Southern California East Asia Colloquium Series

The Southern California East Asia Colloquium Series, funded by EASC’s Department of Education Title VI grant, supports workshops, conferences and colloquia that bring experts in diverse fields to USC each year to discuss relevant and exciting topics in East Asia.  

Featured Event: Kucha and the Silk Road

Over 70 people attended the one-day symposium "Kucha and the Silk Road" on Saturday, November 13, 2010. Top scholars in the field gathered from universities across the nation and Europe to examine the cave temples of Kucha, which are now located in the westernmost part of China and rank among some of the most significant monuments along the ancient Silk Road. 

These sites were once major centers of buddhism and repositories of rich artistic practices sponsored by the Central Asian Kingdom of Kucha. Their later history was intertwined with the dissemination of Islam and the great game of empire-building across the region. This conference brought together scholars from around the world to discuss a wide range of issues related to the study and preservation of major cave temples such as Kizil and Kumtura, as well as the place of Kucha in world history.

The main organizer of the event, Assistant Professor Sonya Lee of Art History and East Asian Languages and Cultures, was pleased with the large turnout and enthusiastic discussion. "I was gratified to see that there was much goodwill and excitement among the participants and audience to welcome further collaboration and research possibilities related to Kucha."

As a follow up to this successful conference, Ms. Zhao Li and Mr. Huo Xuchu of the Kucha Academy of Xinjiang hosted a talk on February 18, 2011 to discuss the many difficulties in preserving the Kucha Caves today. The talk was videotaped for the Fisher Museum of Art International Museum Institute, and can be viewed here.

This event was organized by Departments of Art History and East Asian Languages and Cultures at USC, with support from EASC, the Fisher Museum of Art International Museum Institute, the Visual Cultures of the Ancient World Initiative, and Center for Religion and Civic Culture. It is also is part of the Kucha Research and Database Project based at Yale University supported by the United States Department of Education.