Roger and me (Confucius in translation): One of the highlights of last year was getting to study Confucius and Confucianism under distinguished scholar and tranlator of Confucius, Dr. Roger Ames of the University of Hawaii's East-West Center. It was a treat to see Roger at Kennesaw State's "Year of China" inaugural lecture in August of last year also. I wish to say a special thank you to Roger and his East-West Center colleagues for the ultimate experience at the East-West Center's summer institute "Infusing Asian Studies into the Undergraduate Curriculum" and an additional special thank you to members of our Tai Chi group at the East-West Center for gifting me with a copy of Roger's translation of the ANALECTS. The anthology that I use for my world literature courses uses a different translation of Confucius, but I use Roger's translation in my powerpoint presentations for the course. This week, one of my students, Xue Thao, wrote to me the following email: "Hi Professor Madden, I wanted to use analect 7.1 "Following the proper way, I do not forge new paths." It was not in our text and when I looked it up on various sites, the wording was longer and different. I can see the main idea in the analect, but I like the wording of the one you used better. I was wondering where you got it from so I can use it and cite it correctly. Thank you, -Xue Thao." I think Roger would agree that Xue Thao has very good taste in translations.

GPC's Andreea Coman Wins Essay Contest. Andreea received 2nd prize in the 2nd Annual Georgia Consortium for International Studies student essay contest for excellence in international studies. Ms. Coman (pictured on the left-hand side in the accompanying photo) presented her essay entitled “The Core of the Struggle,” dealing with women’s rights of self-determination in Islam, at the 5th Annual GCIS Symposium on March 17th and received a $200.00 cash award. I am pleased to write that Andreea's essay was originally composed as a term paper for my Honors English 1102 course and that I had the privilege of serving as her faculty sponsor for the essay contest. Andreea will pursue a major in journalism, enjoys the study of yoga and Middle Eastern dance, and will spend next year studying and working in Italy.

The Georgia Consortium for International Studies annual symposium was hosted by Georgia Perimeter College this year. It was my pleasure to serve as program chair for the symposium, and we were happy to see registration for the symposium double this year. Featuring presentations from participants in the University System of Georgia faculty seminars abroad, the program included 22 presentations attended by 75 registered participants. Presentations focused on the economic and cultural impact of India’s booming technology sector, and the politics and arts of multi-ethnic Mexico. For more information, visit: www.gacis.org.

Dear East-West Center Friends, GPC colleagues, (and other friends with an interest in Asian Studies), Welcome to "Postcards from Asia"--my new blog. At this weblog (which we can share), I will keep you up to date on my own Asian studies and travels, and invite you to join me in discussions on topics in Asian studies ranging from trends and topics in literature and culture to contemporary issues such as East-West relations, sustainable development, media representations of Asia, Asia in the arts, and so on. The field of topics is wide open and I invite your participation as we continue our professional journey into a deeper understanding of the peoples and significance of Asian peoples and cultures. (The attached image is the logo that I helped to design this year to advertise Georgia Perimeter College's "Focus on East Asia" symposium).