BULLETIN
of
ASIAN GEOGRAPHY
Published by the Asian Geography Specialty Group
Association of American Geographers
                                        ISSN 0732-2186
 
 

I have enjoyed tremendously the opportunity to serve as Chair of the AGSG for the past two years. The current year has again seen a number of positive developments in the activities of the specialty group. First, we ran a very successful competition for travel funds to the AAG Honolulu Meeting in March 1999. The successful applicants are listed elsewhere in the Newsletter. Second, a good number of special sessions both from the Area directors and with other Specialty Groups have been developed for Honolulu. Last, I have taken the initiative to develop a web site for the Asian Geography Specialty Group. The web address is:

http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Geography/AGSG/Welcome.htm

This resource can be a very powerful tool in enhancing our future activities. Included is a mission statement, notices and forthcoming meetings, a listing of the members of the specialty group and their email addresses, the AGSG Newsletter in electronic form, and links to other organizations and specialty groups. If you have not yet visited the site please do so very soon. Most important it is essential that all of the members attempt to contribute information. The Area Directors each have a virtual region in which they can post items that are of relevance to South, Southeast, East, and Southwest Asia. Please do take the time after you view this to contribute announcements of conferences, research projects, publication citations and other materials. This may be done by sending the items to Nanda Shrestha or myself. The Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky will continue to maintain the web site for the immediate future. The site will continue to serve the important purpose of bringing more news and information more quickly and perhaps place the AGSG more conspicuously in your thoughts, plans and priorities.

Please do begin to think ahead and plan to deliver a paper or organize a session for the AAG 2000 Meeting in Pittsburgh. Do also consider offering papers at the Association of Asian Studies Meetings and other international gatherings of Asianists.

I continue to seek your ideas on other ways in which we may achieve new prominence and expand the role of the specialty group while engaging in new activities. Please do feel free to share with me any projects that you wish to consider as a group as well as any concerns you may have. With best wishes, Tom Leinbach, Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, 1477 Patterson Tower, Lexington, KY 40506-0027. Voice: 606-257-1276; Fax: 606-323-1969 and Internet: leinbach@pop.uky.edu

This is the second issue of the Bulletin of Asian Geography published under my editorship. With few exceptions, we are sending this bulletin to all the members of the Asian Geography Specialty Group via e-mail. If you wish to receive a hard copy instead, please let me know. Also, if you have any problem in retrieving the bulletin, please contact me at your convenience. As always, I appreciate your comments on the bulletin and any suggestions to improve it.

The main reason to write this note is to express my personal regards to Professor Bheru Sukhwal, who was the editor of the Bulletin of Asian Geography from 1985 to 1997. On behalf of all members of the AGSG and its officers, I sincerely thank him for his outstanding work publishing the bulletin on time for more than a decade. I would also like to take this opportunity to request submission of your academic activities for publication in the bulletin. In the next issues, we intend to publish two to three pages of short articles on current Asian geographical themes. Also, please submit book reviews of books recently published on Asia.

We hope to publish the next issue of the Bulletin of Asian Geography before the AAG Hawaii Meeting in March, 1999.

1. Tom Leinbach, Chair of AGSG, convened the annual business meeting at 1:30 pm. Thirty members attended the meeting.
2. The minutes from the previous annual business meeting (Ft. Worth, Texas, 1997) were approved by unanimous voice vote.
3. Nanda Shrestha, Secretary-Treasurer, presented the Group's financial report for 1997-1998, which is as follows:
Income
Received from past Secretary-Treasurer $4,238.39
Interest Income, 1997                      54.05
Interest income, 1998 YTD                  15.84
Deposit, March 2, 1998                     45.00
Total income                            4,353.28

Expense
Bheru Sukhwal, Newsletter publishing      251.92
Suprabha Tripathi, Student paper award    250.00
Bimal Paul, Newsletter publishing         125.10
Total expenses                            627.02
                                                                               
BALANCE as of March 1998               $3,726.26

The AGSG account is held at AmSouth Bank, Tallahassee, Florida, under Nanda Shrestha's name.
4. Nanda Shrestha announced the results of the election for two area director positions:

David Kummer, Area Director, South East Asia
Barbara Brower, Area Director, South Asia
5. Tom Leinbach, Chair, provided a brief report on the following issues discussed at the Specialty Group Chairs' meeting:
1. The AAG Resource Papers series has been discontinued.
2. The Professional Geographer is seeking manuscripts related to Physical Geography.
3. AAG is exploring alternative ways of presentation.
4. Availability of childcare for meeting participants in Honolulu.
6. The Chair raised the issue of AGSG setting aside some money from its account to offer supplementary travel grants to Hawaii meeting participants.
1. It was agreed that such grants would be made available only to AGSG members who would be presenting papers.
2. Robert Huke moved that a maximum total of $2,000 be set aside to be equally divided into students and junior faculty (those who have not yet been tenured).
3. The motion carried, and the Chair agreed to request the AAG Newsletter Editor to announce this award plan in the forthcoming issues of the Newsletter.
7. The Chair brought to members' attention Gary Gaile and Cort Willmott's proposed plan to publish the new, edited volume of Geography in America. He proposed that the Asia chapter for the proposed volume be prepared by the Area Directors (Shrestha, Lewis, McDonald and Cohen), and that he would serve as the editorial coordinator of the chapter. This proposal was unanimously approved.
8. The meeting adjourned at 2:30 pm.

