GPASC2025 Undergraduate Conference Report

GPASC2025, the annual undergraduate research conference of the Greater Philadelphia Asian Studies Consortium, was held on April 26 at Ursinus College. Ten presentations were made in three panels, and a special Virtual Reality presentation was also offered. (For details see the program posted previously.) After lunch, a keynote presentation was given by Nora "Nohraku" Suggs, a master of the shakuhachi (traditional Japanese bamboo flute). 

Five awards were given for outstanding presentations, and a special award was made to two students for their innovative VR presentation. 

The awards for outstanding presentations:

Sebastian Bonilla (Swarthmore College): From Classical Waka to Contemporary Rap: The Poetics of Food Across Language and Culture

Cameron Cardona (St. Joseph's University): The Devadasi System and Brahmanical Patriarchy

Zhao Gu Gammage (Haverford College): Constructing China--MENA Relations in Chinese Cold War Propaganda Posters

Michael Giammasi (Thomas Jefferson University): Shōfusō & Utsushi: The Japanese House Past, Present, and Future

James C. Singleton (St. Joseph's University): How Dalit People Mentally Experience Caste

The award for innovative presentation:

Kazi Morshed and Jiovani Santiago (Penn State Abington): China VR: People, Places & Spaces  

Contratulations to the award recipients, and to all the presenters who made this such a successful conference!

Pictured (L to R): Kazi Morshed, Jiovani Santiago, Matthew Mizenko, Zhao Gu Gammage, Sebastian Bonilla, James C. Singleton, Cameron Cardona, and Michael Giammasi

Nora "Nohraku" Suggs gave a presentation on the history and characteristics of the shakuhachi, and performed several pieces. 

And a short clip of Nora Suggs playing while reading shakuhachi notation:

And photos from the virtual reality project (presented by Kazi Morshed, Jiovani Santiago and mentor Dr. Pierce Salguero from Penn State Abington):

Opening the conference:

Presenter Krystal Diaz (University of Delaware) on Tokyo Ghoul:

Panel C: (L to R) Austin Helmer (St. Joseph's), James C. Singleton (St. Joseph's), Astrid Bemis-Driscoll (Haverford), Lisa Carter (Delaware), Dr. Amber Abbas (St. Joseph's):

Deepest thanks to the participants, mentors, guests, Nora Suggs, and Ursinus colleagues including Flavia Pietrobattista, Yukino Tanaka, Stephanie Sun, Teresa Ko, and for the administrative and logistical support from Ursinus College. Thanks also to the GPASC board: Frank Chance, Charles (Chip) Desnoyers, and Masako Hamada.