The Asian Studies Program draws from courses in literature, history, politics, music, art history and visual culture, anthropology, religion, and economics. With program faculty, students select a regional and disciplinary focus to create a coherent program of study. Although the program focuses on China, Japan, and South and Southeast Asia, students can investigate other regions. Intellectual emphasis is placed on comparative perspectives, both within Asia and with other regions.
Chinese Language Table at Kline Commons.
Language Resources at Bard
Bard’s Foreign Languages, Cultures, and Literatures Program (FLCL) is predicated upon the idea that the foreign languages currently taught at Bard constitute a distinct academic field of study not just within Bard but also in the context of Bard's increasing importance as a global liberal-arts institution.
Current Events
Upcoming Events
- 4/02Wednesday5:30 pm EDT/GMT-4 Olin Humanities, Room 102Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Gazing Back at the Compound Eye: The Estrangement of Surveillance Images in Xu Bing’s Dragonfly Eyes
By Luwei Wang, Ph.D. Candidate
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Olin Humanities, Room 102 5:30 pm EDT/GMT-4
The imagination of surveillance cameras and the digital media as “compound eyes” is a dominant motif in contemporary Chinese critical and cultural production. This concept resonates deeply within Chinese visual culture and film, where the compound eye functions as both a technological reality and a symbolic structure. In this talk, I examine this intersection through Xu Bing’s experimental art film Dragonfly Eyes (2017). My analysis focuses on Xu Bing’s distinctive approach of repurposing the found surveillance footage, through which he subverts traditional power dynamics, and transforms the surveillance apparatus into an object of critical reflection. By defamiliarizing audiences from the machine vision they have grown accustomed to, the film disrupts the neutrality of digital seeing. In doing so, it prompts reflection on deep-
seated anxieties in the digital age—including the takeover of visual representation by digital media, the alienation from lived experience, the obsession with achieving a totalized and comprehensive replication of reality, and the estrangement from nature. I argue that Dragonfly Eyes fundamentally engages with these concerns by constructing an intricate relationship between surveillance footage, webcam recordings, the film’s protagonists, and the audience. Blurring the boundaries between viewing subject and object, the film positions its protagonists as both narrators and characters, oscillating between reality and fiction, observer and observed. Through this interplay, Dragonfly Eyes invites contemplation on the pervasive impact of digital surveillance and the shifting nature of visuality in the contemporary world. - 4/08Tuesday5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Kline, College Room
- 4/08Tuesday6:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Kline, College Room
- 4/11Friday7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4 Preston TheaterFriday, April 11, 2025
Chinese Movie Night: A Touch of Sin 天注定 (2014)
Preston Theater 7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Inspired by real events occured in the People's Republic of China, A Touch of Sin 天注定 (2014) weaves together four distinct stories to reflect on the growing social inequalities, corruption, and moral erosion in contemporary Chinese society as a result of its rapid modernization. The film's director, Jia Zhangke, is one of the most renowned contemporary Chinese filmmakers and known for his documentary-style realism and focus on the lives of marginalized and working people. Snacks and light refreshments will be served.