International and Area Studies Commons^™

Shahzadah's Visit To Great Britain, 1895 (1895)

Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection

News coverage of the Afghan prince, Shahzada Nasrullah's visit to Great Britain by the British publications. Photocopies articles accompanied by commentary in Persian, bound in one volume.

China Annals: Interview With Catherine Sampson

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This week, The China Beat interviews Catherine Sampson, former BBC journalist and The Times correspondent, as well as the author of four mystery novels (see below). You can learn a lot more about her on her website, which also includes an exciting blog.

NB: What was the most intriguing, amusing, inspiring, or eye-opening story that you covered in China?

CS: I worked as a journalist in Beijing for The Times of London between 1988 and 1993. Both the most inspiring and then the most awful was 1989. The student demonstrations went on for 6 weeks and drew in all sorts …

From East To West With Grant And Li*, Jeff Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One thing that American newspaper readers can’t help noticing—no matter which section matters most to them—is that people, objects, and images are circulating between China and the West at a dizzying pace. In 2007 alone, business reporters told of tainted food and dangerous toys coming from East to West, while their colleagues covering entertainment reported that film crews were heading in the opposite direction to shoot “Survivor: China.” Sports fans got reports of U.S. athletes preparing for the Beijing Games as well as articles about Yao Ming moving back and forth across the Pacific, to shoot baskets in Houston and …

Five Chinese Historical Events That Don’T Get Much Attention, Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

After Jeremiah Jenne recently posed a question about “the most important Chinese historical figure most people have never heard of,” I got to thinking about the vast expanse of Chinese history that is so often neglected in favor of the (admittedly sometimes more-relevant) post-49 events. In chronological order, here are my five nominations for Chinese historical events I wish were more often talked and written about. What events make your list?

1. The An Lushan Rebellion

Led by the rogue general, An Lushan, the civil war that riled the Tang Dynasty from 755 to 763 caused death by violence and …

Frivolous Friday: From China, To India, To Southern California

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I live in Southern California where I always have to look my best, so I get my eyebrows threaded at Vinita’s Beauty and Threading Studio in Tustin. Vinita’s is owned and largely patronized by South Asian women. I’m frequently the only white woman in the place, but I get a sweet deal: a full eyebrow threading for only 5 minutes and 6 bucks! In case you suffer through waxing, you really need to know about the wonderful process of threading. It’s literally done with a sewing thread: the “threader” holds one end of the thread in her mouth, wraps the …

Why Was Yao Ming Fined?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A colleague here at the Beijing Sport University whom I have known for over ten years, Yi Jiandong (易剑东), is one of the two most vocal media commentators on Chinese sports in the academic world (along with Lu Yuanzhen 卢元镇). He has reached an exalted status that an American professor like myself can only marvel at from afar. He is one of the “Big-Name Bloggers”(名人博客) on the Qzone blogsite, where he shares space with the likes of Feng Shuyong, head coach of the national track and field team (whose main purpose seems to be to report on Liu Xiang, 2004 …

Pakistan Lawyers' Movement: A Losing Cause?, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

On 13 January, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) voted to end the continuous boycott of judges who swore oath's under the country's Provisional Constitution Order and to instead substitute "a complete boycott of the superior judiciary every Thursday and a one-hour token strike on a daily basis." Predictably, the decision created a furor: for many, it was a sell-out. Both the Lawyers National Action Committee (LNAC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) quickly denounced the decision as "contradictory" and "against the spirit of the lawyers' sacrifices." The provincial bar councils, the high court bar associations and the district bar …

Two Good China Stories Where You Don’T Usually Look For China Stories

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In the last few days, some good stuff to read about China has appeared in places you might not think to look. First, the Winter, 2008 Dissent has an excellent article by Thomas Pogge (pp. 66-75) called “Growth and Inequality: Understanding Recent Trends and Political Choices.” It’s an admirably clear overview of some of the vagaries of poverty statistics, differing ways of estimating inequality, and the relationship between growth and poverty reduction, tied to a very sensible argument about how somewhat slower growth could actually do much more to reduce poverty (and wreak less havoc on the environment) if it …

Self-Promotion Saturday: Introductions, Kate Merkel-Hess

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

By this point, some of our readers may be wondering who the China Beatwriters are, or rather wondering who is involved beside the few names that ring a bell. I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce everyone—briefly, since this is an accomplished group, and full introductions might run rather long.

