UB Asian Studies/Baldy Center Offer Luncheon Seminars

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo Asian Studies Program and the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy in the UB Law School is presenting "Law, Society and Culture in Asian History," a luncheon seminar series featuring talks by prominent scholars.

The seminars are free of charge and open to the campus community and the public. They will take place on Tuesdays, March 3, March 17, March 31 and April 7, in 509 O'Brian Hall on the UB North Campus. Lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by the talks from noon to 1 p.m.

Advanced registration is required. Those interested should contact Anita Mazurek in the Baldy Center at amazurek@buffalo.edu or 645-2102. For more information, go to http://www.law.buffalo.edu/baldycenter .

On March 3, Charles Jones, professor of theology and religious studies, Catholic University of America, will discuss "Modernization and Traditionalism in Buddhist Almsgiving in Taiwan." He will focus on Taiwan's Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Association, which came into being at the end of a process of modernization, whereby "almsgiving" became modern "scientific charity."

On March 17, Zhao Ma, assistant professor of history, State University of New York College at Fredonia, will examine the legal implications of customary wedding rituals in early 20th-century Beijing in a talk titled, "Crime and Social Order in Early 20th Century Chinese Cities."

The guest speaker on March 31 will be Alexis Dudden, associate professor, Department of History, University of Connecticut. Her talk, "International Law in Shaping Asia's 20th Century," will explain how, at the outset of the 20th century, Japanese state aggrandizers enabled Japanese officials to define long-term legal and political power for Asia by making the terminology of international law standard Japanese practice.

On April 7, the series' final talk, "Consent, Coercion, and Influence: Election Law and Democracy in 20th Century India," will be presented by David Gilmartin, professor of history, North Carolina State University. He will address the colonial roots of India's election law and the importance of the legal concept of "undue influence" and examine how legal structures since 1947 have shaped the meanings of elections and the concept of the people's sovereignty in the Indian context.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.