Clara Iwasaki, PhD, Asian Languages and Cultures UCLA
Contact
Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts - East Asian Studies Dept
- ciwasaki@ualberta.ca
- Address
-
3-36 Pembina Hall
8921 - 116 St NWEdmonton ABT6G 2H8
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Chinese literature Sinophone literature Cold War Transpacific
About
I received my degree in modern Chinese and Sinophone literature from UCLA. My work straddles a number of different fields, modern Chinese literature, Asian/North American literature, and transnational Asia more broadly.
Some of my former MA students are pursuing PhDs at University of Southern California and Harvard University. I also have former MA students using their degrees in other fields such as working for a Taiwanese media company and working as support staff in an Anglophone university in the PRC.
Here are some examples of projects I have supervised:
High Tension: Reconceptualizing Interiority in the Works of Qiu Miaojin and Wu Ming-yi
Research
Modern Chinese literature, Sinophone literature, Sinophone film, transpacific studies, world literature, translation, Taiwanese literature, Hong Kong literature, Cold War studies, race and ethnicity in East Asia
My first book, Rethinking the Modern Chinese Canon, looks at the global connections of canonical modern Chinese literature through translation and migration. See the New Books in East Asian studies podcast where I give an overview of the book. I also wrote about some of the research I did for the book in a short essay "Transpacific Search Party or How To (Not) Find Yu Dafu's Remains" for the Commentary board of Critical Asian Studies that will give you an idea of what the book is about.
In 2022, I received a SSHRC Insight Development Grant for my second book project on "Comparative Race and Racialization in East Asian Literature" for the period of 2022-24.
Teaching
I teach classes in modern Chinese literature, Taiwanese literature, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong cinemas, queer Sinophone literature and film, colonial and postcolonial East Asia
Announcements
I will be accepting graduate students in both Women's and Gender Studies and East Asian Studies for the 2024-25 academic year. While my main specialization is in work written in the Chinese language, although not necessarily limited to China, I have broader interests in and would be willing to advise graduate students working on cultural production within a comparative Asian or Asian/North American context. I am particularly interested in projects that engage with frameworks such as the Sinophone, the transpacific, postcolonial studies, or deal centrally with race and ethnicity and/or migration. Given the excellent coverage of many other topics and subfields within the department, I am only able to accept applications focusing on literature or cinema. You might be able to persuade me to advise you on a video game/new media sort of project, but it would have to be very compelling.
Courses
CHINA 402 - Advanced Chinese II
Development of language skills through reading modern fiction and/or non-fiction. Readings in Chinese. Prerequisite: CHINA 401 or consent of Department.
EASIA 336 - Modern Chinese Literature in Translation
Chinese literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. Prerequisite: EASIA 101 and 3 units in EASIA at the senior level, or consent of Department.
EASIA 359 - Culture and Identity in Hong Kong
Culture and identity in Hong Kong through the study of literature and film in translation. Prerequisite: EASIA 101 and 3 units in EASIA at the senior level, or consent of Department.
EASIA 599 - Directed Reading in East Asian Studies
May be repeated for credit when course content differs. Prerequisite: Consent of Department.
GSJ 502 - Gender Research Workshop
Advanced study of interdisciplinary research on gender and feminist scholarship.
GSJ 598 - Special Topics - Topics in Gender and Social Justice Studies
Special topics will vary.
WGS 298 - Critical Issues
This course offers an introduction to select issues in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. A variable content course, which may be repeated if topics vary.
WGS 360 - Race, Class, and Gender
Historical, contemporary and comparative perspectives on the interaction of race, class, and gender experiences. Prerequisite: Any 100 or 200 level WGS course, or consent of department.
WGS 498 - Special Topics
Prerequisite: Any 100 or 200 level WGS course, or departmental consent.
Featured Publications
International Journal of Taiwan Studies. 2024 May; 10.1163/24688800-20241341
Clara Iwasaki
2020 December;
Clara Iwasaki
Cross Currents: East Asia History and Culture Review. 31
View additional publications