SOCCIS CELEBRATES THIRTY YEARS
OF SERVICE TO LOS ANGELES AND
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 1972-2002
Letters: Dr.
Carlos Haro and Dr. Maurice
Harari
Commemoration Presentations: Dr. Carlos Haro, Professor
Christopher Key Chapple, Dr. Joyce Kaufman,
and Dr. Richard Gunde
Deciding that there was need for an ongoing
inter-campus mechanism to allow institutional representatives to
confer and coordinate support for international education in the
region, a group of educators formed The Southern California
Consortium on International Studies (SOCCIS) in 1972. SOCCIS is a
voluntary association of public and private colleges and
universities that coordinates and shares resources to further
international studies in Southern California. The first SOCCIS
Steering Committee included representatives from USC, the CSUC
System, UC EAP, Occidental College, the Claremont Graduate School,
and UCLA. Since its inception, the SOCCIS Executive Office has been
headquartered at UCLA, with Carlos Manuel Haro, Assistant Dean of
International Studies and Overseas Programs, serving as consortium
Executive Officer since 1984. Membership currently stands at
nineteen institutions. Each member contributes resources for
SOCCIS-sponsored programs. SOCCIS associates include:
California State University System: Dominguez
Hills, Fullerton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Northridge, Pomona, San
Bernardino, and San Diego.
Private Universities and Colleges: Loyola
Marymount, Occidental College, Pepperdine University, University of
Judaism, University of Southern California, Whittier College.
University of California: Los Angeles, Santa
Barbara
Two-Year Colleges: South Orange County Community
College District, Santa Monica College, California Colleges for
International Education (a consortium of California Community
Colleges)
Thirty years after the consortium's founding,
SOCCIS continues to strengthen institutional commitments to both
international and area studies in Southern California through the
various activities it facilitates and sponsors. SOCCIS actively
advances the network of international education administrators and
faculty in the region. It also encourages institutional and faculty
commitments to an "internationalized" curriculum. In addition, the
consortium provides the means by which to enhance faculty teaching
capabilities in international and area studies through seminars,
workshops, and summer institutes. Most of these activities are open
to the general public. In keeping with its mission and goals,
SOCCIS supports statewide and national efforts to strengthen
international and area studies. Finally, SOCCIS works to improve
the level of public awareness and understanding of diverse peoples,
other cultures, and international events.
Please refer to the SOCCIS web site
www.isop.ucla.edu/soccis for expanded information on the
consortium. Additional reporting on SOCCIS is available at the ISOP
web site, www.isop.ucla.edu/, by clicking on Outreach, and
scrolling to the bottom to click on the following link: SOCCIS
LAUNCHES PROGRAM IN CUBA AS IT MARKS 3 DECADES OF INTERCAMPUS
PARTNERSHIP.
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REFLECTIONS ON THE 30th YEAR OF THE SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA CONSORTIUM FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES - SOCCIS,
1972-2002
Carlos Manuel Haro, Ph.D.
SOCCIS Executive Officer
People, decisions, and institutions have shaped
SOCCIS' significant contributions to international education over
the last thirty years. During 2002, SOCCIS celebrates the thirtieth
anniversary of its founding, but a longer history of activities and
networking lead to the establishment of this valuable
consortium.
Between 1960 and 1961, the adoption of the
California Master Plan on Higher Education and the founding of the
Peace Corps focused the attention of California universities on
different world regions. At UCLA, the work of Chancellor Charles E.
Young and the reorganization of various school administrations
created an expansion in international area studies centers devoted
to specific geographic areas. By the early 1970s, southern
California postsecondary institutions had developed cooperative
relationships for a wide range of goals. UCLA Vice Chancellor of
Institutional Relations Elwin Svenson's role in international
studies and Professor David Wilson's efforts to further
international and comparative studies in higher education were
instrumental in both organizing the postsecondary education
community and establishing SOCCIS in 1972. Their initiatives were
followed at UCLA by the contributions of Professors James S.
Coleman, during the 1980s, and John N. Hawkins, during the 1990s,
to strengthen international studies and foster collegial
cooperation through the consortium. These UCLA administrators and
their numerous counterparts at SOCCIS member campuses helped form
and expand the concept of SOCCIS regionally.
By the mid-1970s and the early evolution of the
consortium, SOCCIS' administrative structure included many working
groups with an international and area studies focus. The faculty
and staff involved wanted to share and commit their institutional
resources to enhance international education in the spirit of
collaboration. The late 1970s was also a period of strengthened
cooperation between SOCCIS and area studies centers in southern
California. Consequently, there was a broad range of consortium
activities: some dealt with the identification of international
studies resources at each campus; others involved scholarly groups
dealing with area studies; and still others focused either on
international students and study abroad or on internationalization
of the curriculum and faculty development. Membership in the
voluntary association grew over time from the seven original member
institutions in 1972 to a high of 22 colleges in the late 1980s.
The focus on international, comparative, and foreign studies at
various campuses also broadened. In the 1990s, SOCCIS firmly set in
place a foundation by which institutions and faculty could easily
work together and draw upon each other's resources. It is now
common to have faculty and staff from several campuses plan and
implement programs dealing with international and area studies.
When one campus plans an international conference or seminar, it
routinely reaches out beyond the walls of its own institution.
Scholars from different institutions are usually invited to present
at and participate in numerous inter-campus programs. This
collegial environment was built and molded by key individuals,
substantive events, and organizational interaction during the three
decades of SOCCIS.
SOCCIS' main purpose has been to advance
international studies through collaboration. SOCCIS has aided in
internationalization at individual campuses in a variety of ways.
Cooperative relations with area studies centers have engendered
National Resource (Title VI) Centers at UCLA and USC that reach out
and interact with other southern California universities; shared
courses for students, including language courses; programs like
senior faculty mentoring that bring faculty from different schools
together; and co-sponsorship of different conferences, colloquia,
and seminars of interest to other institutions.
More specifically, SOCCIS has continued to enhance
its focus on international studies. This is reflected in increased
accessibility to online information related to SOCCIS; enriched
meetings of scholars that produce books, theatre works and art
exhibits, and conferences with an international dimension; more
partnering opportunities with different departments, institutions,
and non-university agencies; and the internationalization of the
curriculum.
Further internationalization of the curriculum is a
primary goal for SOCCIS. Currently, the consortium is actively
involved in finding new ways to reach out, to dialogue, and to
involve institutions. Outreach programs whose past participants are
not only mentors in K-12 schools but also resources and contacts
for the university; colloquiums that expand intellectual exchange;
and the incorporation of technology through online seminars, video
conferencing, center websites, media training, and internet
connections between universities and the school districts all point
to a promising direction for SOCCIS in the future.
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Dr. Maurice Harari
Secretary General Emeritus
International Association of University Presidents
October 18, 2001
Happy Anniversary SOCCIS:
Warmest congratulations and many happy returns to
SOCCIS and its many loyal supporters, past and present. What has
been accomplished by SOCCIS in the last thirty years in the area of
international education has been not only invaluable to its
institutional participants and a multitude of faculty and students,
but also serves as a model of cooperation which could well be
emulated in different parts of the country. The international
programs of our institutions were substantially enriched through
the various activities of SOCCIS.
I had the privilege of serving as the first Chair of the SOCCIS
Standing Committee on Internationalization of the Curriculum for
three years (1983-1986) but continued to serve on that Committee
through the end of 1992 during the remainder of my service as Dean
of the Center for International Education at California State
University Long Beach. During this period I conducted numerous
workshops and other activities on internationalization of the
curriculum and other aspects of international education on the
CSULB campus to which the members of SOCCIS were invited and
contributed on panels or otherwise. My institution also benefited
from my participation and that of my colleagues in the activities
hosted by other member campuses of SOCCIS. The general coordination
provided by UCLA for several SOCCIS activities has been superb and
Dr. Carlo Haro is particularly to be commended for his leadership
role in the organization.
Above all, SOCCIS provided an international education "locus" with
a strong commitment to an international education "ethos"
consisting of a group of highly dedicated and competent colleagues
with whom trends, programs and opportunities in international
education could be discussed and often acted upon for the benefit
of all concerned. The congenial atmosphere provided by SOCCIS was
easily translated in very positive program cooperation. May it
continue for an indefinite future.
