Call for Papers for the 3rd International Workshop of the Amdo Research Network: ‘Amdo at the Crossroads’
St Hilda’s College, Oxford, 16th-18th April, 2020
Keynote speaker, Dr. Matthew King, University of California Riverside, ‘Amdo Through the Mongolian Looking Glass: Perspectives from Qing-Era Buddhist Biography and Historiography’
Dear Colleagues,
The Amdo Research Network (ARN), in partnership with the University of Oxford, are delighted to issue the Call for Proposals for the Amdo Research Network Workshop, themed ‘Amdo at the Crossroads’ to be held April 16-18th 2020 at St Hilda’s College, Oxford.
The idea that Amdo is at the crossroads is something of a truism within the field. This conference seeks to move beyond the idea merely of Amdo as a meeting place to explore Amdo in movement: the networks, encounters, connections, disconnections, fluidities and blurred boundaries that make a place. In doing so, this conference seeks to go beyond the binaries and points of connection that seem obvious today, and to use the circulation of objects and people to ask different questions. For instance, how does Amdo look when viewed from neither Lhasa nor Beijing, but from Ulan Bataar? Or from Kham? Where do books printed in Xining end up? How have changing transportation networks transformed spatial and temporal geographies? Amdo is a particularly interesting borderland to study: its borders cross the provincial lines drawn by nation-states, and the theoretical emphasis on movement provides a lens through which to explore diversities of space, place, time and people.
As is the tradition of ARN meetings, this workshop is designed to be deliberately interdisciplinary, and open to scholars inside and outside the academy. Scholars are invited to consider the following themes in their papers: pilgrimage, circulations, nomadism, cosmopolitanism, trade, mapping, disconnection, locality and trans-cultural interaction.
Scholars interested in participating should submit 250 word paper abstracts for consideration to arnworkshop2020@gmail.com. The ARN committee is particularly interested in papers that cross disciplinary boundaries and in innovative presentation proposals. Abstracts should be written in English, sent in Word document format, and include name, contact email and affiliation.
Research Proposal Roundtable
The ARN will also host a roundtable intended for scholars working on new projects to present an outline of their proposal in a supportive environment. Each participant will be given a short amount of time to introduce their proposal before the floor is opened for discussion. The aim is to create a space for projects which are not yet developed enough for a full paper to be given. Scholars in the early stages of their PhDs are particularly encouraged to apply.
Submission Instructions
Paper abstracts (250 words) and applications for the research proposal roundtable (250 words) should be submitted to arnworkshop2020@gmail.com by 7th December 2020. Notification of acceptances will be sent out by 20th December.
Contact
For enquiries about the conference and submission of abstracts, please contact arnworkshop2020@gmail.com.
This conference is sponsored by the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Wolfson Tibetan and Himalayan Cluster.
Best wishes,
Hannah Theaker, Rachael Griffiths and Kunsang Thokmay
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