From January 5-7, 2017, the Japan Studies Association will meet in Honolulu to share its continuous and new pedagogical and research interests in Japan’s literary and cultural traditions, historical and economic developments, sociopolitical and religious past and present. The organizers invite proposals for individual presentations, discipline-specific or interdisciplinary panels, roundtables on pedagogy and teaching innovation and staged readings.
The following themes can serve as useful points of departure:
- Cultural memory: historical perspectives, enduring challenges, possibilities for the future;
- The legacy of Fukushima and nuclear futures — healing and persistent challenges;
- Pre-modern, modern or contemporary Japanese literature and culture;
- Performance traditions and contemporary practice: music, theater, film;
- Japanese aesthetics and material culture;
- Historical, social, economic or political perspectives on Japan’s relationships with its national self and neighbors;
- Multicultural identities in Japan;
- Japan’s religious traditions, sacred texts and architecture;
- Youth and popular culture in Japan; manga and anime;
- Pedagogy, field trips and study tours: teaching Japanese language and culture – reflections and strategies, hurdles and achievements;
- Infusing Japanese Studies into the undergraduate curriculum – successful course/program development, faculty collaboration and ways to engage with institutional core goals;
- New voices in Japanese Studies: graduate student research.
The organizers encourage both east-west and inter-Asian comparative perspectives as well as panels that center on the discussion of a common text, approached from the points of view of various disciplines.
Submitting an abstract or a panel proposal
Abstracts for an individual presentation (approx. 250 words) or proposals for a themed panel, roundtable or staged reading (approx. 500 words) should be submitted via JSA’s website, http://www.japanstudies.org/2017-conference-honolulu-hawaii.html, by September 26, 2016.
For more information, please contact the Conference Program Co-Chairs:
Dr. Maggie Ivanova, Flinders University (Australia): maggie.ivanova@flinders.edu.au
Dr. Andrea Stover, Belmont University (USA): andrea.stover@belmont.edu