Speaker: Mark Meulenbeld, Associate Professor, School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong

Description:

Daoist priests in central and northern Hunan Province (PRC), an area known as Plum Mountain (Meishan 梅山), are the custodians of many local traditions. Among them is an ancient and elaborate ritual dedicated to a sacred site famous since medieval times: Peach Blossom Spring (Taohuayuan 桃花源), or Peach Spring Grotto (Taoyuandong 桃源洞), locally also referred to as Immortals’ Precinct of Peach Spring (Taoyuan Xianjing 桃源仙境). More specifically, in addition to a written iteration by the poet Tao Qian 陶潛, the site’s miraculous efficacy is ritually channelled into households of the region, consecrated on domestic altars, and its transcendent beings embodied by domestic spirit-mediums. A variety of these local traditions have long been transmitted in manuscript form. The present CCCC session will zoom in on a ritual manual transmitted by a lineage of Daoist priests from Yangyuan 楊源 Village in central Hunan, who practice their rituals in the surrounding towns, villages, and hamlets. Copied in 1942 by a Daoist priest named Zhang Youli 張攸利, the tradition recorded in the first half of the manuscript is titled “To Sing Ballads for [spirit-mediums] Seated at the Altar” (Chang Zuotan Ge 唱坐壇歌). It contains several narratives that revolve around the regional lore of Peach Spring Grotto.

To join virtually: https://cornell.zoom.us/j/96053368226?pwd=mNysMAyctkp5VLnC27BEAqbnu52X6…

About Cornell Classical Chinese Colloquium
The group meets monthly during the semester to explore a variety of classical Chinese texts and styles. Other premodern texts linked to classical Chinese in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese have also been explored. Presentations include works from the earliest times to the 20th century. Workshop sessions are led by local, national, and international scholars. Participants with any level of classical Chinese experience are welcome to attend.
o At each session, a presenter guides the group in a reading of a classical Chinese text. Attendees discuss historical, literary, linguistic, and other aspects of the text, working together to resolve difficulties in comprehension and translation.
o No preparation is required; all texts will be distributed at the meeting.
o Refreshments will be served.

Come and explore the wide range of international work being done at Cornell! This annual showcase features a concurrent student poster session and speed talks by Einaudi Center graduate students and visiting scholars. Refreshments will be served.

Student Experience Poster Session

Over 70 undergraduates will present their international summer experiences. They conducted research, worked in Global Internships, and put leadership into action as Laidlaw scholars.

Applications are open now for Global Internships and the Laidlaw Leadership and Research Program.

Global Research Speed Talks

Graduate students and visiting scholars from the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies will present three-minute speed talks on their interdisciplinary and international research. Speakers will address topics such as fascism in 20th century Spain, regenerative agriculture in England, migrant labor in India, and more.

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The International Research Showcase is hosted by the Einaudi Center for International Studies and cosponsored by the Office of Global Learning. Both are part of Global Cornell.

Septian Hario Seto (Executive Secretary of National Economic Council, Republic of Indonesia) will be joined on November 10, by moderator Jenny Goldstein (Global Development) and faculty respondents Vibha Kalra (Chemical + Biomolecular Engineering), James Rogers (Brooks School/Tech Policy Institute), and Esteban Gazel (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences).

Abstract: Indonesia’s value-added strategy for critical minerals—centered on export restrictions for nickel ore, domestic processing mandates, fiscal incentives, and a combination of investment and industrial policies—aims to shift the economy from raw-ore extraction to higher-value manufacturing. Using nickel as the focal case, the presentation will show evidence of success: a rapid build-out of industrial capacity for nickel processing; the emergence of industrial parks (e.g., Morowali and Weda Bay) that integrate power, logistics, and services; movement up the value chain from ore to ferronickel/NPI, stainless steel, and battery-grade intermediates (MHP, nickel sulfate); rising foreign direct investment with technology-transfer provisions; and a measurable shift in export composition toward processed products and EV-related inputs.

These gains are unfolding within a sharp geoeconomic rivalry. Chinese firms, which dominate processing capabilities for most critical minerals globally, have played a pivotal role in financing and operating Indonesian projects—accelerating capacity growth, technology adoption, and offtake in the early years. Therefore, this presentation also explains Indonesia’s strategy in responding to the geopolitical tension between China and Western countries, particularly the United States, by prioritizing national interests as the main reference point and maintaining the long-standing principle of an independent and active foreign policy. In addition, it will discuss the Government of Indonesia’s ongoing efforts to address key ESG issues, including tailings management, deforestation, and carbon emissions.

Bio: Septian Hario Seto is an accomplished economist and currently serves as a Member of the National Economic Council (DEN) of the Republic of Indonesia. Seto has played a key role in navigating complex financial strategies that drive critical development initiatives across both public and private sectors.

