Daffyd Fell of SOAS passes around the alert -- looks like some meaty paper themes there! Hurry up and get an abstract in:++++++++++++
Dear All,
The deadlines for abstract submission of the world's two largest Taiwan Studies conferences are fast approaching. The deadline for the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS) conference is November 15 and for the North American Taiwan Studies Association Conference
(NATSA) is November 30.
Below I have pasted and attached the Call for Papers for the EATS
conference and attached the Call for Papers for NATSA.
Best Wishes
Dafydd
Dafydd Fell
SOAS Centre of Taiwan Studies
Sixth Conference of the European Association of Taiwan Studies
Call For Papers
The European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS) will hold its sixth annual conference on 16-18 April 2009. The conference is co-organized by the Center of East Asian Studies, Autonoma University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain and School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Centre of Taiwan Studies.
Venue: Madrid.
The organizers particularly welcome abstracts on the following themes:
1. "Taiwanese Democracy: A Model for Mainland China and Hong Kong?" in the field of Domestic Politics and Democracy
2. "Social Realism" in the field of Literature
3. "1949-2009: 60 years of the ROC" in the field of History and Social Sciences
4. "A New Start? " in Cross Strait Relations
5. "Historical Linguistics" in the field of Language
6. "The impact of changes of ruling parties on Taiwan: Divided versus Unified Government"
7. "The Role of the Media in Taiwan's politics and society"
We particularly invite submissions on these themes for the consideration of an interdisciplinary panel.
Masters and 1st year Ph.D. students enrolled in a Taiwan Studies Programme at a European university are especially encouraged to apply to present their research in the EATS MA panel.
In addition, we will consider outstanding submissions in the following disciplinary areas:
1. Economics and Business
2. Anthropology and Religion
3. Politics, Law and International Relations
4. History and Geography
5. Cultural and Area Studies
Please submit a 250-300 word abstract by 15 November 2008. Please e-mail your abstract to eats2009@yahoo.com
We will announce the accepted abstracts on 14 December 2008. Participants who present papers and affiliated with European institutions will be eligible for travel grants. Details will be
announced.
[Taiwan]
In what perspective does Taiwan studies actually exist as a discipline? I would be interesting in a comparative study between Fujian and Taiwan, as both have lots in common, yet different because of the political divide. What's the effect of this political divide on the culture and people?
ReplyDeleteHi:
ReplyDeleteI am the program coordinator of NATSA (The North American Taiwan Studies Association). The deadline of our CFP is also approaching too. Would you please post the information on your blog too? Our website is http://www.na-tsa.org/new/.
Thanks for your excellent blog writing. It's the best medicine for overseas Taiwan students who are worried about Taiwan's democracy.
Yu-I Hsieh
Ph.D. Candidate
Program of Comparative Literature
Rutgers University,
New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
NATSA 2009
The 15th Annual North American Taiwan Studies Conference
Call for Papers
Abstract Submission Deadline: November 30, 2008
Date: June 26-28, 2009
Location: The University of Texas at Austin, USA
Main Theme: Locating Taiwan: Space, Culture and Society
In the past two decades, Taiwan has experienced major transformations in the remapping of space. The operation of Taipei and Kaoshiung's Rapid Transit Systems and the High Speed Rail has integrated more people into the metropolis and fosters different lifestyles. The direct weekend flights between Taiwan and China not only attract Chinese tourists but also allow Mainland-based Taiwanese entrepreneurs to reconnect to their homes with greater convenience. Apart from the implementation of transportation infrastructure, digital communication technology also constructs a virtual geography. While the (re)generation of spaces, virtual or real, bring people into intimate contact, a reconfigured landscape might also mean destruction. For instance, the demolition of mainland veteran quarters and the relocation of Le-Sheng Rehab jeopardize the wellbeing of local communities and disown the already marginalized minorities. The challenges as well as the possibilities make it an urgent task to reexamine how a shifting geography bears on the domains of Taiwan's culture, politics and society.
This year's conference is defined under the rubric of "Locating Taiwan: Space, Culture and Society." First, we invite scholars from all disciplines to situate Taiwan in terms of space and explore the relationships between the changing landscape and various realignments in cultural and social formations. While our attention is focused on Taiwan's physical localities, we also encourage writers to explore the evolving definition of space. In particular, global capital flows interface and destabilize familiar territorial demarcations and as a consequence, "interstitial spaces" emerge to accommodate new social groupings, the bloggers and Otaku for instance. How do these new communities enable political empowerment and/or aggravate economic inequality? To what extent are these new spatial identities embedded in or uprooted from the physical environment and what are the impacts? Writers do not limit themselves to the current phenomenon of globalization. Historical reflections are also crucial to the discussion on the relationship of space and culture.
