The University of Central Florida’s Reaching for the Stars as a Global Citizen: An Intellectual Journey of Asia & the World lecture series returns this fall for its fourth year, bringing scholars from across the United States and around the world to campus to explore Asia’s history, cultures, and connections to the global community.
Sponsored by the Eurasia Foundation (from Asia), the 2026 lecture series will feature 13 scholars representing disciplines including history, literature, philosophy, medicine, food studies, music, cultural tourism, and Asian studies. The series offers UCF students and community members an opportunity to learn directly from scholars whose research explores the cultural, political, economic, and historical forces shaping Asia and its relationship with the rest of the world.
Asia is home to approximately 60% of the world’s population and plays a significant role in global manufacturing, technology, and investment markets. The lecture series provides an opportunity to examine the region’s influence through a variety of academic and cultural perspectives.
Connecting UCF Students with Global Perspectives
The lecture series is curated by Lanlan Kuang, professor of philosophy at UCF, and will be presented as part of HUM 3401 Asian Humanities during the fall 2026 semester. While the lectures are incorporated into the course, members of the UCF community who are not enrolled in the class are welcome to register for in-person attendance.
Kuang, who serves as a specialist on the Florida Department of State’s Folklife Council, holds a doctorate in folklore and ethnomusicology from Indiana University Bloomington and was awarded a Fulbright fellowship in 2008–09. Her research features extensive fieldwork at UNESCO World Heritage sites across Eurasia along the ancient Silk Road and explores connections among culture, the arts, and global exchange.
The 2026 series opens Aug. 25 with Peter Larson, UCF professor of history and associate dean for research and creative activity. Larson will deliver the opening remarks, “Asia and Global History in American Higher Education.”
Exploring Asia Through Multiple Disciplines
The 2026 series examines Asia through an interdisciplinary lens, highlighting connections among history, culture, art, medicine, food, music, and technology.
Topics include music and environment in Japan, early American depictions of Chinese people and culture, the influence of K-pop on the meaning of Korean palaces, the history of Japanese-Turkish relations, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in Chinese imagination, and a workshop on tea, cosmology, and Daoism.
Other lectures will explore the role of digital humanities on modern and traditional Chinese medicine, culinary heritage in global market, cultural tourism in Sabah, Malaysia, Tagore’s literary and musical internationalism, and the role of tea in Qing China’s garden literature.
The series continues throughout the fall featuring world renown scholars from Japan, Türkiye, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and other locations.
2026 Lecture Schedule
All lectures are free and will be held from noon to 1:15 p.m. in Classroom Building 1, Room 0212, unless otherwise noted. Registration is required. For the complete 2026 schedule and registration information, visit the Reaching for the Stars as a Global Citizen lecture series webpage.
Tuesday, Aug. 25
“Asia and Global History in American Higher Education”
Peter Larson, UCF
Thursday, Aug. 27
“The Necessity and Possibility of the Asian Community”
Chung Joon-Kon, Eurasia Foundation
Thursday, Sept. 17
“The Forgotten Nobel Laureate: Tagore’s Literary and Musical Internationalism”
Amrita Ghosh, UCF
Tuesday, Sept. 29
“Atatürk in Chinese Imagination in Early 20th Century”
Giray Fidan, Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University
Thursday, Oct. 15
“China Through American Eyes: Early Depictions of the Chinese People and Culture in the U.S. Print Media”
Wenxian Zhang, Rollins College
Thursday, Oct. 22
“The Way Through Tea: Daoism, Cosmology, and the Body”
Lanlan Kuang, UCF
Tuesday, Oct. 27
“From Ancient Texts to Future Medicine: How Historical Analysis of Early Chinese Texts Can Shape the Medicine of the Future”
Michael Stanley-Baker, Nanyang Technological University
Thursday, Oct. 29
“Food Heritage in China: Tradition, Tourism, and the Marketplace”
Fabio Parasecoli, New York University
Tuesday, Nov. 3
“Study of Cultural Tourism in Sabah, Malaysia”
Flory Gingging, Sunway University
Thursday, Nov. 5
“The Birth of Japanese-Turkish Relations”
Selçuk Esenbel, Boğaziçi University
Thursday, Nov. 12
“New Sounds in an Old Place: Remaking the Meaning of Korean Palaces Through K-pop”
CedarBough T. Saeji, Pusan National University
Tuesday, Dec. 1
“Resounding the Environment: Alternative-Material Instruments and Cultural Meaning in Japan”
Mitsuko Kawabata, Kyoto City University of Arts
Thursday, Dec. 3
“Tea in the Garden Literature of Qing China”
Hui Zou, University of Florida
About the Eurasia Foundation
The Reaching for the Stars as a Global Citizen lecture series is sponsored by the Eurasia Foundation (from Asia), which supports the program through a grant. UCF sponsors and partners include UCF Global, the India Center at UCF, the Philosophy Department, and the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.
The series builds on programs held at UCF in 2023, 2024, and 2025, continuing the university’s efforts to connect students and the broader community with scholars and experts from around the world.