Fwd: Call for presentations: Conference on Nation Building and Cultural Diversity in East Asia (proposal deadline July 15)

Nation Building and Cultural Diversity in East Asia: Challenges, Narratives, Perspectives

Vytautas Magnus University (VMU, Kaunas, Lithuania) is inviting scholars of various academic fields of humanities and social sciences to submit proposals to an academic conference “Nation Building and Cultural Diversity in East Asia: Challenges, Narratives, Perspectives” which will be held at VMU on October 18–19, 2024. The conference is organized by VMU Centre for Asian Studies and supported by Spotlight Taiwan. The keynote speaker will be a scholar specialising in Taiwan Studies. 

Panel and individual paper proposals can be submitted by filling a form and sending it by email to conference.asc@vdu.lt by July 15, 2024. The form and further information are provided on: https://asc.vdu.lt/2024/06/call-for-papers-academic-conference-nation-building-and-cultural-diversity-in-east-asia-challenges-narratives-perspectives/

East Asia is one of the most diverse regions in the world when it comes to its ethnic composition as well as traditional and contemporary culture. This diversity can be explored from multiple academic angles, ranging from history and cultural studies to anthropology and political sciences. On the one hand, diversity can be celebrated by exploring its multifaceted forms of expression through arts, language, customs, etc. On the other hand, diversity is also a political field which is actively managed, controlled and shaped through the process of nation building, centralization, and economic integration. All East Asian countries must deal with historical legacies, trends of globalisation and migration, regional dynamics, as well as transformations of identity that challenge real or imagined cultural homogeneities. The organisers believe that in-depth investigations presented in the conference will allow to draw lessons that are relevant not only for the East Asia region but Lithuania and Europe as a whole.

The organisers of the conference invite participants from various academic fields to present their original research that is focused on aforementioned topics. The conference is not limited to one approach and encourages submission of proposals that can be classified under different fields of humanities and social sciences: anthropology, ethnology, history, sociology, economics, political science, etc. 

The working language of the conference is English. 

The participation fee is 50 Euro per person (waived for selected early career researchers). Although the organizers do not offer travel/accommodation grants, necessary support will be provided to those who plan to apply for Erasmus+ or other type of external funding.