Tales for Tarō: A Study of Japanese Children’s Magazines, 1888–1949, by NONA L. CARTER.

Today on the new Dissertation Reviews site: L. Halliday Piel’s review of “Tales for Tarō: A Study of Japanese Children’s Magazines, 1888–1949,” by NONA L. CARTER.

Mad Acts, Mad Speech, and Mad People in Late Imperial Chinese Law and Medicine, by FABIEN SIMONIS.

[Note: To read this review on the new Dissertation Reviews site, click here]

In the spirit of Paul Unschuld and Nathan Sivin, who have both meticulously documented and translated the traditional Chinese medical canon from its first articulation in the Huangdi neijing, Fabien Simonis presents a stunningly comprehensive look at changing conceptions of madness throughout Chinese history. Simonis organizes his

First “Japan Studies Dissertation Review” Today

Dissertation Reviews has expanded into Japan Studies, and today is the first post. Please visit us here and help us spread the word among colleagues.

Modern Homes for Modern Families in Tianjin, China, 1860-1949, by ELIZABETH LaCOUTURE.

[Note: To read this review on the new Dissertation Reviews site, click here]

Elizabeth LaCouture’s dissertation is structured around the multiple meanings of jiating (家庭)—family, house, and home—and the complicated interweaving of those meanings as China struggled in the early twentieth century to redefine society and nation. Drawing together formerly disparate bodies of scholarship on reform of the family (particularly xiao jiating 小家庭), changing house design, and aesthetics for home furnishing and decorating, LaCouture argues that, as it morphed from the Qing’s jia (家), jiating was a key site in the creation of modern identities. Situating her explorations in hybrid Tianjin (a hybridity that Ruth Rogaski also fruitfully excavated

New Dissertation Reviews Website Online

Dear Colleagues,

The new year of Dissertation Reviews debuts this Monday with one of forty new postings (and counting). As part of the new year, and our expansion into Japan Studies and Korean Studies, we are proud to announce the new website www.dissertationreviews.org. There you will find enhanced functionality and an elegant new design.

For those who prefer the “classic” layout, we will continue to post new Chinese History dissertation reviews here, as well as on the new site. Japan Studies and Korean Studies reviews will be posted exclusively on the new site, which is better equipped to handle the expanded, multi-topic format.

Sincerely,

Tom Mullaney
Stanford University

PDF Digest of all Chinese History Dissertation Reviews posted in 2010

In preparation for a new series of dissertation reviews, we’ve compiled all of last year’s posts in a downloadable PDF digest. You can find it here:

Chinese History Dissertation Reviews Digest 2010

Update on “Fresh from the Archives”

The response to the new series has been wonderful so far, with reviews underway for the municipal archives in Tianjin, Chongqing, Xi’an, Kunming, and Shijiazhuang; and the provincial archives in Shaanxi, Hebei, and Sichuan. If you have recent experience in an archive not listed here, and want to be a guide for your colleagues in the field, please contact Tom Mullaney at tsmullaney@stanford.edu