With my warmest greetings and good wishes,
Maurice Harari
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COMMEMORATION OF THE 30TH YEAR OF SOCCIS
PRESENTATIONS AT A MEETING OF THE SOCCIS
STEERING
COMMITTEE, NOVEMBER 1, 2001, AT UCLA
Comments by Carlos Manuel Haro, SOCCIS Executive
Officer
This morning I'm very pleased to have two very
important people at UCLA in the realm of international studies.
Vice Chancellor - Institutional Relations, Emeritus, Dr. Elwin
Svenson, is both a mentor and a friend of many years. He will be
speaking about SOCCIS in its early formative period. For the
present we have Professor Geoffrey Garrett, the newly appointed
Vice Provost of International Studies and Overseas Programs here at
UCLA, and some on campus are talking about him as being the new
Sven. Professor Garrett is now responsible for the research centers
and the international studies academic programming at UCLA.
Comments by Professor Geoffrey Garrett, Vice
Provost of International Studies and
Overseas Programs, UCLA
I had to make a presentation to a group of UCLA
donor/volunteers the other day and for that I was asked to explain
what ISOP/international studies was, so I organized my remarks
around three questions. What is international studies, what is
ISOP, and where is ISOP headed. First, with respect to what is
ISOP, there are three large activities I'm responsible for: centers
and research-based activity, the second is international
disciplines and programs, and the third is study abroad. At a very
broad level I think they have to be integrated much more coherently
than they have in the past, and there is an opportunity now to take
this step.
Obviously, living in the world today, you can never
get away from the events of September 11th. The pitch that I've
been giving on that score with respect to international studies is
that I think there have been three epochs of international studies
in the U.S. The first one is the one we're all very familiar with,
the Cold War model, when there was funding for area studies and the
study of international conflict, for all the obvious reasons. Then
the world changed, epoch 2, in 1990/1991 with the end of the Cold
War. In many ways I think it was a very intellectually liberating
experience because people got to think more broadly and ambitiously
about thematic issues that crossed area boundaries. Everything was
thought of not just as interdisciplinary, but interregional.
However, I think it's also true that one thing that happened in the
1990s in this country and in universities was that it was a very
comfortable and self-satisfied decade. All the big problems in the
world had gone away, and therefore at an intellectual level we were
much freer to think creatively about doing international work. In a
sense, there was a growing disconnect between what universities did
and the real world.
So the social sciences and the humanities, both of
which made very big comparative and thematic moves in the 1990s,
became increasingly inward-looking, esoteric, and not connected to
the real world. Academics were studying these fields in ways that
people in the world could not understand. There were heightened
barriers between the academy and the real world. And so that is why
I think we are in epoch 3, because one thing that is clearly going
on post-9/11 is that people are looking to universities to have
something to say. I think that is both an opportunity and a
responsibility for us. The opportunity is the fact that we
collectively have the attention of the country in a way that is
probably without precedent. Physical threat to the homeland is a
real difference. It might be the case that international conflict
has been fundamentally transformed and that we need to think about
non-state forms of warfare, but living in the U.S. is different
because people in the U.S. now believe that the world isn't out
there, it's here as well. That is what creates opportunities for
us, but also responsibility in the sense that there is so much
uncertainty breeding fear-the underlying set of emotions that exist
in the country at the moment.
We need to do something about that. What should
international studies do about it? If you follow what has been
going on with the Department of Education, I think that mirrors
what one would expect to be a relatively narrow-minded and
shortsighted response, which is to say that we are investing in
studying Afghanistan and terrorism. It is obvious that that is
where the political will would be today, but I think the challenge
for all of us is to convince foundations and private donors (who
should be easier to convince than the federal government) that one
really should think about 9/11 much more broadly. That is to say
that it is not the case that we should just turn back the clock. We
had a Cold War, now we have a new war, and the paradigm that we had
for understanding that (area studies) is not the way to go ahead. I
firmly believe that the thematic move that was made in
international studies was the right move, and it is still the right
move in the post-911 world. How could I justify that in this
current context? It's pretty obvious-let's say that one believes
that the attacks were largely Muslim/Arab-inspired. The answer is
not to simply study Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, because everybody
knows this is a global network.
We thought that epoch 2 was going to do away with
culture. But that is wrong. What has happened is that far-flung
groups have much stronger senses of identity and bonds, because
information technology has enabled them to do that, which is really
a globalization move at a cultural level. We are not seeing a
"McWorld", we are seeing a reaction against McWorld, so in the same
vein as Ben Barber, this really is "McWorld provoking jihad".
So I think that the way to go with international
studies is to take advantage of the kind of environment we are in
to make ourselves much more relevant, but to do it in a really
broad-minded way. It is not a bad idea for us to know more about
Afghanistan, but to invest all of the country's energy into
learning about Afghanistan strikes me as being an unbelievably
narrow-minded and shortsighted way to respond. Therefore, in this
given case, where there is a much bigger patent basis of
interesting things international, we have the pedestal and what we
have to do is convince people to think very broadly about how to
understand the world where 9/11 is not the totality of the world,
it is just a very important instantiation of the world we're living
in.
Haro: Thanked Vice Provost Garrett for meeting with
the Steering Committee and his presentation. Haro moved to
introduce Vice Chancellor - Institutional Relations, Emeritus, Dr.
Elwin Svenson.
Introductory comments by Carlos Manuel Haro
The year 2002 marks the thirtieth anniversary of
the SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CONSORTIUM ON INTERNATIONAL STUDIES -
SOCCIS, and we will commemorate the date as part of the meeting. I
also refer you to a tribute submitted by Dr. Maurice Harari
commemorating the thirtieth year of SOCCIS.
SOCCIS has been around for longer than most of us
think, the consortium was created in 1972, but before that there
were a series of activities and networking initiatives that were
sponsored by educators from several postsecondary institutions in
the region. One of the visionaries and a key player in the
establishment of SOCCIS was Vice Chancellor Svenson. In 1970, he
was Assistant Vice Chancellor to Chancellor Charles E. Young and
had an administrative role at UCLA with a focus on international
studies. You can trace SOCCIS and the ISOP of today back to Vice
Chancellor Svenson. Although retired, he is still involved with
UCLA and is currently consulting at the UCLA Anderson School of
Management. It is a pleasure for me to have Vice Chancellor Svenson
here.
Dr. Elwin Svenson, Vice Chancellor of Institutional
Relations, Emeritus, shared his experience regarding the
establishment of SOCCIS in 1972.
Historical Context, the Establishment of Southern
California Consortium for International Studies - SOCCIS and
Highlights of the last 30 years
1960 - The California Master Plan on Higher
Education was adopted and it consolidated public higher education
in the state. The Plan defines the boundaries between the three
systems of public higher education in the state and established
areas of responsibility and authority. The plan also provided rules
and regulations for the systems to negotiate with each another. As
a young administrator, Charles E. Young was on the staff of
University of California drafting documents related to the Master
Plan.
1960's-Franklin Murphy was appointed Chancellor at
UCLA and participated in the creation of an international Latin
American consortium consisting of U.S. universities and Latin
American presidents and directors.
In 1960's the University of California system
determined that area studies had to evolve and that there were
regions of the world other than Europe that had to be studied. Due
to the lack of sufficient resources, different regions of the world
were assigned to UC Berkeley and to UCLA. UCLA created centers for
Russian-European studies, Africa, Latin America, and Middle
East.
1961- The Peace Corps started and many institutions
were involved in training for 5 or 6 years. UCLA was one of the
institutions contracted to provide training; about 10 percent of
all Peace Corps volunteers serving overseas were trained locally at
UCLA.
1965- UCLA reorganized its administrative structure
to encourage the development of area studies centers, to have them
assume more responsibility, and to branch out. From 1965-1970 UCLA
was maturing and the University of California recognized that
academic research required collaboration. UC Berkeley and UCLA
joined in various programs and projects. In Southern California,
Cal Tech and USC also began to collaborate with UCLA in various
areas, external relations (the political arena), funding, joint
projects (a library exchange program was established), etc.