The Asian Urbanization Research Association, headquartered at the Department of Geography and Planning, University of Akron, announces that the Sixth Asian Urbanization Conference will be held at Chennai (formerly Madras), India, from January 5 through 9, 2000. The main focus of the conference will be 21^st CENTURY: CHALLENGES OF URBANIZATION. The conference will be followed by a five-day field trip through Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Apart from the lectures and panel discussions, this conference will consist of scholarly paper sessions. The first Asian Urbanization Conference was held in Akron in 1985, the second in Nanjing in 1988, the third in Delhi in 1991, the fourth in Taipei in 1994, and the fifth in London in 1997.

This Sixth International Conference at Chennai is sponsored by Madras University. Co-sponsors include Ball State University, the University of Akron, and the Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers (AAG). The conference is expecting participation of scholars from all over the world and papers are invited. The contact persons are:

Dr. S. Subbiah
Dir., Centre for Japanese Studies & Research
Univ. of Madras, Chennai 600 005
India
e-mail: geog@giasmd01.vsnl.net.in
Fax: 91-44-566693
Tel: 91-44-568778 ex. 303

Dr. G. Venugopal
Professor and Chairperson
Department of Geography
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana, USA
e-mail: gvenugop@wp.bsu.edu

The Academy for Educational Development (AED) invites applications for the 1999 National Security Education Program (NSEP) Graduate International Fellowships competition. These fellowships enable U.S. graduate students to pursue specialization in area and language study or to add an important international dimension to their education. Created by Congress to address the need to increase the ability of U.S. citizens to communicate and compete globally, the NSEP embodies a recognition that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but the new challenges of global society, including: sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness.

NSEP fellowships are intended to provide support through overseas study and limited domestic tuition to students who will pursue the study of languages, cultures, and world regions deemed critical to U.S. national security. Excluded explicitly is study of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Fellowships are awarded in a broad range of academic and professional disciplines including business, economics, history, international affairs, law, applied sciences and engineering, health and biomedical sciences, political science, and other social sciences. Award recipients incur a requirement to work for an agency of the federal government involved in national security affairs or in the field of higher education in an area of study for which the fellowship was awarded, in that order of precedence.

Eligibility Requirements: Applicants must be U.S. citizens, enrolled in or applying to graduate programs in accredited U.S. colleges or universities located within the United States. All applications must include formal study of a modern language other than English.

To Apply: Guidelines and applications forms for NSEP Graduate International Fellowships may be obtained from our Web page at http://www.aed.org/nsep. They also may be obtained by contacting AED at 800-498-9360 or 202-884-8285, or by e-mail at nsep@aed.org.

Deadline: Applications must be postmarked by January 15, 1999. No faxed submissions accepted; late applications will not be reviewed.

The Asian Geography Specialty Group's Best Graduate Student Paper Award was given to Suprabha Tripathi-Srinivas, Kent State University, for her paper "Listening to Women Talk About Their Reproductive Health Problems: Case Studies of Women in Rural India."

The A.K. Chakravarti Awards for best student papers on South Asia were presented to Sunita George, University of Georgia, Athens, for her paper titled "Gender Differences in the Point of Entry Jobs of Migrants and the Role of Social Networks: A Case Study of Hyderbad, India", and to George Pomeroy, University of Akron, for his paper "A Functional Classification of Indian Cities" .

The following individuals have been awarded a Hawaii meeting travel grant:
Students

Doracie Zoleta-Nantes, Rutgers University. "Coping Strategies to Flood Hazards Among Urban Poor in Metro Manila"

Firooza Pavri, Ohio State University. "State Constructed Environments: Macro Forest Policies and Local Influences in Western Ghats of India"

William Smith, Towson State University. "Drinking Water Issues and Management in the Philippines"

Katherine Rankin, University of Toronto, "Globalization and State Capacity: Cultural Geography of Finance Capital in Nepal"

Raju Das, University of Dundee (Scotland). "The Spatiality of Class and State Power: the Case of India's Land Reforms"

Suprabha Tripathi, Colorado. "Health Seeking Behavior of Rural and Urban Women in India"

Nanda R. Shrestha, In the Name of Development: A Reflection on Nepal. Lanham: University Press of America, 1997.

C. Emdad Haque, Hazards in a Fickle Environment: Bangladesh. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997.

Robert Z. Apte and Andres R. Edwards, Tibet: Enduring Spirit Exploited Land. Santa Fe: Heartsfire Books, 1998. (Educators are eligible to receive an exam copy for 50% off the cover price. If you are interested in purchasing an exam copy of the book for possible course adoption, please contact Heartsfire Books at (800) 988-5170).