A graduate of the University of Indonesia with a BA in Economics in 2006 and SKEMA Business School in 2008, Seto began his career as an analyst at Principia Management Group before advancing to Corporate Finance Manager at PT Toba Bara Sejahtera. His exceptional performance in both roles led to his recruitment by the government, where he brought significant expertise in capital raising, debt structuring, and strategic crisis management.

Since 2015, he has held various influential roles as an Expert Staff across key ministries, including the Executive Office of the President, Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, and Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investments.

With a strong track record in the coal mining industry and nickel downstream processing, as well as significant contributions to major projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail, Jabodebek LRT, toll road development across Java and Sumatra, Kertajati International Airport, and Kediri Airport, Seto has demonstrated his dedication to supporting sustainable economic and infrastructure development at the national level.

Registration Required: In Person

Co-Sponsoring Units: Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Southeast Asia Program, Cornell Energy Transition Initiative

Join Einaudi Center experts for World in Focus Talks on global events in the news and on your mind. Our faculty's research and policy insights put the world in focus.

This year we’re hosting informal campus discussions on many Tuesday afternoons. This week’s topic:

Hostile drone activity has risen sharply in Europe this fall. The incidents have shut down airports, heightened military alertness, and triggered diplomatic responses from NATO and EU countries. Many analysts believe the incursions are part of a Russian-led hybrid warfare campaign designed to disrupt aviation and critical infrastructure, probe defenses, and test NATO’s resolve.

How will different parts of Europe react to drone threats? What could be the impacts on international relations and the conflict in Ukraine?

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Featured Faculty

James Rogers | Brooks Tech Policy InstituteBryn Rosenfeld (IES) | GovernmentMagnus Fiskesjö (EAP, PACS, SEAP) | AnthropologyAgnieszka Nimark (PACS) | Affiliated ScholarChris Way (IES, PACS) | GovernmentDavid Cortright (PACS) | Visiting Scholar

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Conversations Matter at Einaudi

This conversation is hosted by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and its regional and thematic programs. Find out what's in store for students at Einaudi!

This workshop will examine the cultures of technological surveillance and the discursive configuration of threats to “national security” at the U.S.-Mexico border. The irruption of technologies such as drones, virtual walls, surveillance towers, cameras, motion sensors, and tunnel detectors will be studied as part of the construction of what journalist Todd Miller calls the “border-industrial complex,” the lucrative military security infrastructure of transnational violence criminalizing racialized bodies. We will analyze the cultural implications of technologies of the global military-industrial complex in the media and audiovisual productions of the last two decades between Mexico and the United States. Our conceptual framework will examine three key debates about the border-industrial complex with the assigned readings: 1) The rise of the neoliberal border infrastructure (Thomas Nail); 2) The imbrication of transnational militarism and border security (Todd Miller); and 3) the weaponizing of drones (Camilla Fojas). We will consider the film Sleep Dealer (Alex Rivera, 2008) as the main cultural object of discussion and counterpoint.

Oswaldo Zavala is Professor of contemporary Latin American literature and culture at the College of Staten Island and at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is the author of La modernidad insufrible. Roberto Bolaño en los límites de la literatura latinoamericana contemporánea (2015), Volver a la modernidad. Genealogías de la literatura mexicana de fin de siglo (2017), Drug Cartels Do Not Exist. Narcotrafficking in US and Mexican Culture (2018), and La guerra en las palabras. Una historia intelectual del “narco” (1975-2020) (2022). He co-edited, with Viviane Mahieux, Tierras de nadie: el norte en la narrativa mexicana contemporánea (2012); with José Ramón Ruisánchez, Materias dispuestas: Juan Villoro ante la crítica (2011); and with Magdalena Perkowska, Tiranas ficciones. Poética y política de la escritura en la obra de Horacio Castellanos Moya (2018). He has published more than fifty articles on contemporary Latin American narrative, the U.S.-Mexico border, and the link between violence, culture and late capitalism.

Join SEAP and GETSEA for a simulcast film screening of Vietnamerica.

We will watch the film on the Cornell campus, then join an online discussion with audiences at universities across the US for a Q&A with the filmmakers.

Following the wars in Vietnam, over two million people fled to country with the collapse of the Republic of Vietnam. That exodus, referred to by many as “the boat people” resulted in nearly half dying while in flight, battling the elements, starvation, and pirates.

Vietnamerica follows Master Nguyen Hoa as he returns to former refugee camps in Southeast Asia after three decades abroad to search for the graves of his wife and two children. Having fled Vietnam in 1981 on a boat with his family and friends, Hoa was the only survivor.

Executive Producer Nancy Bui of the Vietnamese Heritage Foundation joins GETSEA and over 20 universities across North America to watch Vietnamerica together simultaneously and connect via Zoom for a discussion with the filmmaker about the Vietnamese diaspora, their struggle, and how Master Hoa’s story is a prism to see the larger group.