, and Samuel Sanders.

Gangsterism, The Urban Ruling Elite, And The Guomindang: Power Sharing During The Early Years Of The Chinese Republic, 1927-1937, Evan Boyle

Undergraduate Research Symposium

China’s Republican era, prior to the Japanese occupation and while under the authority of Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang (c. 1927-1937), has in many respects been underexplored by historians. The Shanghai Massacre, Chiang’s subsequent military campaigns against the Communists, the factious divisions within the Guomindang, and the ongoing Japanese campaign to annex parts of the Chinese mainland are often highlighted. In my presentation, rather than focusing on the various foes of the Guomindang, I plan to focus on the political alliances Chiang forged. In particular I will explore his ties to, and alliances with Organized Crime (specifically Du Yuesheng and …