1970 - The ten-year review of the California Master
Plan. This review was the precursor to the establishment of SOCCIS.
The Plan indicated a need for interaction and cooperation between
the three systems of higher education in the state.
1970- Professor David Wilson was named chair of the
UCLA Committee on International and Comparative Studies (CICS) and
participated in the review of the California Master Plan for Higher
Education. It was also acknowledged that the three tiers of public
education needed to cooperate with private institutions in the
state.
1971- Professor David Wilson organized a conference
of a group of representatives from Southern California universities
to confer on the status of international studies. The first meeting
was held on August of 1971. One goal set for the conference meeting
was to discover what interest, if any, there was at various
campuses in organizing the international education community and
exchanging information on international studies. A second goal was
to determine appropriate and acceptable methods of institutional
cooperation to support international studies in the region. It was
clear that different institutions emphasized different aspects of
international education and that each institution had different
programmatic concerns. Institutions could be concerned with one or
more general areas such as: study abroad, undergraduate
international curriculum and instruction, advanced language
training, courses for languages not commonly taught, graduate
student training, faculty research, international/foreign students,
teacher training, and professional school programs.
The 1971 conference brought the various
institutions, with their diverse interests, together and it
produced a written document stating common aspirations and
identified a course of action to obtain those aspirations. They
created four study groups to deal with various issues of concern to
the international education community, concentrating on traditional
international study topics of : 1) foreign languages, 2) curriculum
and teaching, 3) research, and 4) public service. Finally, they
created a non-profit association whose primary purpose was to
further international studies in higher education. The general
policy direction of the association was provided by a steering
committee that included representatives from each member in the
association. Management of the consortium was provided by an
executive officer, housed at UCLA. The first Steering Committee
included representatives from USC, CSULA, California State
Universities and Colleges, UC Study Abroad Programs, Occidental
College, Claremont Graduate School, and UCLA.
The SOCCIS annual report of 1972 notes
communication between the consortium and the State of California's
Coordinating Council for Higher Education and the Master Plan
Revision Committee. The Revision Committee reported on the
establishment of SOCCIS as a structure that allowed for interaction
and cooperation between the systems of higher education. The
consortium began implementing various initiatives: a study abroad
program (in Lima, Peru, co-sponsored by Indiana University, CSU and
UC EAP), a process for sharing foreign language and literature
courses, a small film collection for instructional use, and support
for faculty activities in various areas (through the working
committees that sponsored seminars and colloquium series).
1974- Working/program committees established
through SOCCIS drew faculty and staff representatives from various
member institutions. The committees included Latin American
studies, East Asian studies, South Asian studies, and working
groups to deal with topics such as international business studies
and research, the international dimension of undergraduate
education, international relations study and research,
international dimension of schools of education and teacher
training, foreign language cooperation, European and Soviet
studies, international undergraduate education, and
international/foreign students at SOCCIS member institution.
Prior to the establishment of formal centers on
East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian studies, SOCCIS had
working committees in these areas that brought together interested
faculty. These SOCCIS activities were precursors to federally
funded centers on East Asia in the late 1970s and on Southeast Asia
in the 1990s. South Asian studies continues as a focus of a SOCCIS
working group and draws together faculty who teach and conduct
research on the area.
1975- During the mid-1970's, the key concept of the
consortium was established: campus representatives from the various
public systems and the private institutions worked together and
consortium members applied their own institutional resources into
the consortium. Professor James S. Coleman assumed the head of the
UCLA Council on International and Comparative Studies (CICS) and
was instrumental in leading the consortium from the late-1970s
until his death in 1985. Coleman placed great value in working with
colleagues from other institutions and fostering cooperation
through the consortium. SOCCIS member institutions not only
contributed faculty and staff time to the consortium (to the
steering committee and to working groups), but each institution
contributed funding (dues contributions) that was used for
programs. Collaborative efforts included USC and UCLA preparation
of a joint proposal for funding of an East Asian Studies Center.
Additionally, different members of the consortium provided the
administrative structure to support the SOCCIS working committees.
For example, the SOCCIS Latin American Seminar was supported by the
Latin American Center (UCLA); the SOCCIS East Asian studies
colloquium was supported by the East Asian Center (USC); the SOCCIS
international business effort was supported by the business program
at CSU Northridge; work on international dimensions of
undergraduate curriculum by USC, UCLA, Pepperdine, CSU Northridge,
and CSU Long Beach; SOCCIS European studies by USC, UCLA, CSU Long
Beach, and CSU Northridge; SOCCIS South Asian studies by Loyola
Marymount and UCLA.
At the start of the consortium in the 1970s, the
SOCCIS administration included the Steering Committee, composed of
representatives from seven member institutions, various "working"
or standing committees established by the Steering Committee, and
the SOCCIS Executive Officer. The association dues started with a
contribution of $100.00 from each member, it was raised to $250.00,
and, finally, to $500.00 in the early 1980s.
1976-1977 - Through cooperation with the UCLA
African Studies Center, the consortium established a one-year
research program for faculty from SOCCIS member institutions.
Faculty selected from CSU campuses were provided with a program to
conduct research under the supervision of a UCLA senior faculty.
This program was revised to a two year period and it offered
campuses in SOCCIS a mechanism by which to develop their faculty
and strengthen an international studies area.
1980-1989 - SOCCIS institutional membership ranged
from 11 universities and colleges and reached a high of 22
members.
In closing, Vice Chancellor Svenson, reflected that
SOCCIS as an organization capitalized on an environment in the
state that prompted collaboration among higher education
institutions and fostered collegiality. The organizational
initiative of a handful of institutions in 1971 allowed for the
creation of a structure that gave international education
administrators and international and area studies faculty freedom
to work together. Although individual institutions had different
international education priorities and concerns, they had a common
interest in promoting international education through cooperation
and sharing. It is the continuing involvement and contributions of
administrators and faculty that makes SOCCIS work.
Carlos Haro: One of the important ways that SOCCIS
contributes to international studies is by helping to
institutionalize certain programs and functions. From the outset,
SOCCIS had committees established in specific areas, for example in
East Asian studies. SOCCIS' activity in that area was valuable in
laying the groundwork for USC and UCLA to create the East Asian
studies center and secure funding through the Department of
Education, Title VI. The joint-center on East Asian studies is now
part of both institutions and has been functioning since 1976.
We have relied on SOCCIS to promote and implement
programs that contribute to international education in various
ways. Vice Chancellor Svenson referred to one other consortium
program that impacted another area of international studies:
faculty development in African studies. The consortium brought
selected faculty from the CSU campuses to conduct research on
African studies at UCLA and to be mentored by senior faculty. That
was a successful model for faculty development and one that can be
replicated in other international areas studies once again. We have
a continuing scholars program: the present model primarily trains
high school teachers and community college instructors. The SOCCIS
teacher training activity of the 1970s evolved into an
institutionalized program that Jonathan Friedlander has implemented
over a period of many years and that involves faculty from several
SOCCIS institutions and various Title VI centers.
The consortium functions as a vehicle for
international studies initiatives that have the support of several
campuses and provides a network, along with modest but needed
support. Ultimately, the goal of the consortium has been to have
viable programs institutionalized at one or more of our consortium
campuses. That has been a major SOCCIS accomplishment and a
valuable contribution to international studies in the region.
Question to Vice Chancellor Svenson: If this is
another epoch, after September 11th, does that mean something for
SOCCIS? Does it affect how we function, how we interact? We are a
group of individuals at institutions that are concerned with the
real world, but does the new epoch that Vice Provost Garrett spoke
of affect us?
Svenson: Yes, what that means is we follow a
structure, create a small committee, and have the group focus on
that question. The SOCCIS structure is proven and successful; it
brings you together, with your diverse views and interests, and you
have the opportunity to reflect upon questions like those that
confront us now, such as, what should SOCCIS do in response to
September 11th?.
