July 2014 On the Silk Road to Tibet: Traditional Festivals and Music of Ladakh and Kumaon”

Speaker:            Dr. Cornelia Dragusin ( Ethnomusicologist)

Date:                  July 13, 2014 (Sunday)  15:00-17:30

                            (Dinner after the session at a Thai/Balinese restaurant.

                             Reservations for dinner required by July 10.

                            Contact fujimotodonna@@gmail.com)

Venue:                Takatsuki Shiritsu Sogo Shimin Koryu Center, 3rd floor

                            Room 3
                         (1 minute walk from JR Takatsuki Station)  

             Tel.0726-85-3721
              http://www.city.takatsuki.osaka.jp/db/kurasu/images/koryu.gif

Fee:            Free for members and students;  500 yen for non-members

Language:    English

 

Description of presentation:

Both Ladakh and Kumaon are Northern Indian districts lying on the main axis of the great Himalayan range. Both of these areas are populated by descendants of Tibetan ethnic groups. This lecture will summarize the geographical, economic and cultural differences and similarities between these two “pearls of the Silk Road.”  The session will also highlight the secular and Buddhist musical traditions of the two ethnic groups. One main focus will be a look at the Kumaoan “festival of the evil flower,” a unique traditional event that is held only once in twelve years.

Profile of Presenter:

Dr. Cornelia Dragusin started her music and piano education when she was five years old and continued her studies at the Bucharest Conservatory of Music, Romania, followed by the Amsterdam University of Music, the Netherlands. She holds a B.A. in Music Research from the Canterbury University in Christchurch, New Zealand, an M.A. in Piano Performance and Music Education from  Amsterdam University and a PhD in Ethnomusicologic Research from the Australian National University in Canberra.

 

Her research covers the festival music in Nepal, Ladakh, Gharwal and Kumaon, the role of music in New Japanese Religions, folk and dance music in Dacian Romania, children’s songs and lullaby in the Dutch song tradition, and the complex aspects of stage fright of performing musicians. Her current interests include the preservation of endangered dance and music traditions in marginal and minority groups, and she also plays the taiko drums.

 

 

June 2014 Multicultural Job Environments in the UK

June 2014 SIETAR Kansai Presentation

“Multicultural Job Environments in the UK”

 

Speaker:        Ms. Sayuri Shiono 

                            (Instructor at Rakuwa Kyoto Kosei Nursing  School

Date:                  June 15, 2014 (Sunday)  16:00-18:00

                           (Dinner after the session at a Thai/Balinese restaurant. Reservations required by June 12.  Contact fujimotodonna@gmail.com)

Venue:             Takatsuki Shiritsu Sogo Shimin Koryu Center, 

                         3rd floorRoom 3
                (1 minute walk from JR Takatsuki Station) Tel.0726-85-3721
                   http://www.city.takatsuki.osaka.jp/db/kurasu/images/koryu.gif

Fee:              Free for members and students; 500 yen for non-members

Language:      Japanese (questions and answers in Japanese and English)

 

Description of presentation:

Britain has been known as a multicultural nation especially after experiencing a large influx of immigrants from former British colonies after World War II. Since then there has been a serious shortage of nurses, and Britain commenced to admit overseas nurses in 2000. A large number of nurses have come to Britain, especially from the Philippines, and most of them are still working in NHS hospitals. However, they had a very difficult time in the beginning, since there were problems of discrimination or abuse.

Sayuri Shiono worked as a nurse in an NHS hospital from 2003. At first, she had to train in order to transfer her Japanese nursing license to a British one. Just like Filipino nurses, she faced discrimination, language barriers and cultural differences, and had a difficult time at work. Fortunately, with the support from friends, she managed to complete the training. Afterwards, she worked as a nurse in Britain for 7 years.

Ms. Shiono worked with people from all over the world, so there were naturally linguistic differences or religious boundaries, and people yet had to exist together. Ms. Shiono will introduce the situation of overseas nurses in the UK and that of their patients. She will present basic information, which shows the diversified backgrounds in the UK that cannot be experienced in Japan. By having to learn about the UK, she had the opportunity to learn much about her own country.

Profile of Presenter:

Ms. Sayuri Shiono is currently a Rakuwa Kyoto Kosei Nursing School Teacher of nursing. She is a 1985 graduate of Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine School of Nursing. She worked at University Hospital, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and then left for the UK in 2001. From 2003, she worked at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College of London Hospital. Then she came back to Japan in 2010, working at Kyoto University Hospital and completed graduate school at Kyoto Tachibana University.