Curtin University, Perth, Australia
13-14 November 2009
CALL FOR PAPERS
The Asian Australian Studies Research Network, in collaboration with the Centre for Advanced Studies in Australia, Asia and the Pacific (CASAAP), Curtin University, invites submissions for the Regionalising Asian Australian Identities conference, to be held at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia, from 13-14 November 2009.
Building on the momentum of previous successful Asian Australian Identities conferences, AAI3 considers the importance of understanding Asian Australian identities and communities within both regional and transnational contexts. In holding the 2009 conference in Western Australia, we are particularly mindful of the rhetoric of the rise of ‘Asia’ which has sustained much of the State’s (and nation’s) boom years. From distanciation to fascination and engagement, Australia’s relationship to Asia continues to inform the culture and politics of the nation. At the same time, the conference theme also reminds us to look into our own backyards and to consider the often neglected histories of the nation’s own regional encounters with Asians, in particular Asian-Indigenous interactions in the north of Australia. How does the articulation of ‘Asian Australian identities’ fit within these shifting terrains? And how might we reconsider Australia’s relationship to Asia and to its own local regions in new and productive ways, particularly as it affects identity formation?
As Asian Australian studies comes of age, what new pathways will the field take? Do we (continue to) learn from the direction Asian American studies has taken? Does Asian Australian studies have a role to play in the growth of Inter-Asia cultural studies? What kinds of conversations might scholars in Asian Australian studies have with their counterparts in North America, Europe and Asia, as well as with ‘locals’ from regional parts of Australia?
We invite papers from all disciplines that explore the regionalising of Asian Australian identities, cultures and politics.
Areas of interest include:
- Australia’s relationship to Asia and the Pacific
- The effect of the ‘rise of Asia’ on Asian Australian identities
- Regional interactions between Asians and indigenous Australians
- Rethinking questions of migration, belonging and settlement
- Transnational connections, political alliances
- The development of new forms of cultural production, participation and imagination
- New creative practices for Asian Australian youths; gaming and online communities
- Constructions of ‘local’ Asian Australian identities and practices in the context of the globalisation of diaspora
- Asian Australian identities and religion
- Articulating Asian Australian heritage and history
Confirmed speakers include:
- Koichi Iwabuchi (Waseda U)
- Krishna Sen (U of Western Australia)
- Jon Stratton (Curtin U)
Notifications will be sent by 31 July.
Please contact Olivia Khoo for more information.
