9th Nordic NIAS Council Conference and PhD Course

Nordic Asian Studies in the 21st Century Stocktaking for the Future

Conference: Asia House, Copenhagen 7-9 November 2016
PhD Course: NIAS, Copenhagen, 10-11 November 2016

At the beginning of the 21st Century, relations with Asia have become crucial not only for the private, but also for the public sector. Economic, political and cultural relations between the West and the East are growing, and the need in our part of the West – the Nordic region – for solid knowledge about Asia, is also growing.

The present situation presents new opportunities for Asian studies within the Humanities and Social Sciences and, not least, a need for closer cooperation between the two. Unfortunately however, while our knowledge has become more useful and relevant to the wider society, many of us experience general budget cuts and difficulties in maintaining, not to speak of developing, our academic activities.

The aim of the conference is twofold:

  1. To gather colleagues from the Asian studies environments in all five Nordic countries to identify current tendencies and future prospects for Asian studies within the Humanities and the Social Sciences, as well as to identify Asia-relevant tendencies in academia outside these fields for future cooperation.
  2. To invite people from the public and private sectors who engage with Asian partners. Through their presentations and in a dialogue with them, locate areas of common interest.


Keynote Speakers:

  • Pingtjin Thum, Visiting Fellow at Green Templeton College, University of Oxford; Research Associate at the Centre for Global History, University of Oxford; and coordinator of Project Southeast Asia 
  • Tansen Sen, Professor of History, City University New York (CUNY), Director of the Center for Global Asia at NYU Shanghai Campus.
  • Patrick Köllner, Professor, Director of the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies, Hamburg (TBC)
  • Jong-kun Choi, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Political Science and International Studies, Yonsei University, Seoul
  • Kerstin Sahlin, Professor, University of Uppsala, Secretary General of Humanities and Social Sciences, Swedish Research Council, Stockholm
  • Ummu Salma Bava, Director, Europe Area Studies Programme, Professor of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi


For more information please visit the conference website: http://noasc2016.sciencesconf.org

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