JAG Works-in-Progress Retreat
2019-05-31 18:00 - 2019-06-02 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Lake Arrowhead, CA, United States
I am pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the Seventh Annual JAG Works-In-Progress Retreat at Lake Arrowhead, May 31-June 2 (Friday-Sunday). As the title indicates, the retreat is for intensive group discussion of well-formed works in progress, that is, substantial writings complete with appropriate scholarly apparatus etc. Once again we hope to have a balanced mix of graduate students and faculty for the event. As always, the goal will be to “create an atmosphere of constructive support and interchange among the group” in furtherance of the work and our intellectual exchange (to borrow from Miriam Wattles’ words from the inaugural 2008 event).
Each participant is responsible for reading, in advance, the writings of their fellow group members, and being prepared to offer commentary. We typically have a couple groups of perhaps seven or eight members each. Participants take turns discussing each others’ work, with each participant receiving approximately an hour of focused, constructive commentary. This can be a transformative experience: the previous iterations of the experience were highly successful for the participants, as attested to by the many subsequent publications and dissertation chapters.
Graduate student participants will find this an invaluable chance to get helpful, informed, attentive commentary on your work from a broad variety of perspectives—as indeed will faculty participants. Our fifth annual event is funded by UCLA, the Terasaki Center, and our many supporting JAG institutions. Those selected to participate will have their stays paid for by JAG (including lodging and meals). I hope also to help students with travel expenses, but can make no guarantees at this time (see below). Car pooling etc. is encouraged, where possible.
In the case of participants who are non-members of JAG, we expect to have an a la carte price of $600 including lodging and meals—but space may be limited. Contact me at your earliest convenience.
Qualifications: faculty and graduate student applicants from JAG member institutions, JAG alumni, and prospective members alike are welcome to apply. Individuals from prospective JAG institutions will have to self-fund ($600 for two nights stay, all meals, and facilities—contact me for details). To be considered, please submit a one-paragraph summary, and a current draft of the paper or chapter to be considered (gaps, rough edges, and outline portions are not a problem—participants can update their papers until May 24) to marotti@history.ucla.edu with “JAG retreat” in the subject line. I’m asking to receive your requests by April 22, though early submissions are encouraged, as are short messages of initial interest in advance of the application. I will let successful applicants know of their status shortly after the deadline.
Accommodations: double and single occupancy rooms will be provided courtesy of JAG, along with meals. We also hope to reimburse students for reasonable travel (contact me for details), but will ask for your help in arranging car pools etc. as possible to minimize costs.
Rough Schedule: people will arrive in the late afternoon of the 31st; we’ll have orientation and dinner that night, and get organized into groups. The next day will be the intensive group sessions, followed by a final morning get-together on the 3rd and an optional lunch.
Families/non-participants: Lake Arrowhead has many facilities and attractions for family members and partners to enjoy while the JAG participants convene, and they are welcome, as always. You would have to pay for their stay (it’s a discounted “non-participant” rate—contact me for details). Participants can expect to be completely busy apart from meals during the Saturday sessions, but we’ll be done by the morning of the 3rd.

Film, Criticism and Writing JAG mini-conference, May 30-June 1, 2023
2023-06-08 08:00 - 17:00 | CA
Featured events:
Keynote:
“Too Late Too Soon: Discoherence in Immediate Postwar Japanese Film”
Professor Earl Jackson, Dept. of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Asia University, Taiwan
Tuesday May 30, 3:00PM
History Conference Room, 6265 Bunche Hall, UCLA
Seminar:
Writing, Criticism, and Voice, with Professor Earl Jackson
Wednesday May 31, 4:30-7:30PM
Pub Aff 2325

Centering the Margins symposium, May 25-6, UCLA
2024-05-25 - 2024-05-26 | Royce Hall, 10745 Dickson Plaza, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, United States
I’m pleased to announce our upcoming major event at UCLA. “Centering the Margins” is a conference event occasioned by the publication of three mutually-informing books that reshape our understandings of postwar art, culture and politics. Guided by expert commentary from multiple disciplines, our weekend of presentations and discussions will open up these works and their implications.
KuroDalaiJee (a.k.a. Kuroda Raiji)’s groundbreaking and monumental tome, Anarchy of the Body: Undercurrents of Performance in 1960s Japan, is now available in English translation thanks to the Art Platform Japan project; our event, featuring a keynote by the author, is co-sponsored by their current institutional support, the National Center for Art Research (NCAR). The availability of KuroDalaijee’s meticulous documentation and analysis of a wealth of ephemeral works will make this transformative work available to a broader community of art and performance scholars. After a keynote by KuroDalaiJee revisiting his conclusions, we will have a panel featuring Judith Rodenbeck (UC Riverside), Rosemary Candelario (U Texas Austin), and Markus Nornes (U Michigan).