Carlos Haro: One of my responsibilities is to
assure that international studies resources at various campuses are
shared and utilized across the region. Resource centers at UCLA and
other institutions can be linked to the consortium in various ways
that can be mutually beneficial. National resource centers are not
programs that dwell within the institutions, but they are supposed
to reach out and interact with other universities within the
Southern California area. Consequently we have a number of
activities that SOCCIS co-sponsors with these centers and the
announcements and e-mails that I send through the SOCCIS
communications network reflect this cooperation. Thus far we have
had good results in our interaction with the centers. SOCCIS
continues its linkage with the USC-UCLA Joint Center on East Asia,
created in the mid '70s. In addition, the consortium co-sponsors
events and programs in conjunction with the European and Russian
Studies Center, the Burkle Center for International Relations, and
the Southeast Asian Studies Center.
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Retrospective on SOCCIS, 1972-2002: Reports by Chairs and
Coordinators of Various Consortium Committees and Working
Groups
Southern California Seminar on South Asia
Professor Christopher Key Chapple
Loyola Marymount University
In the spring of 1986, a group of scholars began meeting to share
research on topics pertaining to the study of South Asia. The group
was convened through the national mailing lists of the Society for
Asian and Comparative Philosophy and the registry of professors
teaching Asian religions published by Chapel House of Colgate.
Soon, as word of the group spread, the list expanded to include
Southern California scholars from other disciplines. Initially,
over 75 people expressed interest in being informed of the group's
activities; since then, the list has grown dramatically.
The original name taken by the group was the
Southern California Seminar for South Asian Thought, Religion, and
Culture. Its nickname is Moksa (Sanskrit for "liberation"),
suggested by Ninian Smart of UC Santa Barbara as an acronym for
"Meetings on Knowledge about South Asia." In light of the growing
interest in the group on the part of historians and others, and for
the sake of brevity, the name, "Southern California Seminar on
South Asia," was proposed and implemented in 1989.
From the beginning, the hallmark of the Seminar has
been its diversity. South Asia remains one of the most culturally
rich regions on the planet. Due to the plethora of material
regarding religion, philosophy, history, etc. there exists a
distinct danger of exclusive overspecialization. The Seminar, as a
SOCCIS standing committee, has focused on exploring the breadth of
our region in an attempt to create an encompassing, dynamic forum
on the subject of South Asia.
During the first year of the seminar, eight
individual papers were delivered at six different campuses in the
region: "Gurus, Graves, and Rice" by Glenn Yocum of Whittier
College at LMU; "Matrikas and Mothers: Birth, Death, and Liberation
by Katherine Harper of LMU at UCLA; "The Persistence of Religion"
by Kees Bolle of UCLA at Whittier; "Bharata Natyam by Medha Yodh of
UCLA at LMU; "Bhil Holi Melas" by Katharine Free at CSUN; "The Idea
of Reincarnation" by Joseph Prabhu of CSULA at Mt. St. Mary's
College; "The Question of Detachment" by Hope Fitz of Mt. St.
Mary's at CLULB; "The Significance of Rivers" by Anne Feldhaus at
LMU. These events took place on a monthly basis from March 1986 to
May 1987.
Additionally, the seminar cooperated with as ASEAN
conference held May 5th and 6th, 1987, at CSULB. Professor Gertrude
Robinson of Loyola Marymount University did a presentation of
"Indonesian Music and Shadow Puppets" while Professor Robert Brown
of UCLA focused "On Buddhist Art in Thailand". At the same
conference Professor Joseph Prabhu of CSU Los Angeles tackled the
topic of "Models for Modernization and Westernization in Southeast
Asia" and Dr. Ivan Strenski of the Journal of Religion spoke about
"Buddhism and the Custom of Gift Giving".
The following academic year, the Seminar sponsored
its first academic conference titled "The Mahabharata:
Interpretation and Performance." This was held on October 4, 1987,
at UCLA, in conjunction with the Peter Brook production of the
Mahabharata which occurred that fall at Raleigh Studios. The
following papers were presented: "The Geopolitical Context of the
Mahabharata Epic" by Siva Bajpai, CSUN; "Vyasa: The Epic Author" by
Bruce Sullivan, Northern Arizona University; "Attending South India
Folk Dramas of the Mahabharata" by Alf Hiltebeitel of George
Washington University; "Peter Brook and the Modern Theatre
Experiment" by Katharine Free of LMU; "The Mahabharata and American
Letters: Do We Have Room for It?" by James Fitzgerald of the
University of Tennessee; "Violence and Nonviolence: An End to All
Wars?" by Christopher Chapple, LMU.
In the spring of 1988, three individual papers were presented:
"Buddhism and Political Legitimation in Sri Lanka: The Role of the
Temple of the Tooth in Kandy" by Paul Hanson of Cal Lutheran
University at Cal State San Bernardino; "The Significance of Art
from Bodhgaya" by Janice Leoshko of the Los Angeles County Museum
of Art at LMU; "Sylvain Levi, the Durkheimians, and the Study of
Ritual" by Ivan Strenski at Whittier College.
In the fall of 1988, Carl Ernst of Pomona College
presented "How to Listen to Sufi Qawwali Music: Advice from the
Early Chisthi Master at LMU; David Smith of the University of
Lancaster, England, presented "South Indian Painting: The Dance of
Siva at Cidambaram" at UCLA; Srinivasa Chari presented "Vaishnavism
as Religion and Philosophy" at CSUN.
The Seminar sponsored its second conference on
October 21, 1989 at Long Beach, titled "The Roots of Tantra." The
conference included the following presentations: Thomas McEvilley
of Rice University on "The Roots of Yoga;" Katherine Harper of LMU
on "Early Tantric Art;" M.C. Joshi of the Archaeological Survey of
India on "Historical and Iconographic Aspects of Sakta Tantras;"
Richard Payne of U.C. Berkeley on "Tongues of Flame: Identification
in the Fire Ritual;" Kees Boole of UCLA on "Understanding Ritual;"
and Paul Muller-Ortega of Michigan State University on "The
Kashmiri Roots of Tantra." This conference was followed up with a
second gathering listed later and has resulted in the publication
of a book by State University of New York Press, Roots of Tantra,
co-edited by Katherine Harper and Robert Brown.
Six other papers were presented individually within
the South Asia seminar during the 1989-90 academic year: K.M. Rao
of New College, Madras, on "Synchronic and Diachronic Aspects of
the Concept of Karma" at Whittier; A.J. Gail, Free University of
Berlin, on "Images of Nepal: Iconographic Questions Regarding
Buddhist and Hindu Art in the Kathmandu Valley at UCLA; Christopher
Chapple, LMU, "The Fast Unto Death in Jaina Tradition" at Pomona
College; Frank Clooney, Boston College "Translating the Good:
Robert deNobili's Use of the Moral Argument in his Tamil Treatises"
at LMU; Joseph Prabhu of CSULA, "DeNobili, Indian Christian
Theology, and Jesuit Education in India" at LMU; and Siva Bajpai,
"Raja Mandala: Perspectives on Power in Classical India" at
CSULB.
During the 1990-91 academic year, the Seminar
sponsored one small conference and two additional paper
presentations. The conference, on various approaches to the study
of the Yoga tradition, was held at USC and included the following:
Lloyd Pflueger of UCSB on "Stitches out of Time: Approaching the
Yogasutras as Sutras;" Carl Ernst of Pomona College on "The
Amritakunda: An Arabic Yoga Treatise;" Christopher Chapple of LMU
on "Sequences of Sutras: Reading Patanjali without Vyasa;" and
Bhagavan Singh of UNLV on "The Significance of Samapatti in the
Samadhi Pada." The two papers were Brian K. Smith of UC Riverside
on "How Not to Be a Hindu: The Legal Case of the Ramakrishna
Mission" at UCLA; and Glenn Yocum of Whittier College on "Gurus,
Brahmins, and Politicians in Contemporary India: The Pattabhiseka
(Cornonation) of the Sankaracarya of Sringeri, October 1989" at UC
Riverside.
