The East-West Center Association Blog

1973 student photo of Ann Dunham Soetoro, mother of President Barack Obama. From 1973-78, Dunham pursued her master’s and doctorate degrees in anthropology as an East-West Center grantee. Photo: East-West Center.

The East-West Center is pleased to be collaborating with the University of Hawai‘i Foundation and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa to raise funds for student fellowships in honor of Ann Dunham Soetoro, the mother of President Barack Obama. The graduate degree fellowships will focus on Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, and are intended to perpetuate the kind of penetrating and insightful study of Indonesia that was exemplified by this distinguished alumna of the East-West Center and the University of Hawai‘i.

Click here more information on the Ann Dunham Soetoro Endowment, or here to view a video about the endowment.

Ann Dunham Soetoro was awarded East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowships from 1973 through 1978, for Master’s and Ph.D. studies in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Hawai‘i . Her thesis was based on her intense involvement with rural communities in Java where the challenges of development were particularly evident. Because of her premature death in 1995, Ann’s contributions might have been little recognized were it not for the election of her son as President of the United States. Since that time an edited version of her dissertation has been published by Duke University Press, edited by Alice Dewey and Nancy Cooper, bringing more attention to her remarkable career.

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Affandi: Wisdom of the East, 1967

Two of the most prominent and important works in the East-West Center’s permanent art collection ­– the large painted murals in the stairways of Jefferson Hall by the internationally renowned artists Jean Charlot and Affandi ­- have been featured at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco Blog.

The blog features the animated video, Wisdoms of the East and West, created in 2010 by artist Ben Wood and puppeteer Michael Schuster to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the East-West Center in Honolulu Hawaii. The video is based on the flagship Charlot and Affandi murals in Imin Center-Jefferson Hall at the East West Center.

Links:

• View the animated video Wisdom of the East and West
• Visit the East-West Center Arts and Performances website
• View images of the restoration of the murals at the EWC Flickr Page

A promotional film about the East-West Center, originally produced in 1968 and revised in 1971. This “period piece” features narration by the late James MacArthur (Danno on the original Hawaii 5-0 television show).

Titled “Bridge for the Pacific”, this promotional film features 5 EWC participants from the Institute for Student Interchange (ISI), the Institute for Advanced Projects (IAP), and the Institute for Technical Interchange (ITI) speaking about their personal adaptation to the international environment of the EWC.

The 5 EWC participants speaking in this film are:

• Thi Chau Tran (Vietnam)
• Abdul Rasul Asadi (Afganistan)
• Sirowat Sirowan (Thailand)
• Mabel Cecilia Burks and William V. Vitarelli (U.S.)

Produced, directed and filmed by George Tahara, Cine-Pic Hawaii. Written by Joseph Hurley with music by Barbara B. Smith. Posted by permission of the producer.

Links:

• Watch more EWC videos at the official EWC Vimeo account
• Watch more EWC videos at the official EWC YouTube channel

TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP) announced the global release of its latest Asian regional television series, Saving the Planet, www.savingtheplanet.tv. The six-episode series features outstanding efforts in education for sustainable development (ESD) in South and Southeast Asia.

The stories -– drawn from Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand — were all selected through competitive public nominations in 2007. Each 10 minute story is a self-contained documentary, filmed on location by a local film crew with the participation of local organizations whose work was being profiled.

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Source: East-West Center News

HONOLULU (Jan. 10) — On Tuesday, Jan. 12, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver a major policy address on the U.S. vision for Asia-Pacific multilateral engagement at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although attendance is by invitation only, the speech will be streamed live online at EastWestCenter.org at 2 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time.

Secretary Clinton’s address comes at the start of an eight-day Pacific trip that, in addition to Hawaii, will take her to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia.

The State Department has said that the East-West Center was chosen as the venue for Secretary Clinton’s policy address in commemoration of the 50^th anniversary year of the Center’s founding by Congress to strengthen relations and understanding among the peoples and nations of Asia, the Pacific, and the United States.

Links:

• For more information on the Center’s history and 50^th year commemorations, visit EastWestCenter.org

The 50th Anniversary celebration of the East-West Center has begun and the morning of January 6, 2010 the KHNL/KGMB station focused attention on the East-West Center and its accomplishments over the past 50 years.

You can read the story and view a video at:

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=11777248

EWC Adjunct Senior Fellow Dick Baker discusses current developments regarding democracy in Asia in a recent segment of the online video show ThinkTech Hawaii. Interviewed by Hawaii Pacific University Professor and Asia-Pacific columnist Bill Sharp, Baker discusses recent developments in Thailand, Indonesia and more.

[HVCA Democracy.flv]

ThinkTech Hawaii also features a variety of other video segments hosted by Sharp and focusing on Asia-Pacific issues.

Online Community Screencast

Click on the image above to access a step-by-step video tutorial on the EWCA Online Community and Directory. Thank you to Brenda Higashimoto for creating this online video tutorial.

Links:

• Access the EWCA Online Community and Directory
• Need a User ID?

Do you have any memories, photos or videos to share? If so don’t hesitate to contact the Associates Office to submit your photos or videos.

Here are a couple videos from past performances at the East-West Fest.

1. East-West Fest 2007

Trong Com is a well known folk song of the Northern Vietnam, which was performed by Vietnamese and American high school students (Anh, Hanh, John & Kalia). The song has hilarious melody, which promises an interesting dance as well as brings a bit of Vietnamese culture to international friends.

2. East-West Fest 2009

Participants at the East-West Center in Hawaii staged their annual “East West Fest” on April 18, 2009. Performances were presented representing the many cultures of the Asia-Pacific region. The background music is a mix of songs from Indonesia, Cambodia, and Kiribati.