"InterAsian Connections V: Seoul" is the fifth in a series of conferences showcasing innovative research from across the social sciences and related disciplines that explores themes that transform conventional understandings of Asia. Crossing traditional area studies boundaries and creating international and interdisciplinary networks of scholars working to theorize the intersection of the “global” and the “regional” in a variety of contexts, the conference reconceptualizes Asia as a dynamic and interconnected historical, geographical, and cultural formation stretching from West Asia through Eurasia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, to East Asia.
The 2016 Seoul conference—comprising both closed, director-led thematic workshops and plenary sessions open across workshops and to the general public—will be structured to enable intensive working group interactions on specific research themes as well as broader interactions on topics of shared interest and concern. Each workshop will have two directors with different institutional affiliations, preferably representing different disciplines.
Joint proposals are invited from faculty members at accredited universities and colleges in any world region who are interested in co-organizing and codirecting a thematic workshop that addresses one of the following broadly conceived themes:
- State Sovereignty and the Reconfiguration of State-Society Relations in Asia
- Refugees in the Remaking of Asia
- Mobilizing Religious Identities in InterAsian Perspective
- Hubs, Mobilities, and the Asian Urban
- Disaster Governance
- Urban Ecology and Health
- Natural and Cultural Heritage in Asia
- Global 1970s
- Late Twentieth-Century Asian Modernities
- Asian Engagement with Modern Technology
- Area Studies in the Anthropocene
We encourage creative proposals that explore innovative connections, convergences, and comparisons across InterAsia.
Selected directors will be expected to
- help recruit and choose ten to twelve international workshop participants (senior and junior scholars, graduate students, and other researchers) competitively from across relevant disciplines in the social sciences and related fields;
- provide feedback and comments to all selected participants in advance of the conference; and
- run all workshop discussions over the course of the three-and-a-half-day event.
The conference organizers will cover all directors’ costs of participation, including economy class airfare and accommodations. Workshop directors will each receive a $1,000 honorarium.
Workshop proposals must be submitted electronically and are due June 5, 2015.
The full text of the Request for Workshop Proposals, including detailed descriptions of the workshop themes, information on the application process, the application form, and eligibility guidelines, can be reviewed on the conference webpage. (http://www.ssrc.org/pages/interasian-connections-v-seoul-2016)
Details of the previous conferences in the series—held in Dubai (2008), Singapore (2010), Hong Kong (2012), and Istanbul (2013)—including workshop descriptions, conference programs, and presentation videos, can be found through the InterAsian Connections Conference Series page. (http://www.ssrc.org/pages/interasian-connections-conference-series/)