Minor Themes:
A). Regionalism and Nationalism in Taiwan's Context
In the context of Taiwan, there seems to be at least two versions of regionalism at work. Externally, Taiwan is situated in a particular node of Pacific Rim where interests of China, Japan and the U.S. collide and converge. Domestically, Taiwan has its own regionalism that divides the South from the North, which has a direct correlation to the emergence of Taiwan's nationalism. In this minor theme, we invite submissions that discuss the forces of nationalism and regionalism pertaining to Taiwan. How does each of these dominant forces manifest itself in international relations, cross-strait negotiations and domestic politics? Since regionalism and nationalism in the case of Taiwan is closely related to the concern of economy, scholars from the field of economics and finance are encouraged to bring in their expertise to the discussion.
B). Eco-Politics in Taiwan
Since the mid 1980's, Taiwan has faced the difficult task of conserving environment in a stage of high industrialization. Although global investments and international trading agreements such as the WTO might help Taiwan economically, technological intervention has also brought irremediable damage to the land. In this minor theme, we would like to encourage discussions on Taiwan's eco-movements and the imagination of a "green politics." As Taiwan's politicians continue to put the issue of nuclear plants on their ballot during election campaigns, does it mean that Taiwan's eco-movement is co-opted by bipartisan politics? How might the grassroot eco-consciousness challenge Taiwan's political makeup? Or how does the focus on the environment call for a traditional sense of community as practiced in Taiwan's aborigines? These are part of the issues relevant to Taiwan's eco-movements and we hope to incorporate both empirical studies and critical evaluations in our discussion.
C). Identity and Hybridity in Cultural Spheres
In its efforts to shape a distinctive political identity, Taiwan also strives for self-expression in both domestic and global cultural domains. On the one hand, Taiwanese film auteurs such as Hou Hsiao-hsian and Edward Yang have established their stature and gained international recognition from the 1980s onward with their stylistic innovation and humanist concerns. On the other hand, Taiwan's local creative industries have demonstrated vitality and diversity partly as a result of democratization, as best exemplified by the recovery and revival of Taiwanese aborigines' cultures. In this minor theme, we want to invite writers to address the complications between identity politics, cultural industries, new technologies and contemporary sociopolitical ideologies. Considering that The National Palace Museum has to repackage traditional artifacts in a glossy modern design by Alessi of Italy, we also welcome submissions that explore the hybrid phenomenon manifested in Taiwan's cultural intersection with the world.
Panel Proposal and Poster Presentation
This year, NATSA invites panel proposals by discipline or field of interest. In order to foster discussion, each panel should consist of three to four writers. The panel proposal submission should include the panel abstract, together with all the paper abstracts to be presented in the conference. Each panel and paper abstract is subject to review. All disciplines are welcome, and proposals from less represented disciplines are particularly encouraged.
NATSA will also continue to hold poster presentation for the second year. Please indicate what kind of presentation you want to give when submitting your abstract through our online submission system. The system will be open from October 10th through November 30th, 2008 (Eastern time, USA). Conference contributors may be eligible for travel grants. For a full version of our Call for Paper and other detailed information please visit our website at http://www.na-tsa.org/index.htm
Best Paper Award
To encourage graduate students making quality contribution to the field of Taiwan Studies, NATSA continues the Best Paper Award for the second year. The winner will receive a prize of $300USD.
The Hermes Program
The NATSA encourages universities and research institutions in the United States and Canada that are planning to hire new faculty members (at any level) with specialization in Taiwan Studies come to our annual meeting and interview with potential candidates in person. The NATSA will cover all the representatives' traveling expenses and lodging fees incurred during their visits to our annual conference.
Book Exhibition
This year's conference will continue past years' tradition of bringing in publishers active in Taiwan and North America to present their products at a discounted rate (15~20% off), such as the University of Washington Press, the University of Hawaii Press, the Cornell University Press, the Columbia University Press, and the Stanford University Press. The book exhibition presents many important as well as most updated works in various fields relevant to this year's conference themes. Don't forget to stop by the booths during coffee breaks!