During the 1991-92 academic year, the Seminar
arranged the following talks: Gail Hinich Sutherland of Louisiana
State University on "Surrogate Fathers and Reluctant Mothers: The
Practice of Niyoga in the Mahabharata" in Wrightwood; Peter
Sutherland of Oxford University on "The Travelling Gods of the
Western Himalayas: The Ritual Construction of Politics in a Former
Princely State" at UCLA; nazir Ali Jairazbhoy and Amy Catlin of
UCLA on "The Bake Restudy, 1984: South Indian Performances" at LMU;
Richard Eaton of University of Arizona on "Exploring Islamic
Culture on the India Frontier: The Case of Bengal" at Pomona
College; K. Satchidanand Murty of Andhra University on "Vedic
Hermeneutics" at UCLA.
Activities during the 1992-93 academic year
included: Steward Gordon on "Ecological Change and Social Migration
in the Deccan during the 17th Century" at LMU; Parul Shah of
Maharaja Syajirao University in Baroda on "Bharata Natyam" at LMU;
Douglas Renfrew Brooks of the University of Rochester on "The
Definition and Origins of Tantra in India" at UCLA; Lina Gupta of
Glendale College on "Ganga: Purity and Pollution" at LMU;
Yajneshwar Shastri of Gujarat University on "The Place of Suicide
in Indian Religion and Culture, LMU. The Seminar also participated
in the planning and in various presentations at the East Meets West
Conference organized by Srinivas Murthy of CSULB.
The Seminar mounted a major art exhibition during
the 1993-94 academic year on "Symbolic Heat: Gender, Health, and
Worship among the Tamils of South India and Sri Lanka" at Laband
Art Gallery, LMU. Dennis McGilvray of the University of Colorado in
Boulder, presented an illustrated lecture titled "Heat, Health, and
Gender in Tamil Culture" in conjunction with the exhibit.
Additionally, Ginni Ishimatsu of Whittier College, presented
"Written and Oral Dimensions of Scripture in Hindu Temple Worship"
at UCLA, and the Doshi Family helped sponsor the following lecture
series at LMU: Lina Gupta, Glendale College: "Women and the Goddess
in Hinduism;" Christopher Chapple on "Principles and Practices of
Yoga;" Sunanda Shastri of Gujarat University on "Hinduism and
Ecology;" Katherine Harper of LMU on "The Kailasananta Temple at
Kanchipuram" and Yajneshwar Shastri of Gujarat University on
"Vedanta and Science."
During the 1994-95 academic year, the South Asia
Seminar sponsored a follow-up meeting on Roots of Tantra at UCLA
and held the Doshi Lecture Series again at LMU. The Tantra
conference included papers by David Lorenzen of the University of
Mexico on "Early Evidence for Tantric Ritual," Lina Gupta of
Glendale College on "Tantric Rituals in the Devi Purana" and
Douglas Renfrew Brooks of the University of Rochester on
"Auspicious Fragments and Uncertain Wisdom: The Roots of Srividya
Sakta in South India." The lecture series included "Vedic Ritual
and Mimamsa Philosophy" by Purusottama Bilimoria of Deakin
University; "The Jaina Yogas of Haribhadra" by Christopher Chapple,
"Gender, Religion, and State in South Asia" by Renuka Sharma of
Monash University; and "The Seven Goddess Tradition" by Katherine
Harper of LMU.
In the spring of 1996, Carol Prorok of Slippery
Rock University presented "Hindu Temples and Ethnic Identity" at
LMU. Additionally, the Seminar sponsored a conference on Religion
and Environment in South Asia at the University of San Diego. The
following papers were presented: "Traditionalist and Renouncer
Models: Toward an Indigenous Indian Environmentalism" by
Christopher Chapple; "Attitudes toward Nature in the Early
Upanisads" by Arvind Sharma of McGill University; "Attitudes to
Nature in Hindu and Buddhist Art" by Robert Brown of UCLA; "Women
and the Social Construction of Bhu-devi, the Earth Goddess, in
Tamil Nadu by Vijaya Nagarajan, UC Berkeley; "Nonviolence,
Nondualism, and Ecological Ethics in South Asia" by J.G. Arapura of
McMaster University; "A Few Doubts: How Ecological is Religion in
South Asia" by Lance Nelson, USD, the conference organizer; and a
response by P.S. Jaini of UC Berkeley. The conference resulted in
the publication of a book title Purifying the Earthly Body of God,
edited by Lance Nelson, State University of New York Press,
1998.
The following academic year, the seminar welcome
recently-hired South Asianists from around Southern California to
present their research at UCLA. The talks included: "Indra Devi and
the Lila of Mirabai: A Tale of Oral Tradition in Transformation" by
Nancy Martin of Chapman University; "Social and Cultural Politics
of Fasting in India: by Vinay Lal of UCLA; "Stability in South
Asia" by Ashley Tellis of the Rand Institute; and "The World of the
Siddhas" by David Gordon White of UCSB. The seminar also sponsored
an international seminar on the Yoga Tradition, which included the
following papers: "Samkhya and the Yoga Tradition" by Bhagavan
Singh of UNLV; "Tension between Vyutthana and Nirodha in the Yoga
Sutras" by T.S. Rukmani of Concordia University; "Implications for
Embodied Freedom in Patanjali;s Yoga" by Ian Whicher, Cambridge
University; "Purity and Diversity in the Yoga Traditions of
Patanjali and Haribhadra" by Christopher Chapple; "Yoga in Early
Hindu Tantra" by David Gordon White, UCSB; "Metaphoric Worlds and
Yoga in the Vaisnava Sahajiya Tantric Traditions of Medieval
Bengal" by Glen Alexander Hayes, Bloomfield College, and
"Reflections and Reponse" by Georg Feuerstein, Yoga Research
Center. Frank Clooney of Boston College presented a single paper
later in 1997 on "When Rama Worshipped Shiva and Why It Bothered at
17th Century Jesuit Missionary at LACMA.
The Seminar sponsored a second major art exhibition
in January and February of 1998: "Divine Carriers: New Art from
India and Nepal," curated by Jane Brucker, Katherine Harper, and
Debashish Banegree at Laband Gallery. It included a conference on
the arts of contemporary South Asia where the following papers were
presented: "National Identity and Modernism in Contemporary Indian
Art" by Debashish Banerjee, UCLA; "From the Outside Looking In:
Form and Meaning in Neo-Tantric Art" by Katherine Harper, LMU;
"Journey to Mt. Meru: New Art Holding the Earth Together" by Jane
Brucker, LMU; "The Impact of Indian Art and Thought on 20th Century
Western Art by Peg De La Mater, Winthrop University; "Vaishnava
Devotion in the Music of Contemporary India by Meilu Ho, UCSD; and
"Independent Documentary Films in Contemporary India by Beheroze
Shroff, UC Irvine, who also showed her film "A Life After
Death."
In the spring of 1999, the Seminar on South Asia,
in conjunction with the Infinity Foundation, sponsored an
International Conference on the Yogavasistha. This two day
conference included the following presentations: "Studying the
Yogavasistha: Space, Consciousness, and Realities," Arindam
Chakrabarti, University of Hawaii; "On the Interrelationship of
Knowledge, Dispassion, and Living Liberation in the Moskshopaya" by
Walter Slaje, Martin Luther University, Germany; "Living Liberation
in the Yogavasistha" by Andrew Fort, Texas Christian University;
"The Role of the Guru in the Yogavasistha" by Lina Gupta, Glendale
College; "The Existence of Many Worlds in the Yogavasistha" by
Garth Bregman, University of Hawaii; "Radical Transformation in the
Yogavasistha: A Phenomenological Interpretation" by Matthew
MacKenzie, Universityof Hawaii; "Interiority and the Elements in
the Yogavasistha," Christopher Chapple, LMU; "Tradition and
Authority: Vedantic and Buddhist Ideas in the Yogavasistha," Gary
Tubb, Columbia University; "Citta, Cittakasha, and Jiva in the
Original Yogavasistha" by Bruno Lo Turco, University of Rome. These
papers are being edited by Professors Chakrabarti and Chapple for
publication.
In the fall of 1999, the seminar co-sponsored a
dialogue on Women and Spirituality, which included the following
papers pertaining to Indian tradition: "Women's Spirituality in
Hindu Tradition," Saradeshaprana, Vedanta Society of Southern
California; "Images and Reflections in Lalla's Verses" by Jaishree
Kak Odin, University of Hawaii; "Mother-Child and Mortality: The
Paradox of Kali" by Vrinda Dalmiya, University of Hawaii.