As several commentators have already noted, we have a healthy contingent of contributors from the University of California, Irvine. UCI is my own home, and other Orange County-based contributors include Ken Pomeranz (who has produced ambitious works of comparative history, such as The Great Divergence, as well as …

Wmu International News February 2008, Haenicke Institute For Global Education

WMU International News

In this issue:

WMU welcomes 60 Dominican Republic students

Western Michigan University's 19th annual International Festival

Ugly Sweaters Ice Capades

Bi-cultural upbringing complements study abroad work

CELCIS veteran named interim director

Winter fun in West Michigan

Aging And Inflammation In Two Epidemiological Worlds, Michael Gurven, Hillard Kaplan, Jeffrey Winking, Caleb Finch, Eileen M. Crimmins

ESI Publications

Humans evolved in a world with high levels of infection resulting in high mortality across the life span and few survivors to advanced ages. Under such conditions, a strong acute-phase inflammatory response was required for survival; however, inflammatory responses can also promote chronic diseases of aging. We hypothesize that global historical increases in life span at older ages are partly explained by reduced lifetime exposure to infection and subsequent inflammation. To begin a test of this hypothesis, we compare C-reactive protein (CRP); levels in two populations with different epidemiological environments: the Tsimane of Bolivia and persons in the United States. …

Job Creation In The Gaza Strip During The Second Intifada, Hashim Saud Al Hussaini

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Hamas' Maze: Finding The Way Out Of The Crisis, Veronica Aguilar

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Role Of Development Nongovernmental Organizations In Empowering Individuals And Communities As A Prerequisite To Social Development In Egypt, Bakry M. Eljack

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Influences On Moammar Qadhafi`S Foreign Policy Shift To Cooperate With The International Community: Post Gulf War 1991 Until The Present, Heather Dawn Patterson

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Power Of The Box: Legislative Elections Under Authoritarian Rule In Mubarak`S Egypt, 1984-2005, James Harris Sunday

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Farthest Place: The Making And Remaking Of Social Boundaries In Abu Minqar, Joseph John Viscomi

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Soil Modification By Invasive Plants: Effects On Native And Invasive Species Of Mixed-Grass Prairies, Nicholas R. Jordan, Diane L. Larson, Sheri C. Huerd

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Invasive plants are capable of modifying attributes of soil to facilitate further invasion by conspecifics and other invasive species. We assessed this capability in three important plant invaders of grasslands in the Great Plains region of North America: leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula), smooth brome (Bromus inermis) and crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum). In a glasshouse, these three invasives or a group of native species were grown separately through three cycles of growth and soil conditioning in both steam-pasteurized and non-pasteurized soils, after which we assessed seedling growth in these soils. Two of the three invasive …

Inter-Church And Inter-Religious Tensions In Postcommunist Eastern Europe: The Case Of Albania, Ines Angeli Murzaku

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Tensions In Poland Over Ecumenical Dialogue, Krystyna Gorniak-Kocikowska

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"If I would use the phrase, ‘the specter of secularization is haunting Poland right now,’ that would be probably a good description of the present mindset of great number of people in Poland. The presently existing tensions are not, I think, inter-religious or inter-church tensions. The inter-religious tensions are marginal due to the dominant position of the Roman Catholic Church on the national level.

