Congratulations to the following students for creating the winning presentations at the Asian Studies Open House 2012.

First Prize: Kim Phan
Vietnamese Ceramics

Kim is a double major in History and Philosophy, and an Art History Minor, with a concentration in Asian Studies. She resides in Old Forge, PA.

Few people in America are aware of Vietnam’s distinctive millennia-long cultural history. The Vietnamese developed subtle and sophisticated cultural traditions including ceramics that form an important part of their artistic identity. My project centered on Vietnamese ceramics; including when they developed, how they were made, when and where they were discovered, what they were used for, and what did the motifs represent. Then I researched significant motifs and drew them on a plate that I painted and repainted to get a specific color that is significant to Vietnamese culture. The larger plate is of a dragon surrounded by clouds, and on the outer blue rims are vines and leaves with lotus flowers. The smaller plate is a large lotus surrounded by vines and leaves. The end product was fired and now has a shiny glaze

Second Prize: Joseph Bertino, Joshua Malone, Kaitlyn Menefee, and Ryan Pipan
Taosim and the West: Art and Architecture

Joseph Bertino is a senior Philosophy major, and plans on attending law school after graduation. Joshua Paul Malone is a senior International Studies major, with an Asian Studies Concentration and a minor in Philosophy.  Kaitlyn Menefee is a sophomore Philosophy major with a Peace and Justice Studies concentration, who hopes to one day be a positive force in this world toward social justice and bring love and hope to all people. Ryan P. Pipan. is a senior English and Philosophy major in the Honors Program with an Asian studies concentration, and is the Editor-in-Chief of Esprit and Discourse.

Their project, “Daoism in the West: Art and Architecture,” explores the similarities and differences between Western and Eastern aesthetics, specifically within the context of Daosim. Our presentation argues that the Daoist approach could fix certain flaws within Western art and architecture. The Daoist approach to aesthetics gives works meaning and purpose, and emphasizes humanity’s place within nature. Unfortunately, we feel the West has embraced art devoid of intrinsic meaning in favor of art with utilitarian or profit making purposes. Likewise, Western architects have focused on constructing the biggest buildings possible regardless of the site’s natural environment. We believe the Daoist approach can remedy these issues.

Honorable Mentions:

Aimee Miller:Asian Studies’ Celebration of Chinese New Year: Culinary Art

Aimee is a senior Neuroscience major with an Asian Studies concentration. She hails from Lancaster, PA.

My project is a video production of the Chinese New Year of the Dragon celebration hosted by the Asian studies department. Many students and faculties joined the celebration. Together as a team, we cooked a feast of traditional Chinese cuisine: dumplings, steamed buns, chun-bing, and tang yuan. The Chinese class students read poems and sang songs in Mandarin. Using the photos I took during the event, I compiled a video to share with everyone. The music in the background is a folk Chinese tone played by traditional Chinese instruments.

Shital Patel: Oil Painting of Cherry Blossoms

Shital Patel is freshmen Biology major with a premed concentration.  She is from Drums, Pennsylvania.  One of her hobbies is to paint and draw.   Her Facebook page, Shital's Art, showcases some of her personal projects.

The project is a painting in acrylic medium portraying a pink cherry blossom and thus, the painting is entitled "Cherry Blossoms".  The reason that I chose this for the Asian concentration open house is because cherry blossoms encompass the theme "Think Asia, Think Globally".  The cherry blossom was a primary Japanese plant.  However, they were given to America from the country of Japan as a present in 1912.  Cherry blossoms are also known as "Sakura".  The beauty of cherry blossom represents the evanescence of human life and the transformation of Japanese culture.  The plants started from Japan and now, you can see cherry blossoms everywhere including our capital, Washington D.C. and even our own University of Scranton campus.  Since it represents the transformation of Japanese culture, it makes sense that the cherry blossom  can be found everywhere today.  This is why the Cherry blossom encompasses the theme of the Asian concentration open house.  The inspiration for this painting came from the cherry blossoms that are on our campus and looking up the history of the cherry blossoms.