Student Work
Asian studies major Gabe Bloch studied Japanese and Chinese extensively at the UO and studied abroad in Tokyo and Beijing. As a Clark Honors College student, Gabe wrote his thesis on the status of environmental law in China. Professor Michael Fishlen, a specialist in Chinese literature and law, was his thesis adviser. Gabe is currently in Japan as a participant in the Japanese Exchange Teaching (JET) program. He might also spend a year in China before entering law school.
Selected Faculty Work
Associate Professor Maram Epstein teaches courses in Chinese and East Asian languages and literatures. She is now pursuing several linked projects concerning ritual, expressions of emotions, the body, and representation of self in Ming-Qing novels.
William Ayres is director of Pacific Island Studies and a professor in the Department of Anthropology. He specializes in archaeology, prehistoric architecture and settlement patterns, and the ethnology of Oceania and Southeast Asia. A former Fulbright scholar in Thailand, Ayres recently received a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for research on Pohnpei archaeology. He also served as a UNESCO consultant for archaeological conservation on Easter Island.
International studies Associate Professor Kathie Carpenter is also the director of the Southeast Asian Language Program. She has overseen the growth of Thai, Indonesian, Filipino, and Vietnamese language study at the UO. Carpenter’s research focuses on Thai and Indonesian language acquisition by children.
Scott DeLancey, a professor of linguistics, specializes in Sino-Tibetan and East Asian languages. He coordinates Burmese language study at the UO and focuses on Burmese phonology, syntax, and semantics.
Michael Fishlen, a professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, teaches courses in classical Chinese language and literature, literature and law, and Chinese law. His research ranges from poetry of the late Tang and earlier periods to topics in Chinese and American law. Fishlen has taught U.S. law and international business law in Xi’an and Xiamen, and has worked as a lawyer in Shanghai.
Noriko Fujii, an associate professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, specializes in Japanese language and linguistics. Fujii developed a Japanese- language program based on proficiency-oriented instruction, and she organized a teacher training program for the Japanese Teaching Assistant Program sponsored by the Japan Foundation.
Robert Kyr, an associate professor of composition and theory in the School of Music, has composed more than seventy works including five symphonies, numerous vocal and chamber pieces, and music for non-Western instruments. He is the founding director of the Pacific Rim Gamelan, a multicultural performing arts ensemble that includes a Balinese gamelan (gong kebyar).
Charles H. Lachman, an associate professor in the Department of Art History, specializes in art theory and the history of Buddhist art, especially in China. Lachman is currently working on a book concerning the problems of interpreting Ch’an Buddhist painting.
Richard M. Steers is Kazumitsu Shiomi Professor of Management and International Studies in the Charles H. Lundquist College of Business. He recently completed a comparative study of management and motivation techniques in Japan, Korea, and the United States. Steers founded the University of Oregon’s international business program, one of the key constituents of the Center for Asian and Pacific Studies.
Richard P. Suttmeier, a political science professor, specializes in Chinese and Japanese politics, science, technology, and international relations. His research includes a study of China’s scientific community, the role of science and technology in U.S.-China relations, and a long-term study of Chinese approaches to the management of technological and environmental risks.