The potentially tension-building problem is the issue of secularization. Because the Roman Catholic Church was very strong in Poland even in the times of Communism, secularization was not perceived then as a serious danger, unless people …

The Contemporary Status Of The Lutheran Evangelical Church In Hungary With A View To Churches Of Central European Countries, Béla Harmati

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Desecularization Of Contemporary Serbian Society, Mirko Blagojevic

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

For the contemporary Serbian sociology of religion it is evident that the process of desecularization has been present on the social scene of Serbia in the last fifteen years. Sociologists have provided arguments for this claim based on data gathered in Serbia during this period. The religious changes in question have been empirically recorded in all aspects of attachment to religion (mainly Eastern Orthodoxy) and the church (Serbian Orthodox Church), that is, in aspects of religious identification, doctrinal beliefs and religious behavior. Certain political subjects and social scientists feel that social life in Serbia is getting increasingly religious, and that …

Muslims In Post-Communist Bulgaria, Janice Broun

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

What Is The Current Status Under International Law Of Israeli Tools To Maintain A Majority Jewish State?, Christian Richmond

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Daily Reads—The Second Sequel: Five Global Sites With Good China Content

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As the last in our trilogy (for now) of nods to internet resources we rely upon, we offer up five valuable sites that deal with globalization (some are exclusively devoted to that topic, others just have a lot about it). They are on our radar screen because each fairly regularly brings China into the picture in interesting ways. To illustrate this, as with the last list, we provide first a link to a homepage and then a link to a China story.

1. Yale Global

This site was founded and continues to be run by Nayan Chanda, whose credentials as …

China Annals: Interview With Ian Johnson

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The China Beat will be posting periodic interviews with journalists who cover China in widely read newspapers and magazines in the US and UK. Our first interviewee is Ian Johnson, China journalist for the Wall Street Journal, and author of Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China. In 2001, Johnson won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of China.

1) What was the most intriguing, amusing, inspiring, or eye-opening story that you have covered in China?

I think the favorite story I covered was about farmers in northern Shaanxi who were filing class-action lawsuits against the authorities for …

What Shall We Do With The Dead Dictator?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the thorniest problems facing fledgling democracies involves how to cope with memories of their former dictators. Attempts to assess this aspect of a country’s history are especially problematic due to the fact that the trauma many citizens have suffered is tempered by the lingering impact of indoctrination and hero worship (consider the debates over Suharto’s rule now that he has just passed away). Add to this mixture of emotions the spices of identity formation and electoral politics and its volatility can increase exponentially.

For the past year, Taiwan has been in the throes of grappling with the legacy …

In Case You Missed It: New Books On Women And Family In China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Two new English-language books by two of my favorite scholars in Chinese women’s studies are not to be missed: Susan Mann’s The Talented Women of the Zhang Family, and Harriet Evans’ The Subject of Gender: Daughters and Mothers in Urban China. Harkening to Margery Wolf’s foundational concept of the “uterine family” (see Wolf’s Women and the Family in Rural Taiwan), both works explore Chinese culture and history through the lives of women and their relationships with their sisters, mothers, daughters, and aunts.

Best known for her 1997 book, Precious Records: Women in China’s Long Eighteenth Century, whose arguments rely on …

Taelspin For Saturday, January 26, 2008

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Following up on Susan’s excellent post (the first in a series) about preparations for this summer’s Olympics, this Saturday edition of The Taelspin leads off with reports that members of Team USA have been issued specially designed anti-pollution masks to wear in Beijing. Tim Johnson, the Beijing bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers, and author of the blog China Rises: Notes from the Middle Kingdom, gives his take on the situation.

As anyone who has been to Beijing knows, there has been an almost obsessive focus on public hygiene in getting the city ready for the games. I could go on …

Frivolous Friday: China Beat Goes Hollywood

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Last year saw some curious news stories appear that linked China with Hollywood, from ones involving Mia Farrow’s critical views of the Beijing regime, to ones reporting Paris Hilton’s trip to Shanghai to attend an MTV awards show, to ones detailing sex scenes being cut from the version of Ang Lee’s film so that it could be showed in the PRC. With these still fresh in China Beat’s mind, this week’s “Frivolous Friday” offering takes the form of quiz, which tests the pop culture acumen and in some cases also the Sinological savvy of our readers. (Answers as well as …