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Conference Announcement "Global Asias" Inaugural Conference Asian Studies Program, Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA (USA) 22-25 October 2009 __________________________________________________ Pennsylvania State University is pleased to announce Global Asias, the inaugural conference of the Asian Studies Program (October 22-25, 2009). With the end of western imperialism, this image of a monolithic Asia, fabricated in the West, has fractured into fragments that have yet to yield a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the Asian past. Civilizations in Asia may be ancient, but they were not enfeebled; and the massive size of the continent represents an immense diversity of cultures, economies and peoples, rather than the uniform and sluggish spirit manifested, for example, in Karl Marxs description of an Asiatic mode of production. Above all, economic, cultural, and political currents connected the different regions of Asia long before the arrival of European mariners, and will continue to shape the future of the continent. Our conference, therefore, aims to highlight both the cultural exchanges between different regions within Asia and between Asia and the world. Are there factors and themes common to Asian societies that are reflected in the spread of Buddhism and Islam? Can we think of similarities in the imperial traditions of East and South Asia, and whether the same road was taken by these societies in the painful transformation from empires to nations ? How did Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and the Mughal Empire accommodate the new European powers? How did Pan-Asian ideas develop at the height of western imperialism, and how were they abused by the rising Japanese empire? And what might be, if any, the common future of Asia in the global world? Speakers include Rey Chow, Louise Young, Joanna Waley-Cohen, Eugene Wang, Anand Yang, Naoki Sakai, Rebecca Karl and others. All talks are free and open to the public. Conference website: http://asian.la.psu.edu/globalasias.shtml Contact: Phyllis Favorite Asian Studies Program Pennsylvania State University 427 Burrowes Building University Park, PA 16802 USA Tel: +1 814 863.0589 Fax: +1 814 863.8882 Email: [email protected] Web: http://asian.la.psu.edu/globalasias.shtml __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org
