Call for Papers: 11th ACAS International Conference on Asian Studies

Conference Announcement and Call for Papers:

The 11th ACAS International Conference on Asian Studies 

The Socioeconomic Landscape in Asia After the Pandemic: Scenarios and Implications to Development

Hybrid Online/On-site Conference

17-18 November 2022

About the Theme

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to sharp focus many weaknesses of the Asian socioeconomic terrain and sparked a wave of speculations about its likely contours once the pandemic has been brought to heel. Pundits portrayed pre-pandemic societies as characterized by the normalization of wasteful consumption, the devastation of nature, injustice and enmity between fellow human beings, disconnection, and confusion in social values. Asian societies, it is argued, are no exemption, and it is thought that the pandemic, ironically, presents an opportunity to break with the past, and to imagine the world anew. As the Indian novelist Arundhati Roy writes in an essay on her country’s response to the pandemic: “. . . Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to “normality”, trying to stitch our future to our past and refusing to acknowledge the rupture. But the rupture exists. . . Nothing could be worse than a return to normality.”

Indeed by sheer necessity the pandemic has reshaped nearly all domains of human life and society in Asia and elsewhere.  The changes encompass family life and social relationships, work, education, healthcare, entertainment and leisure, commerce, consumption, religion, communication and media, governance and expectation and perceptions of citizenship.  With the changed lifestyles, practices and priorities, the pandemic is touted as a turning point, a watershed in the history of mankind, an opportunity to reform and rebuild.   Sustainability scholars regard the pandemic as a potential catalyzer of changes to achieve progress in the response to climate change, biodiversity loss, unequal distribution of wealth, consumerism, the future of work, so as to forge a more livable, environmentally sounder, and just society.   

With a focus on Asia, the 11th ACAS International Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS-ICAS) joins the discussion on the consequences of the pandemic to development. The conference invites research and conceptual works from a broad range of disciplines encompassing the social sciences, biological and physical sciences, arts and culture and the humanities  as well as management and business. It is hoped that these contributions would identify principal issues and bring to the surface solutions and recommendations that could spur Asia towards the attainment of sustainable development goals beyond the pandemic. 

Call for Papers

The conference invites scholars and practitioners to present papers that expound on the conference theme in the context of developed and developing Asian societies. Papers and panels may explore the following topics: 

1. Major socioeconomic issues confronting Asian societies as a consequence of the pandemic
2. Impact of the pandemic on the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) in Asia
3. Strategies to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on development trajectories in Asia
4. Social inequality and the role of ethnicity, class and gender: dynamics arising from the pandemic
5. Social policies to address the systemic inequalities that have been revealed by the pandemic in Asia
6. Response of state and non-state entities in Asia to cross-border health issues
7. Re-alignment of transnational relations in Asia in light of the pandemic
8. The impact of the pandemic on our understanding of security in Asia, in particular, state and human security
9. Implications of the pandemic to the nature of work and the role of technology in the workplace in Asia
10. New models of consumer behavior in Asia as a consequence of  the pandemic and their implication
11. Implications of the pandemic to the ongoing fourth industrial revolution in Asia
12. New behavioral norms to overcome COVID-19 problems and future outbreaks and their  compatibility  with Asian cultures
13. Public health factors in the design of and planning of Asian city regions
14. Disruptions in education and their consequences to vulnerable populations in Asia
15. Changes in various fields of endeavor or discipline after the pandemic
16. The future of social research in Asia as a consequence of the pandemic 
17. The conduct of social research during a pandemic: responses to issues such as the threat to public health, the need for social distancing
18. Social media: menace or safeguard of public health? 

Papers and panels may also explore the theme along other topic clusters including business, environment, communication and media, philosophy, anthropology, theology and the arts.

General Proposals

Papers, panels and workshops that relate to general topics in Asian Studies are also welcome. These will be presented in the pre-conference and post-conference days.

Submission Guidelines

• Individual papers: Please send a 300 to 500-word abstract of the proposed paper.  The submission packet should be formatted as follows:
  • Page 1 should contain the following: 1) Title, subtitle (if any), 2) Author’s/authors’ name/s, 3) Email address and contact number/s, 4)  Name and address of affiliation (institution), 5) Author/s resumé in paragraph form,  maximum of 200 words.
  • Page 2 should contain the abstract. Word length: 300 to 500 words.  Do not include any information that may identify the author/s.
• Panel proposals: Please send an abstract of the panel topic and discussion as well as an abstract for each individual paper. The submission packet should be formatted as follows:
  • Page 1 should contain information about each member of the panel.  See information listed for individual papers, above.   
  • Page 2 should contain the abstract of the panel, and an abstract for each of the individual papers.  The length of the abstracts should be between 300 to 500 words.

Note: Full papers do not need to be submitted unless these are to be proposed for publication at the conference’s journal.

Please send abstracts to acas.soss@ateneo.edu by 30 August 2022.

The decisions on abstracts received after 30 July will be announced by 15 September. Those received by July 30 will be announced by 31 August.

Online presentation and participation

Papers will be presented live in person or virtually.  Recordings may be accepted but are not preferred.  Recordings must be submitted by Monday, October 31 for the presentation to be included in the program.

Moreover to be included in the conference program, all presenters must be registered by Monday, October 31.  Detailed presentation guidelines will be announced in due time in the conference website ateneo.edu/icas11.

To be included in the program, presenters must be registered by that time.  Presentation guidelines will be announced in due time.

In-person presentation and participation

The conference will be held virtually and in-person at the Loyola campus of the Ateneo de Manila University.  Guidelines for in-person participation including  instructions regarding accommodations and travel will be announced by Wednesday, 31 August 2022.

Publication of conference papers

The conference’s publication outlet is Social Transformations: Journal of the Global South. Those who want their papers considered for publication must submit full papers of about 6,000 words by 30 December 2022. Please visit https://ajol.ateneo.edu/stjgs for guidelines.

Papers may also be submitted for publication in the following journals published by the Ateneo de Manila University:

• Kritika Kultura
• Philippine Studies, Historical and Ethnographic Viewpoints
• Budhi, Journal of Ideas and Culture
• Perspectives of the Arts and Humanities, Asia
• The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability
• Landas, Journal of the Loyola School of Theology

Dates to Remember

July 30:           Abstracts due

Aug 30:           Announcement of accepted papers  

Aug 30:           Early bird registration ends

Oct  31*:         Pre-recorded paper presentations due (Only for paper presenters who opt to prerecord their presentations)

Oct 31:            Last day for registration

Nov 17-18:      Conference

Nov 21 – Dec 21:        Extended conference period: Video recordings of all sessions will be accessible to registered attendees

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Please address inquiries to:
ACAS Conference Secretariat
Email: acas.soss@ateneo.edu
Tel.: 84266001 loc. 5285 or 5286