In the fall of 2000, the seminar presented a
one-day conference on Yoga Traditions at UCLA that included Ian
Whicher of the University of Saskatchewan on "Classical Yoga of
Patanjali," Christopher Chapple on "Images of the Feminine in
Classical Yoga: Examples from Patanjali and Haribhadra," John Casey
of LMU on "Buddhism and Yoga," Olle Quarstrom of Lund University on
"Jainism and Yoga," and Vidyasankar Sundaresam of California
Institute of Technology on "Vedanta and Yoga." The seminar again
co-sponsored a dialogue, this time of the topic of Social Service.
India-related speakers included Ashok Malhotra of the State
University of New York, Oneonta; Swami Asaktananda of Ramakrishna
Mission, Narendrapur; Swami Agnivesh of Religions for Social
Justice; and Kiran Bedi, Joint Commisioner of Delhi Police. In the
spring of 2001, the seminar hosted three scholars for a
presentation of recent research: "Sita in the Kitchen: Pativrata
and Ramrajya" by Phyllis Herman of CSUN; "The Poison in the Gift
Revisited" by Maria Hibbets of CSULB; and "Divine Madness in
Kashmir Saiva Texts and Traditions" by Marcy Braverman of UCSB.
This event was held at UCLA.
During the current academic year, two major events
have been planned. The first will be participation in a dialogue on
spiritual practice at LMU. Professors S.N. and Meena Sridhar, of
the Center for India Studies and Department of Linguistics at the
State University of New York at Stony Brook will be featured along
with Swami Sarvadevanda to represent the Hindu tradition.
Additionally, a major international conference will be held at Cal
Poly Pomona on "Lessons of Ahimsa and Anekanta for Contemporary
Life." This event will include the following presentations:
"Mahavira and Reverential Ecology" by Satish Kumar, Schumacher
College; "Ahimsa and Nonviolence: A Comparison of Religious and
Cultural Values" by John Cort, Dennison College; "Ahimsa and
Compassion" by Kristi Wiley, UC Bekeley; "Nonviolence and
Terrorism" by Kim Skoog, U Guam; "The Ontolotical and
Epistemological Significance of Anekantavada" by John Koller,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Insitute; "Multidimensional Significance of
Anekanta in Social Life," Kamla Jain, College of Jesus and Mary,
Delhi University; "Beyond Anekantavada: A Jain Perspective on
Tolerance," Paul Dundas, University of Edinburgh; "Exemplars of
Anekanta and Ahimsa: The Case of Early Jains of Mathura in Art and
Epigraphy," Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, UC Irvine; "Religious
Dissonance and Reconciliation: The Haribhadra Story," Christopher
Chapple; "Anekant, Ahimsa, and the Question of Pluralism," Anne
Vallely, McGill University; "Response," P.S. Jaini, UC
Berkeley.
The Seminar has presented a variety of activities
ranging from dance performances to art exhibits to scholarly
seminars and conferences. Two books have resulted from the
seminar's activities (The Roots of Tantra and Purifying the Earthly
Body of God: Religion and Ecology in Hindu India), and two more are
in the process of being published. The Southern California Seminar
on South Asia has benefited immensely from SOCCIS support since its
inception and looks forward to continuing its work on behalf of the
study of South Asia in Southern California.
Back to Top
Internationalizing the Curriculum
Dr. Joyce Kaufman
Director
Scholars Program
Whittier College
As the Southern California Consortium for
International Studies, SOCCIS has at its core a commitment to
internationalizing across the curriculum. Unlike may other SOCCIS
committees, which deal primarily with area studies (e.g., Latin
American Studies, South Asia, China, etc.), the Internationalizing
the Curriculum Committee deals specifically with ways in which an
international perspective can be infused across the curriculum.
From the time that SOCCIS was created in 1973, this component was
central to the mission of the organization. The Proceedings of the
Second Annual Meeting SOCCIS, in January 1973, cites as among the
recommendations the need to focus on "the undergraduate dimension
of international studies," including using SOCCIS as a
"clearinghouse" for information pertaining to the implementation of
various aspects of international programs in the member
institutions. Included among these were ways in which to expand the
international focus, including even finding ways to introduce an
international perspective into "non-traditional" areas, such as the
sciences. (P. 2) It was from that thinking that the
Internationalizing the Curriculum Committee evolved.
By 1975, SOCCIS programs included "International
Dimensions of Undergraduate Education, International Business
Studies, and International Dimensions of the Schools of Education,"
in addition to area studies. A special task force was created to
identify "the resources necessary to bring about significant
improvement in the internationalization of undergraduate
studies...." (Emphasis added) (SOCCIS Newsletter, Vol. 11, No. 2,
October 1, 1975, p.3) According to the archives, the emphasis then
was on three primary areas: 1) "the internationalization of breadth
requirements"; 2) "the role of international, foreign and
comparative studies in the extended university"; and 3)
"international studies in pre-career or pre-professional training."
(Ibid)
At that time, many colleges and universities were
rethinking their curricular offerings, including ways to broaden
students' exposure to the world around them. What is striking about
the approach taken here was the ways in which SOCCIS focused not
only on the traditional components of the curriculum, that is,
those areas in which international perspectives would be apparent,
but its desire to move into the non-traditional areas, such as the
extended university, pre-professional training and the
sciences.
In the period since that beginning point, those of
us who have been associated with the Internationalizing the
Curriculum Committee have taken these perspectives as a given. As
the world and education have continued to evolve, we have tried to
do so as well by incorporating broader perspectives into our work.
Hence, the increasing use of technology across the curriculum
became the focus of a series of workshops on ways to use technology
to internationalize the curriculum. Consistent with the desire to
infuse an international perspective across disciplines and into
pre-professional programs and careers, the Committee participated
in workshops for secondary school teachers, and highlighted
institutions in which an international focus was a part of such
programs. And the Committee took seriously its charge to become a
"clearinghouse" for information from member institutions by holding
an ongoing series of workshops that allowed SOCCIS member
institutions to highlight and share what they were doing.
In short, the Internationalizing the Curriculum
Committee has become central to the mission of SOCCIS and has
helped disseminate information about the importance of
international studies (broadly defined) across the area.
Internationalizing the Curriculum: History and
Sample Programs
In many ways, the work of this Committee reflected both the
emphasis of the people who were on it, as well as changing trends
in education. This becomes especially clear when charting the
course of the Committee and the programs in which it was
involved.
By 1978-1979, the Interdisciplinary International
Theory Group emerged as one of the central SOCCIS programs. At that
time, the group held informal seminars to bring together scholars
from various colleges and university specifically for discussion
about interdisciplinary approaches to and questions about some of
the basic paradigms in the humanities and social sciences. The
records indicated that this group continued to meet for these
discussions for a number of years. Concomitant with that, the
membership of SOCCIS continued to grow, bringing with it new
participants and ideas.
By 1984, SOCCIS established a standing committee
"to promote the internationalization of the curriculum with
particular emphasis on the postsecondary level." (SOCCIS Annual
Report, July 1,1983 to June 30, 1984, p. 22) Under the energetic
and able leadership of Maurice Harari, Dean of the Center for
International Education at California State University, Long Beach,
the Committee grew and became more active in its task. In its first
year, the Committee sponsored programs and guest lectures,
including co-sponsoring a conference with the American Association
of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), which was held April
5-7, 1984. The list of speakers is impressive, and included Ann
Reynolds, then-Chancellor of the California State University
System, Congressman Stephen Horn (R-Long Beach), and various
college presidents, provosts and deans. The topics were timely and
relevant, including panels on "International Content and
Experience: The Student View," "The U.S. Must Compete in the World
Market," and "Preparing the Professional," all of which would be as
timely today as they were then.
