Japan Past & Present: Reimagining a Global Field
From May 29–31, Japan Past & Present will host an international symposium called Japan Past & Present: Reimagining a Global Field at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. The symposium, which will feature dozens of scholars from areas ranging from Spain to Southeast Asia to the Southern United States, will serve as a platform for the collective exploration of the varied local histories and realities that make up the global field of the Japanese humanities. At the same time, it will facilitate discussion about how Japan Past & Present might best further its mission of providing equitable access to scholarly resources for research and teaching and for realizing an increasingly diverse and inclusive future for the field.
Panels of specialists active in a range of disciplines across the globe will explore the history and state of the Japanese humanities in the particular contexts with which they are most familiar. These presentations will serve as a starting point for a series of discussions about how to promote greater collaboration and provide transregional support for scholarship and education in the Japanese humanities. This symposium will be an important opportunity for mutual learning about the unique and shared challenges fellow scholars and students face in contexts across the globe and for considering collaborative solutions.
Each panel will focus on a specific context as a case study that reveals broader issues. Together, the presentations are intended to help a global audience of colleagues understand the different situations within which scholarship and education in the Japanese humanities are being undertaken around the world and may include topics such as: the emergence and development of the Japanese humanities, the present state of the field and particular challenges scholars in it face, undergraduate and graduate education and training, recent initiatives to support Japan/Asian Studies, funding or educational resources and their distribution, and other relevant subjects.