Japanese Studies Symposium for Early-Career Scholars
Beyond Japanese Studies Symposium: Challenges, Opportunities, and COVID-19
18-19 February 2021, online
OVERVIEW
This symposium is designed to respond to challenges, opportunities and needs in the academic landscape which have resulted from, or been intensified by, the effects of COVID-19.
Japan-interested scholars must today consider how their work intersects with ‘global studies’, Asian Studies, trans-national and trans-cultural aspects of the human, natural, economic and physical world. They must also seek to broaden the regional and global relevance of their work by better connecting with colleagues across borders. Taking “Beyond Japanese Studies” as its theme, this symposium aims to bring early career scholars together to share their research with a wider audience and to consider strategies that Japan scholars can use to thrive.
The symposium will be convened online by The Japan Foundation, Sydney (Eora nation, Gadigal land) and the Japanese Studies Department at the University of New England (UNE, on Anaiwan country, shared with Gumbaynggirr, Kamilaroi and Dhunghutti nations).
Presentation is open to all non-tenured early-career scholars (up to seven years post-PhD) in Australia, New Zealand and the broader Asia-Pacific region (including the US) whose research is related to Japan. Attendance is welcome from anyone with an interest in Japan-related scholarship, from all locations and career stages.
BACKGROUND
This symposium seeks to consider how Japan-interested ECRs may develop their careers. It builds on a recent online roundtable discussion titled “The Rebirth of Japanese Studies”, held in mid-2020 in conjunction with the US Association of Asian Studies (AAS).
“The Rebirth of Japanese Studies” roundtable identified some critical areas for the revitalisation of the field:
- Actionable solutions / future directions
- Importance of fostering communication, collaboration, andaccessibility to productively move forward as a community “linked by the fluid canopy of Japanese Studies”
- Importance of Japan specialists pursuing positions beyond Japanese Studies
- Importance of preparing young scholars to be able to do the above
- Importance of including/acknowledging a broader range of voices in Japan-related scholarship
Responding to the background outlined, the symposium will contribute to an urgent and ongoing global conversation about prospects and avenues for thinking ‘Beyond Japanese Studies’ from an Australian/Asia-Pacific perspective.
This symposium is designed to respond to challenges, opportunities and emerging needs in the academic landscape which have resulted from, or been intensified by, the effects of COVID-19.
It seeks to consider how, by interdisciplinary and inter-regional and comparative studies, Japan-interested early career researches (ECRs) may develop careers in both scholarly and non-scholarly fields.
The symposium will be convened online by The Japan Foundation, Sydney (Eora nation, Gadigal land) and the Japanese Studies Department at the University of New England (UNE, on Anaiwan country, shared with Gumbaynggirr, Kamilaroi and Dhunghutti nations).
We intend to build on a recent online roundtable discussion titled “The Rebirth of Japanese Studies”, held in mid-2020 in conjunction with the US Association of Asian Studies (AAS).
“The Rebirth of Japanese Studies” roundtable identified some critical areas for the revitalisation of the field:
- Actionable solutions / future directions
- Importance of fostering communication, collaboration, andaccessibility to productively move forward as a community “linked by the fluid canopy of Japanese Studies”
- Importance of Japan specialists pursuing positions beyond Japanese Studies
- Importance of preparing young scholars to be able to do the above
- Importance of including/acknowledging a broader range of voices in Japan-related scholarship
Responding to the background outlined, the symposium will contribute to an urgent and ongoing global conversation about prospects and avenues for thinking ‘Beyond Japanese Studies’ from an Australian/Asia-Pacific perspective.
Early-career scholars are invited to submit an abstract for a 20-minute presentation from their own research, touching upon the theme of the symposium, Beyond Japanese Studies, and considering one or more of the following questions: We welcome contributions from a broad range of disciplines, including anthropology, art history, economics, history, linguistics, literature, media studies, musicology, and from a range of locations. An honorarium of AU$100, kindly sponsored by the University of New England and the Japan Foundation, Sydney, will be offered for all presenters at the symposium (maximum of 12). Following the symposium, selected presenters will be invited to write a paper for inclusion in a related Special Issue in New Voices in Japanese Studies (NVJS), envisaged publication date September 2021. NVJS is an open-access peer-reviewed journal which specialises in providing a platform for emerging researchers, and is published by The Japan Foundation, Sydney. Presenters will be required to upload a 1500-word summary of their presentation by the date of the symposium in order to be considered for this upcoming Special Issue of NVJS, to be guest edited by Dr Gwyn McClelland (University of New England). If selected, presenters will be asked to submit a 4,000/5,000-word article to NVJS by 28 April 2021. Eligibility criteria for presenters Submit an abstract Abstracts should be submitted via the online submission form below. When you submit your abstract, you will be asked to provide the following information: To submit an abstract, please complete the submission form. The two-day program will include panel presentations by ECRs which address the conference theme, a ‘collaborative research’ session touching on topics such as publishing, funding and social media, and meet and greet sessions. The symposium will begin with a presentation by keynote speaker Professor Gracia Liu-Farrer (Waseda University) in line with the ‘Beyond Japanese Studies’ theme. Professor Gracia Liu-Farrer, Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Waseda University Because of the Western orientation of historic academic disciplines, research about Japan, a non-Western society, tends to be labeled as area studies. Scholars who research about Japanese culture and society consequently find their audience narrowly limited to fellow anthropologists, political scientists, or historians who specialize in Japan. This is sometimes frustrating because our work about Japan is not only about Japan, and not only relevant to Japan, but also is intended to make empirical and theoretical contributions to the disciplines and the subject fields in which we work. It is therefore important to consider how we can make our Japan-centered research relevant to the broader academic fields. This presentation discusses possible strategies to make Japan not only a relevant empirical case, but also central to conceptual and theoretical development in our respective subject fields and disciplines. Speaker Profile Hear Professor Liu-Farrer discuss her background and career trajectory in this video (via Waseda University). Full program to be announced in February. Registration is FREE. Please register using the form below. A Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants closer to the time. For enquiries, contact: Dr Gwyn McClellandJOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE: NEW VOICES IN JAPANESE STUDIES
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND ELIGIBILITY
TIMELINES
KEYNOTE
MAKING JAPANESE STUDIES MORE CENTRAL TO ACADEMIC DISCUSSION
Gracia Liu-Farrer (Ph.D. Sociology, University of Chicago), is Professor at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, and Director of Institute of Asian Migration at Waseda University, Japan. Her research examines immigrants’ economic, social and political practices in Japan, and the global mobility of students and professional migrants. She is the author of books Labor Migration from China to Japan: International Students, Transnational Migrants (Routledge, 2011), Handbook of Asian Migrations (co-edited with Brenda Yeoh, Routledge, 2018), and Immigrant Japan: Mobility and Belonging in an Ethno-nationalist Society (Cornell University Press, 2020). She has also published over 50 book chapters and journal articles in leading migration and area studies journals.
UNE Japanese Studies
e: Gwyn.McClelland@une.edu.au
p: +61 2 6773 5238
This symposium is organised by The Japan Foundation, Sydney (JPFSY) and The University of New England (UNE).
