Dr. Edward Chung (Asian Studies and Religious Studies) has had two eventful years with several publications and presentations. In December 2019, he guest-edited and published Acta Koreana 22 (2), a peer-reviewed international journal issue with its special theme on “Good and Evil in Korean Philosophy, Religion, and Spirituality.” This special issue includes four scholarly articles by 4 eminent and established scholars (including Robert Buswell of UCLA and Don Baker of UBC) in addition to his own article, “Yi T’oegye on Transcending the Problem of Evil: A Neo-Confucian and Inter-religious Perspective.” Since October 2020, Dr. Chung published two major monographs titled, The Great Synthesis of Wang Yangming Neo-Confucianism in Korea: The Chonŏn (Testament) by Chŏng Chedu (Hagok) (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing, 390 pages) and The Moral and Religious Thought of Yi Hwang (Toegye): A Study of Neo-Confucian Ethics and Spirituality (Palgrave Macmillan, 230 pages), along with a chapter “Neo-Confucian Philosophy in Korea” in The Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion (Wiley-Blackwell, 2021). He also presented five scholarly papers on Neo-Confucianism and comparative philosophy/religion at the 2020 and 2021 Annual Meetings of American Philosophical Association (Philadelphia and virtual), 2021 Annual Meeting of American Academy of Religion (St. Antonio, Texas or virtual), and then 2021 Annual Conference of International Society of Korean Philosophy (virtual). Furthermore, we look forward to Dr. Chung’s forthcoming (March/April 2022) edited book, Emotions in Asian Philosophy and Religion: Korean Confucian, Comparative, and Contemporary Perspectives, Palgrave Studies in Comparative East-West Philosophy series, no. 5 (Palgrave Macmillan; about 400 pages).
Dr. Carlo Lavoie’s (Modern Languages and Acadian Studies) book Liberté, imaginaire et espace de contrainte: Questions de contexte en littérature (Freedom, Imaginary and Space of Constraint: Questions of Context in Literature) is now available. Published by Les Éditions du Cygne in Paris, this collection comprises eleven essays from leading scholars who propose a reflection on the notion of freedom through the experience of writing. Dr. Lavoie signs the introduction and a chapter on the freedom of the Acadian language in Acadian Georgette Leblanc’s poetry. Dr. Sanda Badescu (Modern Languages) also signs a chapter on the freedom of anachronism in the opera Der Rosenkavalier.
Dr. Laurie Brinklow (Island Studies) released a poetry book earlier in 2021 titled My island’s the house I sleep in at night. Paul Gallant of Atlantic Books chose Brinklow’s book as his favorite read from their “#GiftAtlantic Collection”, in which he praises her poetry collection by saying, “Brinklow finds what’s unique in every exchange, whether it’s in Newfoundland or Tasmania, and in every moment. And then, through her rich imagination, she makes it her own. And ours.” This book was also recently published in Tasmania by Walleah Press.