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

The past two years for me have been most enjoyable as Chair of the AGSG.  I am encouraged by the strong interest in our Travel Award Competition, which we decided to continue on a regular basis.  The successful applicants, both students and faculty, are listed elsewhere in the Newsletter.  Second a good number of special sessions were developed for Honolulu by individuals in the AGSG, the Area Directors, and co-sponsored with other Specialty Groups.
    I do feel that the web site, which was developed last year, will be a very useful means of increasing our presence among Asianists and others interested in our mission.  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 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, the new Chair. WE ALSO ASK THAT YOU SEND MORE MATERIAL TO BIMAL PAUL FOR THE AGSG NEWSLETTER. 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 news and information more quickly and perhaps place the AGSG more conspicuously in your thoughts, plans and priorities.
    Please 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 urge you to send to Nanda ideas and information on ways in which we may achieve new prominence and expand the role of the specialty group while engaging in new activities.
    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
    Internet: leinbach@pop.uky.edu

I am extremely sorry for an unexpected delay in publishing this issue of the Bulletin of Asian Geography. I had planned to publish this issue before the AAG Hawaii Meeting in March 1999.  One of the reasons for the delay is the lack of submissions for the bulletin.  Please submit your academic accomplishments and professional activities for publication in the bulletin.  I intend to publish short articles on current Asian geographical themes.  Please submit such articles as well as book reviews of books recently published on Asia.

Since my initial plan was to publish this before the AAG Hawaii Meeting, I included a message from Tom Leinbach, past chair of our specialty group, whose term ended with the conclusion of the 1999 Annual Meeting of the AAG.  On behalf of all members of the AGSG and its current officers, I sincerely thank Tom for his outstanding service to our group over the last three years as Secretary and Chair of the AGSG.  At the same time, I welcome new officers of our group.  As always, I appreciate your comments on the bulletin and any suggestions to improve it.
- Bimal K. Paul

Ronald G. Knapp (SUNY New Paltz) China's Living Houses: Folk Beliefs, Symbols, and Household Ornamentation Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1999.  A companion volume, China's Old Dwellings will be published by University of Hawaii Press in Fall of 1999.

Secretary - Treasurer:
Robert E. Huke
Department of Geography
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH  03755-3571
e-mail: huke@dartmouth.edu
voice: 603-646-1260
fax: 603-646-1601

Area Directors:
South Asia: Barbara Brower
Department of Geography
Portland State University
Portland, OR  97207-0751
e-mail: browerb@geog.pdx.edu
voice: 800-547-8887, ext. 5-8044
fax: 503-725-8044

Southeast Asia: David Kummer
Department of Social Science
SUNY-Westchester Community College
Valhalla, NY  10595
e-mail: david.kummer@sunywcc.edu

East Asia: David W. Edgington
Department of Geography
University of British Columbia
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2       CANADA
e-mail: edgingtn@geog.ubc.ca
voice: 604-822-5612
fax: 604-822-6150

Southwest Asia: Shaul Cohen
Department of Geography
1251 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR  97403-1251
e-mail: scohen@oregon.uoregon.edu
voice: 541-346-4500
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~scohen

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

Sixteen sessions were sponsored and/or co-sponsored by the AGSG in the 1999 Annual Meeting of the AAG held in Hawaii.  The break down of the sessions by the regions of Asia is as follows: East Asia (6), South Asia (2), and Southeast Asia (2).  In addition, six sessions were organized under Asia with no specific interest on the regions of Asia.  These sessions were organized by: Carolyn Cartier (1), Jayati Ghosh (1), Jon Goss (1), P.P. Karan (2), Philip Kelly (4), David M. Kummer (1), Alan A. Lew (1), George C.S. Lin (1), Andrew M. Marton (1), Mary G. McDonald (2), Kris Olds (4), Clifton W. Pannel (1), Bimal K. Paul (2), George Pomeroy (1), Henry Wai-Chung (4), and Jack F. Williams (1).

The following individuals were awarded a Hawaii meeting travel grant and they attended the meeting:
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"

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

The Arab World Geographer (AWG) is an international peer-review professional journal devoted to advancing geographical knowledge pertaining principally (though not exclusively) to the Arab World.  The periodical welcomes research that is historical or contemporary in scope, and methodology, theoretical or, empirical in orientation.  Its editors seek contributions on an array of themes cutting across sub-disciplines and regions.  Of particular interest are papers that address recent global developments, and ongoing sociopolitical and economic change, especially with regard to the Arab World.

Authors should submit their manuscripts in triplicate to:

Dr. Ghazi Falah, Editor-in-Chief
AWG
Center for Urban and Community Studies
University of Toronto
455 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, Ontario  M5S 2G8
CANADA
Tel: (416) 978-0351
Fax: (416) 978-7162
e-mail: gfalah@chass.utoronto.ca

Books for review should be sent to:
Authors in the Americas:
Dr. Alasdair Drysdale
Department of Geography
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH  03824, USA.
E-mail: drysdale@christa.unh.edu

Authors in The Arab World:
Dr. El-Sayed  El-Bushra
Department of Geography
King Saud University
P.O. Box 2456
Riyadh 11451
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors in the rest of world:
Dr. James D. Sidaway
School of Geography
University of Birmingham
Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
E-mail: sidawajd@novell2.bham.ac.uk