Hi everyone! Today I’ll be talking about the Japonisme movement and the 1867 Paris World’s Fair as my international topic of choice!

The 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) was the second World’s Fair hosted by the Second French Empire of Napoleon the Third and brought together roughly 50,000 exhibitors from approximately 32 countries and attracted roughly 11 million visitors over its 8-month duration. It was organized by economist Michel Chevalier and engineer Frédéric Le Play, and it sought to cover “everything everywhere”. Before the 1850s, Japan was extremely self-isolated, but with the opening of the ports, the country was opened to the West, and the West was opened to them. At the London World’s Fair in 1862, hundreds of Japanese decorative objects were presented and sold by the British Ambassador to Japan, Sir Rutherford Alcock. However, the 1867 Paris World’s Fair was the first in which Japan officially participated. At this fair, Japan was represented by a Japanese house and in the Pavillon de Satsuma in the Parc des Nations in the Champ-de-Mars around the Palais de l’Industrie. The introduction of Japanese art during this period led to a movement known as Japonisme.

The term Japonisme was coined by a French writer and art collector, Philippe Burty, in 1872; he used the word to describe “a new field of study of artistic, historic, and ethnographic borrowings from the arts of Japan”. It was a fascination that was not strictly limited to France either; it was widespread across America, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Germany (where it was called Japanismus). Followers of this movement were particularly enticed by ukiyo-e prints, meaning “pictures of the floating world.” This school of art recorded the life, fashions, and entertainments of the Japanese urban and affluent people in the 17th through early 19th centuries. These prints depicted a world that the West had never known due to the intense isolation of the Tokugawa shoguns (1603-1867), who captured the imagination and admiration of Westerners.

Works cited

Brunet, François, and Jessica Talley. “Exhibiting the West at the Paris Exposition of 1867: Towards a New American Aesthetic Identity?” Transatlantica 2 (2017): 1-26. https://doi.org/10.4000/transatlantica.11280. 
Demeulenaere-Douyère, Christiane. “Japan at the World’s Fairs: A Reflection.” Journal of Japonisme 5 (2020): 129-151. https://doi.org/10.1163/24054992-00052P01. 
Lambourne, Lionel. Japonisme: Cultural Crossings between Japan and the West. Phaidon Press Limited (2005). 

Hi everyone! In this post, I will be talking about my time at the Eve of Nations gala hosted by the IAC (International Advisory Committee), which took place on April 10th! I luckily got to go with my boyfriend this year since he could not attend with me last year. The theme for this year was Kairos, and I interpreted that to mean stars, but sadly, I did not own anything formal that had stars on it. This was such a fun event, and my boyfriend and I made a whole evening out of it!

We got to the event not too soon after it had started because I took a little too long getting ready, and luckily, there were still enough seats! When we were allowed to get food, we quickly grabbed a couple of things to snack on and something to drink, but nothing too crazy since we planned on getting dinner afterward. A friend of mine named Ajwad was there as well, and he sat next to us, and we got to catch up a bit, which was great considering he spent all of last semester at Arezzo. We watched a few of the performances, including the one by the Latin Dance club, which was amazing, and then we sadly had to leave to go to dinner with my boyfriend’s grandparents at Charleston’s here in Norman. Overall, just like last year, I had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed my evening and can not wait to go to next year’s Eve of Nations with the IAC!

Hi everyone! As many of you know or could have guessed, I am a member of OU Cousins! OU Cousins is a student organization that pairs international students with OU students, allowing them to form friendships and connect with others. I’ve been a part of this organization since Freshman year and have loved my time with them!

My first year, I went to their game nights, bingo, and other activities, but decided not to match with anyone since it was my first year on campus and I was feeling overwhelmed. However, this year felt like the right time, so I attended the Fall match party! I had so much fun and wound up matching with a girl named Iris Winters, who is a meteorology student from the University of Redding in England. We hit it off right away, and we’ve been going to events and hanging out together all year long. We even went to the OU Cousins end-of-the-year picnic together. She’s leaving in late May, and I’m really sad to see her go, but we do plan to keep in touch and hopefully visit her someday!

Next year, I will continue my membership with OU Cousins and plan to match with another student in the fall since I had such a great experience this year with my OU Cousin. I also hope to attend more events with OU Cousins next year, particularly in the Spring, than I did this semester due to the number of hours I was taking (22 credit hours) and my job.

Hi everyone, Sam again! The last international event that I went to this year was the end-of-year picnic hosted by OU Cousins. This event was, of course, hosted by OU Cousins, of which I am a part, and it took place on Monday, April 27th, from 6-8 pm on OU’s South Oval. At this event, they had some sandwiches, cookies, and a few yard games as well for people to play.

I was actually able to go to this event with my OU cousin, Iris Winters, who is from the UK, and it was a really great final event for us to go to before she has to fly back home in late May. My Roommate (Soph) and I brought our own picnic blankets to sit on, and we also brought our own snacks like strawberries, and a small meat, cheese, and cracker tray. We met my cousin at the South Oval since she decided she just wanted to walk from her apartment at Traditions, and while Soph and I set up our blankets, she went to get a sandwich. The three of us didn’t play any games, but we did sit out on the Soval until it got dark and talked each other’s ears off the whole time about finals and our respective summer plans. We then gathered up our things, and we opted to drive Iris back to her apartment since it was getting dark. On the walk to our car, we decided that before we dropped her off, we should get some blizzards from Dairy Queen.

It was a really great time! I’m glad I got to go to one last event with my OU cousin before she left!

Hi everyone, it’s Sam! In this blog post, I’ll be discussing the road trip that I’ll be doing this summer with some friends that includes many stops in the U.S., but also an international stop in Canada! This road trip is going to be 15 days long, and we will be going through 22 states and 1 Canadian Province with 10 stops.

Our first stop after leaving Norman will be New Orleans, where we will be staying for 2 nights. While we are there, we have plans to explore Bourbon Street and the French Quarter as well as go to the New Orleans Museum of Art and the National World War 2 Musuem. Then we will be going to Miami, where we will also spend 2 nights, explore the Everglades, and go to the beach. After that, we will spend 1 night in Savannah, Georgia, then 1 night in Wilmington, North Carolina, where we plan on touring the USS North Carolina. After North Carolina, we will spend 2 nights in Washington D.C., and of course, see the National Mall and go to at least one of the Smithsonian Museums. Our next stop will be New York City for 2 nights, and go to places like Central Park, The MoMA, and the MET. After NYC, we’re staying in Boston, Massachusetts, for 1 night, then on to Niagara Falls, Canada! In Canada, we will obviously go to Niagara Falls, and we might drive up to Toronto as well. Our final two stops will be Indianapolis and Nashville before heading back to Norman.

Overall, I’m very excited for this trip, and it’ll be a lot of fun to do with friends!