North American Taiwan Studies Association

As Taiwan studies has gained prominence in North America in recent years, diverse scholarly voices and perspectives facilitate intellectually rigorous and innovative discussions within the field. The 2026 NATSA conference theme, “Resonance/Dissonance: Taiwan Studies, Knowledge Production, and Power Asymmetry,” employs resonance and dissonance as two key metaphors, inviting an in-depth exploration of their dialogical relationship. 

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Resonance/dissonance characterizes all kinds of relations among voices emerging from different human/nonhuman agents. Some of these voices are consistent, while some are contradictory; some are dominant, while others are repressed. We welcome projects that explore the relationships between various voices and the ways they sound, and how they resonate/dissonate with existing intellectual frameworks. In this regard, we also seek to make space where marginalized voices can be recognized and heard on their own terms. 

 

Resonance/dissonance can be created through interdisciplinary conversations and collaborations, which help build a more inclusive and connected scholarly community in North America and beyond. These dialogues encompass discrepancies, frictions, and even contradictions, illuminating the complexity and richness of Taiwan studies. With this year’s conference theme, we focus on collaborative and contested dialogues across disciplines. We invite submissions that explore the possibilities that Taiwan studies can contribute to methodological and theoretical innovation. 

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NATSA 2026 pays critical attention to the uneven distribution of resources, power, and opportunity. This unevenness shapes our social worlds and how we understand them. Attention to this power dynamic foregrounds the infrastructures of knowledge production in Taiwan studies, such as language usage, resources allocation, and perpetuation of disciplinary boundaries. These infrastructures then shape the theories and methodologies through which Taiwan is imagined and studied. We welcome research that examines the infrastructures of Taiwan studies, as well as proposals envisioning new ways of studying Taiwan.

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We invite submissions that engage broadly with, but are not limited to, the following issues and keywords: 

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• Care and disability

• Empire, nation, and settler/colonialism

• Frontier and border 

• Environment, climate, and resilience

• Gender and sexuality

• Geopolitics and security

• Global Asias

• Indigenous resurgence and indigeneity

• Law, human rights, and justice 

• Migration and transnationalism

• Race and ethnicity

• Translation and mediation

• Science and technology

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Potential Questions

We welcome submissions that address the following sets of topics:

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Multiple Voices

• Within your research project, what examples of resonance and dissonance have you identified? For example, have you encountered sources or data that contradict the overall argument and framework in your research project? How do you engage with this complexity, and what potential values might these contradictions offer?

• How do dissonances—social differences, tensions, conflicts, or inequalities—emerge and sustain in specific contexts? How do social actors work across differences, resonate with others’ viewpoints, and create alignments?

• What are resonance and dissonance in Taiwan studies? How do they contribute to the narrative of the history of Taiwan studies? 

•  How does your research engage with voices that are often marginalized in Taiwan studies, and what might this engagement contribute to reimaging what Taiwan is and how it can be studied?

 

Interdisciplinary Connections

• What tactics could we employ, or research questions could we raise, to foster dialogues between Taiwan studies and other disciplines?

• How can Taiwan studies connect with other subfields of area studies?

• How can Taiwan studies, as a subfield of area studies, effectively bridge ethnic studies and critical race theory—Asian American studies, Black studies, Chicano studies, Indigenous studies and more? How do these conversations produce new perspectives and ways of understanding Taiwan?

 

Power Asymmetry

• How have existing political, economic, and legal structures marginalized certain peoples? How have marginalized communities imagined and created alternatives? 

• How do existing scholarly infrastructures enable or constrain the ways knowledge is produced, and how might we envision new infrastructures that hold multiple voices, noises, and dissonance?

• How might your work foster solidarities, whether within Taiwan, across diasporic and transnational communities, or in dialogue with other Indigenous, minoritized, or marginalized struggles in Asia and beyond? 