Over the next few years, while building on the work
of that initial conference, the committee moved to holding smaller
workshops and forums to continue the discussion of the issues
raised earlier. Continuing themes were the role of higher education
in preparing students for a changing world, the role of
international and interdisciplinary studies, and ways to infuse
international perspectives across the curriculum. At the same time,
the Committee continued its earlier commitment to working with and
educating high school teachers by participating actively in
institutes that would contribute to "a heightened awareness and
understanding of the international setting...." (SOCCIS Annual
Report, July 1,1984 to June 30, 1985, p. 18) The Committee also
continued its policy of beginning each meeting with a discussion of
what was going on at each member campus as a way of disseminating
information. In addition to continuing these activities, by
1986-1987, the Committee had also started to compile an
International Studies Data Base for the Southern California area.
These activities continued into the early 1990's.
In April 1991, the Internationalizing the
Curriculum Committee again held a major workshop at entitled "On
Ethnic and International Studies: A Dialogue of Agendas." This
workshop brought together more than 25 speakers from ten
institutions to explore ways in which these fields converged. Each
speaker and session was built around a series of questions such as
what are the current trends in ethnic studies? In international
studies? What are the areas of convergence and divergence, and what
are the implications for undergraduate teaching and research?
Representatives from SOCCIS members offered case studies from their
own institutions, and those became the basis for the discussion
throughout the day. The conference was organized by then-Chair
Laurien Alexandre, who edited the papers that were then published
under the auspices of the Center for International Programs at
California State University, Long Beach.
By the mid-1990s, the emphasis of the Committee
started to shift once again to reflect emerging trends in higher
education. To capture that, in 1995 and 1996 the Committee held a
series of workshops, one at Loyola Marymount University and one at
California State University, Fullerton, focusing on the use of
technology to internationalize the curriculum. Each of these
workshops highlighted different approaches to integrating
technology in a meaningful way in support of internationalizing the
curriculum. Presenters from SOCCIS institutions discussed programs
that they had implemented successfully on their own campuses, as a
way to begin a broader discussion. (NOTE: Partial funding for these
workshops came from the SOCCIS Conference grants program). These
presentations were augmented by other speakers, including Dr.
Richard Sutter, Director, California State University System
International Programs, who opened one of the workshop with his
keynote address, "What Does it Mean to Internationalize the
Curriculum?" Another speaker included Mary Ellen House, Education
Editor for Online Services at the Los Angeles Times.
Although by this time the make-up of the membership
of the Committee had changed considerably, the commitment to its
goals and mission remained unchanged. The members of the Committee
had been impressed by the success of the one-day workshop approach
as a way to share information and facilitate discussion, and so
others were planned. In March 1999, the Committee sponsored a
workshop at Whittier College entitled "Crossing Boundaries:
Internationalizing Across Disciplines, Time and Space," which
embodied many of the goals of SOCCIS and the Committee. Dr. Vishnu
Bhatia, Special Assistant to the President, Washington State
University, made the keynote address. This was followed by two
panels, composed of participants from the SOCCIS member
institutions, one of which was a response to the address from
different disciplinary and institutional perspectives. The second
panel, entitled "Application of Ways to Infuse International
perspectives in General Education Requirements," allowed
participants to highlights ways in which their own institutions had
successfully met that challenge.
The Committee held another workshop in March 2000.
This one was held at California State University, Los Angeles and
touched on another important item regarding internationalizing:
"Evaluation and Assessment of Foreign Study Experiences." The
keynote speaker for this workshop was Bruce LaBrack, Director of
International Studies, University of the Pacific. Three panels were
each built around a theme pertaining to international studies:
financial implications, recruiting and preparing students for the
experience, and returning to campus, and each had a convener who
made introductory remarks and led the discussion. As has been the
case in the past, the primary goal of this workshop was to bring
SOCCIS members together to share their experiences as well as to
learn from one another about "best practices" in the field." The
response was positive as many of the participants agreed that an
open discussion of these issues as important as well as
overdue.
Internationalizing: The Future
It is clear from the record that the Internationalizing the
Curriculum Committee is one of the oldest of the SOCCIS standing
committees and one that lays at the center of the SOCCIS mission.
It is also clear that, over the course of the 30 years of SOCCIS,
that the Committee has made an important contribution to
understanding ways to internationalize by facilitating ongoing
dialogue and discussion. In some cases this was done by holding
conferences and workshops; in other cases, this was accomplished
more informally, using the venue of Committee meetings to share
what was happening on member-campuses.
Over the years, it is also clear that the activity
level of this Committee has ebbed and flowed, depending on the
membership and the commitment to the topic discussed. However, it
is also clear that it will continue to remain central to
SOCCIS.
Back To Top
Southern California China Colloquium
Dr. Richard Gunde
Assistant Director
Center for Chinese Studies
UCLA
Established in the 1970s, the Southern California
China Colloquium was intended primarily to promote scholarly
interchange among professors of Chinese studies throughout Southern
California by presenting lectures that would draw an audience from
among that constituency. Secondarily, the Colloquium wished to
promote outreach: all events were publicly announced, and there was
never an admission charge.
For many years, the budget was quite minimal. An attempt was made
to present one lecture a month, although from time to time there
was an unplanned greater interval between lectures. Whenever
possible, the Colloquium took advantage of "targets of opportunity"
(that is, it invited scholars who happened to be passing through
Los Angeles to present a lecture).
With the establishment of the UCLA Center for Chinese Studies in
1986, the Colloquium grew very substantially and today it is
recognized as one of the most active and exciting forums in the
U.S. for the presentation of cutting-edge research on China.
The creation of the UCLA China center led to a several-fold
increase in the budget of the Colloquium. This made possible an
ambitious program of six or more day-long conferences per year, one
each month during the regular school year. Typically, four to six
papers are presented at each conference. The panelists are drawn
from local scholars and from those elsewhere in the country, and
occasionally from abroad. Conferences are held on a Saturday,
usually at UCLA. By meeting on a Saturday, professors and students
from throughout Southern California can more easily attend, as can
out-of-town panelists. One should also add: as can out-of-town
members of the audience. The audience often includes attendees from
northern California, Arizona, Nevada, and even more distant
points.
The Colloquium continues its attention to outreach by widely
announcing its conferences, and by welcoming all who wish to
attend. In addition, the UCLA Center for Chinese Studies, which
coordinates the conferences, works closely with various community
groups to keep them informed of the activities of the Colloquium.
The papers presented at the various conferences are posted on the
website of the UCLA Center for Chinese Studies
<www.isop.ucla.edu/ccs/ Calendar/calendar.htm>, password
protected, with the password given to members of the Colloquium.
Others who want access are asked to obtain the permission of the
author(s).
The greatest indication of the scholarly impact of the Colloquium
is that the majority of its papers end up being published.
SEMINAR COMMITTEE
The agenda for the calendar year is set by a seminar committee
drawn from scholars throughout the Southern California area. For
this year, the committee consists of:
Eugene Anderson (UC)
Kathryn Bernhardt (UCLA)
Bettine Birge (USC)
Francesca Bray (UCSB)
Robert Buswell (UCLA)
Cameron Campbell (UCLA)
Carolyn Cartier (USC)
Wellington Chan (Occidental)
Lucie Cheng (UCLA)
Lucille Chia (UCR)
Yu-chin Chien (CSULB)
Hung-hsiang Chou (UCLA)
Gene Cooper (USC)
Ron Egan (UCSB)
Benjamin Elman (UCLA)
Mark Elliott (UCSB)
Robert Eng (Redlands U)
Cindy Fan (UCLA)
Joshua Fogel (UCSB)
Michael Fuller (UCI)
Charlotte Furth (USC)
Susan Greenhalgh (UCI)
Keith Griffin (UCR)
John Hawkins UCLA)
Richard Horowitz (CSUN)
Ginger Hsu (UCR)
Kylie Hsu (CSULA)
Hu Ying (UCI)
C.T. James Huang (UCI)
Martin Huang (UCI)
Philip Huang (UCLA)
Ted Huters (UCLA)
Joan Judge (UCSB)
Burglind Jungmann (UCLA)
Hui-shu Lee (UCLA)
James Lee (Caltech)
Nancy Levine (UCLA)
Charles N. Li (UCSB)
Audrey Li (USC)
San-pao Li (CSULB)
Alan Liu (UCSB)
Kathryn Lowry (UCSB)
Mark Lupher (UCLA)
Dan Lynch (USC)
Stephen Ma (CSULA)
Meng Yue (UCI)
Robert Marks (Whittier)
Joshua Muldavin (UCLA)
Kenneth Pomeranz (UCI)
Lisa Raphals (UCR)
Helen Rees (UCLA)
Stanley Rosen (USC)
Arthur Rosenbaum (Claremont)
David Schaberg (UCLA)
Otto Schnepp (USC)
Shu-mei Shih (UCLA)
Dorothy Solinger (UCI)
Richard Strassberg (UCLA)
James Tong (UCLA)
Rudi Volti (Pitzer)
Lothar von Falkenhausen (UCLA)
Richard von Glahn (UCLA)
Jack Wills (USC)
Keith Wilson (LACMA)
Bin Wong (UCI)
Teresa Wright (CSULB)
Yunxiang Yan (UCLA)
Mayfair Yang (UCSB)
Ping Yao (CSULA)
Esther Yau (Occidental)
Pauline Yu (UCLA)
Louise Yuhas (Occidental)
MAILING LIST
The mailing list - both for paper flyers and an e-mail
announcements - consists of over 500 names, including primarily
professors of Chinese studies in Southern California, and as well
students and members of the public.
