Dear colleagues,
I am happy to announce that the steering committee members of the Pre-modern Japanese Religion Workshop will be hosting a digital technology roundtable at the 2022 Annual Conference of the Association of Asian Studies on Friday, March 25, 1:30-3:00 pm HST. It will be virtual live. Please find details below.
Here is the link to the Panel Information on the AAS schedule website: D-V37: Periphery as Center: Possibilities and Challenges for Post-COVID Digital Workshops
To register for the 2022 Annual Conference of the Association of Asian Studies: Registration Page
If you are attending the AAS this year, we welcome you to join us!
Sincerely,
Eric Haruki Swanson
Assistant Professor of Theological Studies
Loyola Marymount University
eric.swanson@lmu.edu
[Panel Details]
Digital Technology Roundtable
D-V37: Periphery as Center: Possibilities and Challenges for Post-COVID Digital Workshops
Friday, March 25, 2022
1:30pm – 3:00pm HST (Hawaii)
Location: Virtual
Virtual Organizer(s)
Asuka Sango (Carleton College, United States)
Eric Swanson (Loyola Marymount University, United States)
Chair(s)
Akiko Walley (University of Oregon, United States)
Discussant(s)
Akiko Walley (University of Oregon, United States)
Kenji Matsuo (Yamagata University, Japan)
Jun Fujii (Komazawa University, Japan)
Asuka Sango (Carleton College, United States)
Eric Swanson (Loyola Marymount University, United States)
Session Abstract:
In August of 2020, Pre-modern Japanese Religion Workshop series (PJRW) was launched to explore the potential of digital space to rectify the inequality in access to people and resources between the center and peripheries of the global and transdisciplinary Japan Studies. Interpreting “peripheries” geographically as outside of the Japanese metropolises (chihō) and overseas, and figuratively as the cutting-edge research by colleagues beyond the narrow definition of scholars, our Zoom workshops problematize and decenter academic knowledge production by inviting not just professors, but also curators from academic and public museums, conservators, independent scholars, officers in prefectural government sectors, and graduate students in Japan, the United States, Canada and Europe.
PJRW was never meant to be a mere “triage” solution or an alternative to in-person meetings. Instead, it aspires to reconceptualize the meaning of intellectual access and scholarly exchange. As we resume in-person events, we must ask whether the strategies we cultivated to connect via remote tools can serve as a new norm of sustained scholarly exchanges and of more open and equitable academia. In this roundtable, the five members of the PJRW steering committee will discuss the possibilities and challenges of using Zoom for global academic workshop series, issues that arise when hosting presenters with diverse research and professional backgrounds, benefits of Zoom Conference vs. Webinar platforms, strategies for interpretation and translation, and active use of Chat and Breakout Room functions to facilitate international scholarly exchange.
Matsuo Kenji will discuss the use of digital platforms to introduce new discoveries made in peripheral institutions in Japan.
Fujii Jun will discuss the challenges faced by Buddhist communities in contemporary Japan, how it informed the genesis of PJRW, and the benefits of using Zoom as a platform to address these issues.
Asuka Sango will discuss the potential of the digital platform in enhancing the research productivity of and collaborative research opportunities for liberal arts faculty.
Eric Haruki Swanson will discuss strategies for bilingual communication and potentials for international and interdisciplinary collaboration in a “post-COVID” world.
Akiko Walley will discuss the utility of the Breakout Room function in an intensely discussion-based academic workshop.
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