Lives and Afterlives: The Future of Asian Studies

Third Annual Trans-Asia Graduate Student Conference
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
March 13-15, 2015

EXTENDED SUBMISSION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 15, 2015

The TAGS-C Organizing Committee is pleased to announce the third annual Trans-Asia Graduate Student Conference, encompassing Asia-related research across a wide range of fields. The aim of this conference is to facilitate greater communication among disciplines, approaching Asia from multiple viewpoints in literature, linguistics, art history, geography, anthropology, political science, religious studies, sociology, history, folklore, gender and women’s studies, performance studies, visual culture studies, and other related fields. Participants will have a valuable opportunity to share work and receive feedback from peers and professors in the UW system, as well as to gain insight into recent developments in Asia-related research across various disciplines. This year’s conference examines topics that address the state of Asian humanities and potential futures in or beyond Asian area studies. Our own University is at a crossroads: the economic and cultural climate demands that area studies programs evolve, yet what path we should take remains undecided and highly debated. We must leave behind the corpse of disciplinary knowledge structures, and ask what knowledge looks like in the afterlives of Asian area studies. This year, we are pleased to announce that in addition to individual paper submissions and panel submissions, we have reserved the evening of the 13th to showcase audio-visual projects and performances.

Submission guidelines:
Interested graduate students in the University of Wisconsin system and Midwest region may submit an individual or group proposal. This year, we are also accepting proposals from undergraduate students interested in presenting quality academic papers. Undergraduate proposals should be centered on a well-researched academic project of a senior thesis or honors thesis project caliber.

Proposals for group panels should be submitted in a single email by a designated organizer and should include a 300-word abstract for the panel as a whole in addition to abstracts for each individual paper.

All proposals should be sent in an email as an attached MS Word file. They should include title (20 word limit) and abstract (300 word limit). Do not include your name or affiliation in the MS Word file. In the body of the email, please include the following information in the following order:
1) Name and contact information
2) Presentation title (20 words or less)
3) University affiliation and department affiliation
4) General research interests.

The papers themselves should be about 8-9 pages double spaced in 12-point Times font. Those presenting audio-visual or performance projects should submit a 4-5 page discussion of their work. Each participant will have 20 minutes to present, and 10 minutes for questions and discussion.

Submit proposals to: tagsconference[at]rso[dot]wisc[dot]edu
Submission deadlines:
Abstract Due: February 15, 2015
Acceptance Notification: February 23, 2015
Full paper due: March 1, 2015
Conference Date: 13-15 March, 2015
Questions about the abstract submissions or the conference in general should be directed to:
tagsconference[at]rso[dot]wisc[dot]edu