Robert H. Stoddard and Alan Morinis (editors), Sacred Places, Sacred Spaces: The Geography of Pilgrimages. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University, 1997.

Nominations are being requested for the annual Asian Geography/Regional Development and Planning Student Award. The award has been made possible by the generosity of Aninda K. Chakravarti. Dr. Chakravarti is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Professor Emeritus at the University of Saskatchewan. He has been an active researcher in the field of agriculture and nutrition with a South Asian focus.

The award is jointly administered by the Asian Specialty Group and the Regional Development and Planning Specialty Group. All papers should be submitted to Dr. Jayati Ghosh, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 800 West Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190. Voice 414-472-1074/472-1071. Fax 414-472-5633. Internet ghoshj@uwwvax.uww.edu. All manuscripts must be forwarded by the head/chairperson/faculty advisor of the applicant with a statement confirming student status. All papers should be received by February 15, 1999.

Four special sessions are organized by Philip Kelly, Kris Olds, and Henry Yeung, all from National University of Singapore, on Globalization and the Asian Economic Crisis for the 1999 AAG Annual Meeting to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Asia Geography and Economic Geography Specialty Groups of the AAG jointly sponsor these sessions.

Michael Webber, Dept. of Geography and Environmental Studies, The University of Melbourne, Theoretical Implications of the Asian Financial Crisis.

Philip Kelly, Southeast Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore, Metaphors of Meltdown: Representations of Economic Space in the Asian Financial Crisis.

Richard Burns, Dept. of Applied Social Studies, CUHK, Hong Kong, Habermasian Hermeneutics and the Asian Economic Crisis.

Scott A. MacLeod, Asia Pacific Management Cooperative Program, Capilano College, North Vancouver, Canada, If I Could Save Time in a Bubble.

Discussant: Terry G. McGee

Andy Mullineux, Dept. of Economics, University of Birmingham, UK, Lessons from the Financial Crisis in Pacific and S.E. Asia.

Padraig Carmody, Dept. of Geography, University of Vermont, Burlington, and Jim Glassman, Dept. of Geography, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Structural Adjustment in East and Southeast Asia: Lessons from Africa and Latin America.

Myung-Rae Cho, Dept. of Regional Development Studies, Dankook University, Seoul, Korea, A Burst of Globalisation?: Reflections on the Financial Crisis in South Korea.

Bae-Gyoon Park, Dept. of Geography, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, Economic Change and Social Regulation: A View of the Korean Economic Crisis.

Henry Wai-chung Yeung, Dept. of Geography, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Economic Crisis, Neoliberalism and the State: The Case of Singapore's Regionalisation Programme.

Jessie Poon, Dept. of Geography, University at Buffalo-SUNY, NY, The Asian Crisis: The Road Ahead.

David W. Edgington, Dept. of Geography, University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada and Roger Hayter, Dept. of Geography, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada, The Asian Financial Crisis and Japanese Investors.

Jonathan V. Beaverstock, Dept. of Geography, Loughborough University, United Kingdom, London's Corporate Restructuring in South East Asian Financial Centres.

Niels Fold, Dept. of Geography, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Partners or Competitors? ASEAN Countries and the World Market for Vegetable Oils.

Discussant: Michael Webber

Chris Dixon, Dept. of Politics and Modern History, London Guildhall University, London, The Developmental Implications of the Pacific Asian Crises: Deductions from the Thai Experience.

Gisèle Yasmeen, Institute for Asian Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, Stockbrokers Turned Vendors: The Economic Crisis and Food Retailing in the Philippines and Thailand.

Rachel Silvey, Dept. of Geography, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, Transnational Economic Crises and Sexual Moralities.

Terry G. McGee, Dept. of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, Rethinking Concepts of "Development" in a Phase of Poverty Deepening in Indonesia.

Discussant: Mike Douglass

Doug Fuller, "Remote Sensing of Vegetation Fires in Indonesia: Scientific and Policy Implications"

Doracie Zoleta-Nantes, "Urban Poverty and Vulnerability to Flood Hazards in Metro Manila, the Philippines"

William Smith, "Drinking Water Issues and Management in the Republic of the Philippines"

Terry Bensel, "Mitigating the Impacts of the 1997-98 El Nino Event in the Philippines"

Moira Moeliono, "The Transformation of Land Tenure and Use in Flores, Indonesia"

Susana Siar, "Resources, Space, adn Gender in a Philippine Fishing Village"

Alyssa Miller, "Urbanization and the Environment: The Case of Eastern Indonesia"

Curtis Thomson, "An Analysis of Bangkok's Congested Communities"

Discussant: Dave Kummer

Deborah P. Bhattacharjya, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH, "Calcutta Traffic and Bengali Spatial Patterns".

Ramesh C. Dhusa, Drake University, Des Moines, "Urban Images of Post-Independence India in Kamleshwar's Writings".

George Pomeroy, University of Akron, OH, "A Comparative Functional Classification between Indian and Chinese Cities".

Seemon Mookherjee, University of Akron, OH, "Density Gradients in Chennai (Madras)".