Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies

CEAPS Speaker | “The Combined and Uneven Development Film in East Asia.” | Dr. Chang-min Yu (National Taiwan University)

Mar 31, 2026   1:30 - 3:00 pm  
306 Coble Hall, 801 S. Wright St., Champaign
Lecture
Sponsor
Sponsors: The Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies, the Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures, and the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan (UAAT) Mandarin Education Program Liaison Office
Registration
Registration
Contact
Alex Chun
E-Mail
park387@illinois.edu
Views
40
Originating Calendar
CEAPS Events Calendar

Join us for the CEAPS Speaker event with Dr. Chang-min Yu (National Taiwan University).
Register at the link above! 

Light refreshment will be served at the event. This event is in person only.

About the Speaker:
Chang-Min Yu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at National Taiwan University. His articles have appeared in Quarterly Review of Film and Video, NECSUS: European Journal of Media Studies, Journal of Chinese Cinemas, positions: asia critique, and many other journals and edited collections. He was a visiting fellow at Kyoto University and is currently a Harvard-Yenching Visiting Scholar.

About the Talk:
This talk would begin with an introduction to the genre of the development film—a form closely tied to economic development, foreign aid, and international politics—and then move toward a discussion of its prevalence in East Asia. Drawing on recent scholarship that frames development films as works—often short documentaries—produced by state agencies, global governance organizations, and private corporations to link capitalist models of economic growth with improved quality of life, including the 2025 volume The Development Film in the Americas, Dr. Yu seeks to reconsider the genre from a broader global perspective, especially in relation to the Cold War. One case study examines how the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang), after retreating to Taiwan, mobilized this genre as part of a campaign of cultural diplomacy aimed at winning American hearts and minds.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Free speech and academic freedom are foundational to our university’s missions of discovery and exploration. Questioning ideas, posing alternative opinions and presenting different perspectives is how we create knowledge and help everyone to have more meaningful engagement with the world around them. Hosting an event does not imply or signify the university’s endorsement, sponsorship, approval or disapproval of the views expressed in the event.

link for robots only