 

Language and Modalities

• How does the dominance of certain languages (e.g., English, Mandarin) or scholarly forms (e.g., written text) marginalize other voices and traditions?

• What forms of translation—across languages, media, or cultural contexts—are involved in your research, and what has been kept, archived, omitted, and lost in these processes?

• How might alternative mediums of knowledge, such as sound, image, movement, open new possibilities for engaging with Taiwan and Taiwan-related issues? How do you experiment with or reflect on these modalities in your research? 

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Important dates (Eastern Time): 

Submission Dates: November 1-December 31, 2025

Notification of Acceptance: Mid March

Conference Dates: June 26-June 28, 2026

 

General requirements:

• NATSA 2026 annual conference will take place at Indiana University Bloomington and will be held in person only. Virtual participation will not be available.

• The proposal must be written in English, and if accepted, the presentation must also be in English.

• Submissions that are not in the correct format will not be considered.

• Graduate Student Travel Grant Award will be available for application upon acceptance of the proposal.

• All participants, including panelists, are required to register to attend the conference.

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Proposal types and submission formats:

1. Individual paper

• Abstract: 200-250 words (paper title and citations not included) 

• Please include an introduction/research question(s), research method(s), and expected contribution/preliminary finding(s). 

• If accepted, an extended abstract and slide submission are required

  • Due date: May 26, 2026

Word Limits: 

• Extended abstract: 1000 words (max.)

2. Panel

• Expected number of panelists: 3 to 4

• Each panel is required to find its own Chair to moderate the panel. 

• We encourage each panel to be as diverse as possible in terms of academic disciplines, backgrounds, regions, and institutions.

• Panel description: 200-250 words 

• Each individual paper abstract: 200-250 words (paper title and citations not included)

• Please include an introduction/research question(s), research method(s), and expected contribution/preliminary finding(s). 

• If accepted, an extended abstract and slide submission are required. 

  • Due date: May 26, 2026
     

Word Limits:

• Extended abstract: 1000 words (max.)

• Papers submitted in the form of a panel cannot be resubmitted as individual paper proposals.

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3. Art projects

• Bio of the applicant(s): up to 200 words

• Proposal: up to 1000 words (project title and citations not included)

• Please specify the following information in your proposal: 

  • Title

  • Description or narrative of the project and how it relates to the conference theme

  • Primary discipline: performance, multimedia, reading, art exhibition, or other

  • Original language (must provide English surtitles or subtitles for non-English works)

  • Estimated duration (up to 90 mins)

  • Medium: video, music, or other types

  • Tech requirement (setup)

  • Has this work been shown before? If yes, please specify where and when. 

• If applicable, please also provide the following:

  • A video link to the full documentation of the performance

  • Minimum setup and rehearsal time required

  • Preferred venue seating capacity

• If your proposal is accepted for performance, please note that the expenses of the project are not reimbursable. We do, however, plan on offering limited travel grants for accepted projects, subject to our budget availability. 

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4. Creative events or participatory workshops

• Proposal: up to 1000 words (project title and citations not included). We welcome any projects relevant to the conference theme but not necessarily covered by the aforementioned categories of submission.

• Please specify the following information in your proposal:

  • Title

  • Description of the project and how it relates to the conference theme

  • Expected number of participants

  • Detailed event or workshop agenda

  • Estimated duration (up to 90 mins)

  • Tech requirement (setup)

If your proposal is accepted for performance, please note that the expenses of the project are not reimbursable. We do, however, plan on offering limited travel grants for accepted projects, subject to our budget availability. ​

Review criteria:
Your proposal will be double-blind-reviewed based on the four criteria below: 

• Clarity of argument, theory, or concept (1-5 points) 

• Proposal structure & flow (1-5 points) 

• Feasibility, originality, and contribution (1-5 points) 

• Relevance to our conference theme (1-5 points)

 

Please enter the following submission portals based on your proposal type:

• Individual Paper

• Panel

• Creative Event or Participatory Workshop

• Creative Art Project