AAS-in-Asia conference kicks off in Taipei

2015/06/23

The second conference of U.S.-based Association for Asian Studies kicked off June 22 at Academia Sinica in Taipei City, involving more than 600 experts and scholars from 33 countries and territories.

Themed Asia in Motion: Ideas, Institutions, Identities, the three-day conference jointly organized by AS and AAS addresses rapid challenges brought by globalization and highlights contributions the region can make in managing the process.

“This event serves as a world-class platform for scholars and specialists in humanities, social sciences and related policymaking to collaborate and exchange ideas,” AS Vice President Wang Fang-sen said.

Echoing Wang’s remarks, AAS President Timothy Brook said it is “important that scholars of and in Asia meet at this kind of forum to share knowledge and develop genuinely cross-cultural approaches to the study of Asia.”

According to the organizers, the conference features panel and roundtable discussions focusing on the four AAS focus regions: mainland China and Inner Asia, Northeast Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Topics on the agenda include environmental sustainability, food and energy policy, new models for Asian enterprise and business, political and economic changes, and urban growth.

Another highlight is inauguration of the AAS-in-Asia Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented to Professor Emeritus Chi Pang-yuan of National Taiwan University for contributions in promoting Taiwan literature. A member of NTU’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at the College of Liberal Arts, Chi is also editor of “An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Literature.”

Founded in 1941 in Michigan, AAS is the largest nonpolitical Asia-focused organization in the world. It boasts 8,000 members representing all the countries and territories in Asia.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=231756&ctNode=413)