European map of Asia, 1730

Crossing Borders in East Asia Workshops
(APEA roundtable series #2, a sequel to last year’s discussion on area studies)
Friday, October 24, 3:00-5:00PM in Harris/CEAS 319 (1155 E 60th St)

In the previous Art and Politics roundtable, we examined the tenuousness of our position amid the crises that plague area studies and the ongoing march toward globalization both inside and outside academia. This time, we turn to a more immediate issue: how we can overcome national and linguistic divisions within “Asian studies” to help support one another as graduate students and scholars? What is it that we look for in presentations that focus on topics outside of our regional/national/linguistic specialties, and how can we cater to those needs as presenters? To foster discussion, we’ll look at a few articles on approaches to the transnational/transregional and attempts to carry out such studies in East Asia. Please feel free to come with questions and issues you’d like to discuss! The pieces we’ll focus on are:

Sarah J. Mahler – “Theoretical and Empirical Contributions Toward a Research Agenda for Transnationalism” (from Transnationalism from Below, Smith and Guarnizo, eds.)

Karen Laura Thornber – “Rethinking the World in World Literature: East Asia and Literary Contact Nebulae” (from World Literature in Theory, David Damrosch, ed.)

Both graduate students and faculty are welcome at the roundtable, and light refreshments will be served. We’ll look forward to seeing you there.