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE, 2000-01
For 2000-01, the Southern California China Colloquium presented
five day-long conferences and workshops.
Oct. 21, 2000: CHINA AND CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION
Stanley Rosen (Political Science USC), "The Wolf at the Door:
Hollywood & the Film Market in China from 1994 to 2000"
Yunxiang Yan (Anthropology, UCLA), "Managed Globalization: State
Power & Cultural Transition in China"
Barrett L. McCormick (Political Science, Marquette University),
"Alternative Media: Assessing the Impact of Satellite TV, Recorded
Movies, and the Internet on Chinese Public Discourse"
Eriberto Lozada (Anthropology, Butler University), "Colonizing
Cyberspace: Computers, the Internet, and Shanghai Imaginations"
Discussants: Matthew Kohrman (Anthropology,
Stanford), Nina Hachigian (Law and Public Policy, Council on
Foreign Relations)
Dec 8-9, 2000: WRITING AND VISUALITY IN TRADITIONAL CHINA
Lothar von Falkenhausen (UCLA), "The E Jun Qi Metal Tallies:
Inscribed Texts and Ritual Contexts"
Lan-ying Tseng (Univ. of Southern Calif.), "Representation and
Appropriation: Rethinking the TLV Mirror in Han China"
Suzanne E. Cahill (UC San Diego), "Continuity and Change: Daoism
& the Literati Ideal in Chinese Bronze Mirrors of the Tang
Period (618-907 CE)"
Xu Guangji (Institute of Archaeology, CASS), "Probing &
Excavation of the Late Northern Dynasties Imperial Tombs at Ci Xian
& Their Wall Paintings"
Audrey Spiro (UC San Diego), "Visual Narrative & the Buddhist
Conquest of China"
Zhao Yonghong (Institute of Archaeology, CASS), "Open Shafts and
Joint Burial: Issues Surrounding the Northern Zhou Period Tomb of
Tian Hong"
Burglind Jungmann (UCLA), "Visuality in 15th Century Korea: Prince
Anp'yong's Collection and Its Reflection of Chinese Antiquity"
Peter C. Sturman (UC Santa Barbara), "The Meng Jiao Voice in the
Exile Calligraphy of Su Shi and Huang Tingjian"
Hui-shu Lee (UCLA), "Women and the Art of Writing in Southern Song
China"
Lisa Raphals (UC Riverside), "Contexts for Modularity"
Lothar Ledderose (Univ. of Heidelberg), "China and the West:
Competition and Symbiosis of Visual Systems"
Chairs: Richard Vinograd (Stanford Univ.), Albert
E. Dien (Stanford Univ.), Louise Yuhas (Occidental College)
Feb. 3, 2001: EXEMPLARY WOMEN IN LATE IMPERIAL
TEXTS & CONTEXTS: THE LIENÜ ZHUAN TRADITION FROM
YUAN TO LATE QING
Beverly Bossler (University of California, Davis), "Echoes of the
'Songs': Exemplar Poetry in Yuan China"
Katherine Carlitz (University of Pittsburgh), "Mixed Messages in
the Zhi buzu zhai Lienü zhuan"
Joan Judge (University of California, Santa Barbara), "Exemplary
Women of the Qing Dynasty: Lienü in an Early
Twentieth Century Popular Pictorial"
Hu Ying (University of California, Irvine), "Modeling Lives of/for
Women: Late Qing Biographies"
Chair: Kathryn Bernhardt (UCLA)
Discussant: Lisa Ralphals (University of California, Riverside)
April 21, 2000: RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA
Mickey Spiegel (Human Rights Watch/Asia), "Religious Policy in
China
Richard Madsen (Sociology, UCSD), "Servants of Caesar and Rome:
Catholics in China"
Ryan Dunch (History, University of Alberta), "Protestant Churches
in China"
Yingnian Wu (Statistics, UCLA), "The Tale of Two Falungongs: Xinhua
vs. Minghui"
Roundtable discussion of what is permissible and
not permissible in China today in the areas of religious worship,
proselytization, training, ordination, church governance, finance,
and relations with outside churches. Discussants: Ryan Dunch,
Richard Madsen, Mickey Spiegel, and Yingnian Wu
Chairs: James Tong (Political Science, UCLA), Richard Baum
(Political Science, UCLA)
June 8-9, 2000: Workshop on MAPPING LOCAL
GOVERNANCE IN POST-REFORM CHINA
Richard Baum, UCLA (co-organizer)
Marc Blecher, Oberlin College
Kenneth Foster, UC Berkeley
Kevin O'Brien, UC Berkeley
Benjamin Read, Harvard University
Tony Saich, Harvard University (co-organizer)
Sally Sargeson, Murdoch University (Au)
Alexei Shevchenko, UCLA
Vivienne Shue, Cornell University
Hiroki Takeuchi, UCLA (rapporteur)
Kellee Tsai, Johns Hopkins University
Christine Wong, University of Washington
Yunxiang Yan, UCLA
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE, 2001-01
For 2001-02, the Colloquium has already presented one conference,
and has scheduled an
Oct. 20: SPATIALITY AND PRIVACY IN THE CHINESE
HOUSE AND HOME
Eugene Anderson (UC Riverside), "Space & Privacy among Chinese
Fisherfolk: Variations on Chinese Themes"
Maris Gillette (Haverford College), "Houses & Memory: Case
Studies from the Xi'an Muslim District"
Yinxiang Yan (UCLA), "A Room of One's Own: House Remodeling and the
Quest for Privacy in a Chinese Village"
Francesca Bray (UC Santa Barbara), "Masculine-Feminine: Domestic
Aesthetics & Consumption in the Late Ming"
Charlotte Furth (USC), "Solitude, Silence & Concealment:
Boundaries of the Social Body in Ming Dynasty China"
Discussants: Susan Greenhalgh (UC Irvine) and
Stevan Harrell (Univ. of Washington)
Nov 10: New Paths to the Study of Women in Chinese
History
Susan Mann (UC Davis), "Women's Biography as Family Romance"
Weijing Lu (Mary Washington College), "The Faithful Maiden Cult in
the Qing"
Suzanne Cahill (UC San Diego), "Poetry of Tang-Dynasty Nuns"
Ping Yao (Cal State LA), "Women's Life in Tang China"
Patricia Ebrey (Univ. of Washington), "Women of Huizong's
Court"
Dec. 8: CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA: BREAKING DOWN
HISTORIOGRAPHICAL BARRIERS
Titles to be announced
Philip Kuhn (Harvard)
Carl Trocki (Univ. of Brisbane, Australia)
Anthony Reid (UCLA)
Laichen Sun (Cal State Fullerton)
Wang Gungwu (Nat'l Univ. of Singapore)
Charles Wheeler (UCI)
Jan.: CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN YUNNAN STUDIES
February: STATE AND SOCIETY IN TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
CHINA
May 4: BROKERING ART FOR CHINA: THE MISSIONARY
LINK
May 25: NEW LIGHT ON THE CULTURE AND ECONOMY OF
LATE QING SHANGHA
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