Call for Abstracts for the Columbia University Conference on East Asia

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: COLUMBIA GRADUATE STUDENT CONFERENCE ON EAST ASIA

23rd Annual Graduate Student Conference on East Asia
Columbia University in the City of New York
Friday February 14th to Saturday February 15th, 2014

Graduate students (and qualified undergraduates) are invited to submit abstracts for the 23rd Annual Columbia Graduate Student Conference on East Asia. This two-day conference -- the oldest of its kind in the nation -- provides students from institutions around the world with the chance to meet and share research in progress with their peers.  In addition, participants will gain valuable experience presenting their work through discussion with fellow graduate students as well as Columbia faculty.

This year's conference will be both a forum for promoting and circulating new ideas within East Asian studies and an opportunity to engage with fellow graduate students across disciplinary and regional frontiers. The field of East Asian studies, broadly conceived, offers fertile ground for exploring and re-inventing conventional analytical categories such as nation, society, politics, objects, space, economics, race, class, mind, identity, culture, body, art, nature, and so on. To that end, we especially encourage work that crosses national, temporal, and disciplinary boundaries to critically rethink the categories that both bind and sub-divide area studies. With an eye toward using the methodological tools of particular disciplines to make connections that are broadly applicable to the East Asian field, projects presented at this conference will be the starting point for discussions that can create new frontiers of knowledge and invigorate the next generation of scholarship. 

We welcome applications from students engaged in research on all fields in East Asian Studies, including but not limited to: history, literature, political science, economics, art history, religion, sociology, archaeology, law, environmental studies, media studies, and anthropology.

PARTICIPATION:

Participants can take part in the conference as presenters or discussants. Presenters deliver a talk no longer than 15 minutes that summarizes research in progress. Discussants introduce the panelists, offer feedback, and facilitate the 20-minute discussion session following the presentations. Please indicate on your application which role(s) you are applying for.

Presentations may take two possible forms: a standard academic research paper, or demonstration based in another medium. We encourage submissions of experimental work that engages non-traditional media, including (but not limited to) film, music, creative writing, and visual art. Please specifically indicate the format of your presentation on your application form. 

Finally, this year’s committee is also willing to consider applications from pre-arranged panels of three to four presenters organized around a specific research topic, such as a region, discipline or theme. If you are applying as a pre-formed panel, please make sure to include a topic or tentative title for your panel on the application form. 

APPLICATIONS (due November 29th, 2013):

Please fill out the application on <<http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac/gradconf/2014form.html>> with the required information:

*Your full name as you would like it to appear in the abstract booklet and conference schedule
*Contact information (e-mail)

*Institutional affiliation
*Major area of study (region and discipline)
*Title of your paper (or alternative media presentation)
*250-300 word abstract in print-ready format, including your name and institution

*Five key words for your paper (along with the abstract)

*Whether or not you would like to be considered as a discussant
*PLEASE NOTE: We will not accept presenter applications without abstracts.

Successful applicants will be notified of acceptance by mid-December.

Final Papers (5-7 pages maximum) are due January 10th, 2014.

NOTE:

*Please indicate any audiovisual equipment you will need for your presentation. Please note that our A/V resources are quite limited, and we may not be able to satisfy everyone's needs. Presenters must bring their own laptops and VGA adapters for computer presentations.

*Since presentations will be limited to 15 minutes, full-length research papers or theses will not be accepted. Presentations in any other format will also be restricted to 15 minutes.

*Applicants who have not submitted final papers or projects will not be permitted to participate in the conference.

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HOUSING:
Housing will be available on a very limited basis, but we encourage everyone to arrange their own accommodations in advance. The conference runs from Friday afternoon to late Saturday evening. Travel and lodging information will be available soon on the conference website.

CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS:
Allison Bernard, Eunsung Cho, James Gerien-Chen, Lei Lei, Jack Neubauer, Rachel Staum

CONTACT INFORMATION: 

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ealac/gradconf/

columbiagradcon2014@gmail.com

Graduate Student Conference on East Asia
Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
407 Kent Hall, Mail Code 3907
Columbia University
New York, NY 10027
FAX: 212-678-8629