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Honors conference explores Asia
Panels on politics, culture and economy highlight discussion
By Allison Bailey
abaile19@mscd.edu

Photo by Joe Nguyen • nguyejos@mscd.edu William James Takamatsu Thompson, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, speaks at the Metro Honors Program’s ninth annual honors conference Oct. 25 at St. Cajetan’s Center.

Godzilla stomped through the ninth annual honors conference as professor William Tsutusi of the University of Kansas spoke about “what a man in a latex suit can tell us about postwar Japan” on Oct. 24 in the Tivoli.

Every year, the Metro Honors Program holds a conference to raise money and awareness for the program. The topic this year was East Asia, and the conference featured several speakers on East Asian politics, culture and economy, as well as a demonstration of Japanese taiko drums in the Tivoli atrium.

“I thought it was interesting,” said Tara Pingle regarding the Godzilla panel. Pingle said the subject was a good idea, although she wasn’t sure it appealed to many people.

The conference was organized by students in the Honors Program and by former honors director Adolph Grundman.

“I think the students really did a great job,” Grundman said. “They had a book sale and a raffle, so they were involved in fundraising. They served as moderators for the panels. It was really a lot of work.”

In addition to understanding Japanese culture through Godzilla movies, the panels on Tuesday included talks about Taiwan, China’s relations with the United States, nationalism in China, history education in China, rural development in China and the high rate of suicide among women in rural China.

Grundman said two of the most popular panels were “The Taiwan Issue,” led by professor Steve Chan of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and “Asian-American Politics of Identity,” led by professor Daryl J. Maeda, also of CU-Boulder.

The conference raised about $300, according to Karlee Castro, a member of the Honors Program who helped organize the conference’s book sale and raffle.

The money will be used to replenish the program’s budget after the expenses incurred by the conference, Grundman said.

The program hoped to raise enough money for students to go to the National Honors Conference in Philadelphia in November, but fell short of that goal, Castro said.

Some of the problems encountered during the planning of the conference were communication and fund-raising, but she was happy with the outcome.

“I think it was overall a success,” Castro said, adding that they learned some things for next year’s conference. “Pop culture did not go over as well as we expected,” referring to the Godzilla and anime panels. “But people really liked the discussion on the Asian-American experience and the taiko drumming.”

Grundman said about 300 people attended the conference, which took place over the course of two days.

The conference was sponsored by Metro’s History and Political Science departments and Student Activities.

Members of the Honors Program and Sigma Tau Delta, the English honors society, donated books for the book sale.

The conference included speakers from all three Auraria institutions and from CU-Boulder, the University of Kansas and the University of Hawaii.

The conference is a good way for the three schools at Auraria to network, Grundman said.

“There’s not a lot of interaction between the schools, and this is a way of doing that,” he said.

Castro said possible topics for next year’s conference include Latin America and issues regarding nuclear weapons and nuclear energy.