On April 20, Yangyou Fang, a Ph.D. candidate of SPO, gave a talk at the final East Asian Studies (EAS) Department Colloquium of the 2021-2 academic year in Jones Hall. This was the first time that members of SPO presented at this colloquium, where faculty from Princeton and other institutions, and advanced EAS graduate students are invited to talk about their research related to studies of East Asia.

Yangyou gave a lecture titled “The Spanish Pacific (1521–1815) and Manila’s Chinese’ Letters to the Spanish King.” In the talk, she offered a brief introduction of the emerging field of “Spanish Pacific Studies, using her dissertation as an example. She showed how her research seeks to uncover and reconstruct the overlooked Chinese impact in the literary, artistic, cultural, and political realms of the Spanish Pacific (1521–1815). She then demonstrated how she approached the multilingual primary sources: a case study of the Chinese communities’ subjectivity through collective writing. This event was well attended by the diverse audience from the Princeton community. The Members of SPO faculty, staff and students also attended the talk and showed their support. The lecture was followed by a lively discussion. At the conclusion of the event, her work was recognized by a lasting round of applause from the audience.

Yangyou reflects on this experience with gratitude: “I strongly believe that we graduate students should go out and present our work to a diverse audience, especially when most of our research are incredibly interdisciplinary. I am thankful that EAS gave me this opportunity to deliver a presentation in the ways and to the people that I have not envisioned. I would also like to thank my advisor Professor Christina Lee, who inspires and guides me with her scholarship and mentorship.”

Professor Marina Brownlee remarks, “Yangyou was wonderful in terms of the material you presented and the way in which she presented it!”

Alberto Bruzos Moro, Director of Spanish Language Program, writes:

“Congratulations on Yangyou’s fantastic presentation, especially in a place where there is usually no SPO representation. Yangyou is undoubtedly opening new spaces in a field where there are very few scholars with her skills and training.”

Kevin Woolsey, an EAS graduate student also offers his feedback, “I thought it was the most interesting lunch colloquium talk we've had in recent memory.”

The organizer of the colloquium Professor Paize Keulemans, Director of Graduate Studies at EAS, concludes, “it was wonderful having Yangyou as part of the colloquium. It was also very nice to have a completely different set of people in the room.”