CfP: Consuming Asia: Systems and Structures of Consumption in Modern and Contemporary Asia

Call for proposals

Please send all panel submissions to [email protected] by 17 March 2023.

Our conference theme, “Consuming Asia,” is meant to be stimulative and inclusive. Under this broad umbrella, we look forward to panel proposals that speak to issues including but not limited to social, environmental, religious, and sociocultural dimensions of consumption; food and nutrition practices and policies; waste and pollution; infrastructure of/and extraction; the geopolitics of consumption; networks and linkages in local and globalized consumption, and more. We welcome diverse geographical coverage of all areas of Asia covered by NIAS and the Asia Network (including underrepresented areas). We encourage research at all scales, micro to macro, including cross-border and comparative panels. We hope that this ecumenically defined conference theme and scalar and spatial openness will spark innovative interdisciplinary collaborations and lead to provocative approaches and lively Q&A that spills out into the coffee breaks and beyond. To facilitate these dialogues, we do ask that proposals be temporally limited to the modern and contemporary periods, i.e., roughly the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

As always, we welcome panels on all aspects of Asian studies, from across the humanities and social sciences. This year, in addition to traditional panels of 3-4 speakers (20” each), we strongly encourage proposals that are innovative in composition and format. We also look forward to individual and/or collaborative proposals for exhibitions, installations, posters, audiovisual presentations, and more that align with the conference theme. 

All proposals must include a title, the names and affiliations of all participants, and an abstract of no more than 350 words. 

PhD Workshop

We will be running a PhD workshop in conjunction with the conference. We expect 12 participants. The workshop’s primary focus is on intensive review of participants’ papers, but additional sessions will be included on career developments and getting published. Each participant’s paper will be discussed by two established academics, as well as one student peer discussant. Participants will be expected to be present for all workshop sessions, and to be ready to provide detailed feedback on the papers presented.

Participants must be currently enrolled for a doctoral degree. Applications are welcome from students of any nationality who are enrolled at any university. However, we do prioritize applicants affiliated with member institutions of the Nordic NIAS Council and the Network for Asian Studies. 
 
We accept proposals in any fields of Asian studies, though we would especially welcome proposals related to the overall conference theme, “Consuming Asia.” Participants in the PhD workshop are also welcome to take part in the conference, if both their proposals are accepted. 
 
Applicants must submit a title, an abstract (max 300 words) outlining your PhD topic, a CV, a cover letter explaining which year you are in the PhD program, and a recommendation letter from your supervisor. Participants will present from a paper (6,000 to 10,000 words) based on one dissertation chapter, submitted one month before the workshop. 
 
Accommodation from 19 to 21 June 2023 (3 nights) will be provided to PhD workshop participants. See more information about the PhD workshop here.

Stay updated on information about the conference at the main conference site.