LIASE Speaker Series

The LIASE grant generously supports speakers from around the world to share their knowledge of environmental topics in Asia. Recent speakers include:

  • Dr. Scott M. Moore (Director of the Penn Global China Program at University of Pennsylvania) spoke about "Subnational Hydropolitics: Conflict, Cooperation, and Institution-Building in Shared River Basins" on  Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 4:15 pm in Dalton 300 on the campus of Bryn Mawr College.

  • Professor Karen L. Thornber (Professor of Comparative Literature and of East Asian Languages and Civilizations; Victor and William Fung Director, Harvard  University Asia Center; Chair, Harvard University Asia Center Council) will speak about "Global Environmental Crises, Literature, and Asia" on Tuesday, November 1, 2018, at 2 pm in the Ely Room of the Wyndham Alumnae House on the Bryn Mawr College campus.  

  • Professor Gu GongAssociate Professor at Zhejiang University Law School, spoke about "Animal Ethics and Laws in China: The Past and the Present" on Wednesday, April 4, 2018, from 4:15 to 6:00 pm at Carpenter Library, B21 on the campus of Bryn Mawr College.

  • Christopher Atwood, East Asian Languages & Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, spoke about "Environmental Geographies of Mongol China" on Monday, April 9, 2018, from 4:15 to 6:00 pm at Carpenter Library, B21 on the campus of Bryn Mawr College.

  • Professor Linda Campbell, Senior Research Fellow in Aquatic Ecosystem Health at Saint Mary's University in Nova Scotia, Canada will speak on Thursday. March 1, 2018, in the Scheuer Room in Kohlberg Hall at 7 pm. Her talk, "West to East: Mercury biomagnification in fish food webs from selected Chinese & Tibetan sites," will focus on her research on fish contamination in Asia. Dr. Campbell's talk will be delivered in American Sign Language with voice interpretation provided.

  • Professor Yuan Hsia-wei of National Taiwan University (NTU) spoke to students at Swarthmore on October 4, 2017. Her talk, “Lessons Learned from Bird Studies in Taiwan,” discussed her extensive research on bird species in Asia as well as her efforts to restore habitat and improve conditions for specific bird populations through restoration and improvement efforts at the Wu-Wei Harbor Wetland wildlife refuge in Ilan County. 

  • "Fenghuang Landscape and Miao Culture: Photographs by Bode Wang" (March-April 2017). Mr Wang's photographs were on display at all three Tri-College campuses. He also spoke at each campus to present his work to student, faculty, staff, and community audiences. Mr. Wang's photographs and visit were held in conjunction with Bryn Mawr's 360˚ course cluster, “Eurasia in Flux: Trans-Siberian Perspectives on Russia and China.”

  • On Thursday, November 17, 2016, Will Gardner, Swarthmore associate professor of Japanese, hosted Chigumi Obayashi, film director, for a screening of her film A Dialogue: Living Harmony. The film documents the efforts of the city of Usuki, in Kyushu, Japan, to completely transform its agricultural sector towards sustainable agriculture. Through the town’s story and its unconventional narrative structure, the film poses universal questions about the future of food and the environment. The film was followed by a panel discussion with the director. The event was open to the public. 

  • Prof. Harold YihChi Tan, Director of Center for Weather Climate and Disaster Research and Professor of BioEnvironmental Systems Engineering at National Taiwan University, visited Swarthmore on October 27, 2016, to discuss “University Capacity Building To Help Local Governments Set Up Resilient Communities.” Taipei sits at the top of the World City Risk index (Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies), and Taiwan more broadly faces severe risks associated with typhoons, flooding, landslides, and earthquakes. A number of weather-related incidents can be linked to climate change. Professor Tan discussed how, in the face of increasing risks, what can be done to help make local communities more resilient.