Art and Street Politics in the Global 1960s: Yoshio Nakajima and the Global Avant-Garde brings together scholars from Japan, Belgium, Denmark and the US to address the work of this “Japanese artist from Sweden,” in the words of Professor Tania Ørum. In ways that challenge our imaginings of the role, place, and possibilities of art, Yoshio Nakajima’s storied career has traversed an astounding range of locations, scenes, and movements as well as media and performance modes. The paradox of Nakajima’s work is that, despite its apparent exemplification of art’s potential to move and to transform, it has largely fallen out of accounts in which its impact might have justifiably featured. Presentations by Bert Winther-Tamaki (UC Irvine) and Chris Nelson (UNC Chapel Hill) will open a panel with contributors Peter van der Meijden (U Copenhagen), Dr. Yoshiko Shimada (artist and researcher), and editor William Marotti.
Dr. Yoshiko Shimada’s Omae ga kimeru na!: Tōdai de ryūgakusei ga manabu “han-dōtoku” feminizumu kōgi is based on noted artist and researcher Shimada’s lectures at Tokyo University on postwar radical feminism and art. This work also informed her recent exhibition at Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo, and her attention to suppressed legacies of feminist resistance. Dr. Shimada’s Sunday keynote will be followed by commentary by Anne McKnight (UC Riverside).
In honor of the mammoth achievement of the translation of KuroDalaiJee’s monumental work, we will also feature a panel discussing translation, moderated by Michael Emmerich, and featuring Claire Tanaka, Andrew Maerkle, Alice Ashiwa, Yoshiko Shimada and Ken Shima along with the author himself.
We thank the Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, the Yanai Initiative, the National Center for Art Research (NCAR), the UCLA Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities Deans, and especially the JAG member institutions for their generous support!
Register HERE: https://tinyurl.com/JAG-Centering
Here is the schedule:
MAY 25
9:30-10:00 AM coffee and settling in
10:00 Centering the Margins welcome address (William Marotti)
10:15-12:30 KuroDalaiJee’s Anarchy of the Body: Undercurrents of Performance Art in 1960s Japan
Keynote Address by KuroDalaiJee (Kuroda Raiji)
Commentary:
Markus Nornes, University of Michigan
Judith Rodenbeck, University of California, Riverside
Rosemary Candelario, University of Texas, Austin
12:30-2:00 lunch (provided for panelists)
2:00-4:15 Art and Street Politics in the 1960s: Yoshio Nakajima and the Global Avant-Garde
Commentary:
Chris Nelson, University of North Carolina
Bert Winther-Tamaki, University of California, Irvine
Commentary and Roundtable with Contributors
William Marotti, University of California, Los Angeles (and editor)
Yoshiko Shimada, artist and independent scholar
Peter van der Meijden, University of Copenhagen
4:15-4:30 Break
4:30-5:20 Breakout groups
5:30-6:20 Discussion
6:30 Dinner for all attendees
MAY 26
9:30-10:00 AM coffee and settling in
10:00 -10:05 Welcome back (William Marotti)
10:10-12:20 Omae ga kimeru na! Tōdai de ryūgakusei ga manabu “han-dōtoku” feminizumu kōgi
(in English)
Keynote: Yoshiko Shimada
Commentary: Anne McKnight
12:20-1:50 lunch (provided for panelists)
2:00-4:00 Translating to Center the Margins: on the challenge and possibilities of translating Anarchy of the Body
Michael Emmerich, moderator
Andrew Maerkle, Claire Tanaka, Alice Ashiwa, Yoshiko Shimada, KuroDalaiJee, Ken Shima
4:00-5:30 Group Discussion
A registration form will be forthcoming shortly. We also hope to have a remote participation option and will send details soon.
ACCOMMODATIONS: we have a limited number of rooms at a discounted rate at the Hotel Angeleno, a ride or Uber away from UCLA, with $20 valet parking. https://tinyurl.com/UCLAJAG2024
PARKING: we have a limited number of parking passes for those driving to the event. Contact us for details.
Finally, we understand that recent events have entered an element of uncertainty into the campus location; we will continue to monitor the situation and will make adjustments as necessary.
