Graduate Students: Call For Papers North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) 2017 Annual Conference
Department: Asian American Studies
Date and Time: May 25, 2017 - May 27, 2017 | Time TBAEvent Location: Stanford University
Event Details
RE: Taiwan as Practice, Method, and Theory
May 25 – May 27, 2017
Stanford University
Abstract submission due: December 31, 2016
Notification of acceptance: February 15, 2017
Travel grant application due: March 15
Notification of travel grant result: March 30
Early bird registration due: April 15, 2017
Regular registration due: May 1, 2017
Full paper due: May 1, 2017
Call For Paper Website: http://www.na-tsa.org/2017cfp
Submission Rules: http://www.na-tsa.org/new/2017/submission-rules
The NATSA 2017 conference, titled “RE: Taiwan as Practice, Method, and Theory”
endeavors to critically retrace the epistemological position and geopolitical contour
of Taiwan studies by highlighting the multiply-intersected field in terms of practice,
method, and theory. As seen in the header line of most email replies, the prefix “RE:”—
regarding the matter of—can mean the recognition of the status quo, a response to a previous
message, or simply a repeated speech-act to carry on a conversation. Evoking the
image of a communication feedback loop between self and others, the prefix points to a
series of fundamental questions confronted by Taiwan studies in North America today:
Who are talking to whom regarding what? Who or what are included in, or excluded from,
our conversations and agenda-setting? How do “we”—observers, researchers, or action
takers with regard to both Taiwan and North America—articulate our own situated experiences
and identify our own intersected positionality in relation to what we do?
To capture a more self-reflexive position of thinking and doing Taiwan studies in
and through North America, the conference invites papers that critically revisit and
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reimagine Taiwan as (I) a practical case for comparison, contrast, or as an exception; (II)
a methodological critique of knowledge production; (III) a contact zone where diverse
attempts of theorizing and agenda-setting clash or converge. The submissions can be
about, but not limited to, the followings:
RE: Taiwan as Practice
Fifty years after Taiwan’s first sociologist proposed to see Taiwan as a “laboratory”
where experiments on “Chinese” culture and society can be practiced (Chen, 1966),
two lines of case-oriented thinking have characterized how we study the island thus far.
On the one hand, Taiwan is a case upon which generalizable knowledge can be built,
with everyday reality being turned into “cases” defined by numbers, charts, graphs, and
narratives. On the other hand, the framing of a case is itself a practice deeply informed by
the institutional infrastructures where the researcher is situated. Therefore, some research
emphasizes on the subjective perception and embodied practices that can “make a case”
for a potential deviation from norms, models, and systems. Between these two lines of
thinking, we encourage participants to reflect upon Taiwan either as “a practical case” in
pursuit of generalizable data, or a “case in practice” characterized by constant bordercrossing
and paradigm-making.
RE: Taiwan as Method
The postcolonial Taiwan has emerged as a de facto nation-state struggling to gain
global visibility among hegemonic empires. Globalization and the rise of China have also
exposed Taiwan to the division of labor in the neoliberal world-system. Against this
backdrop, can Taiwan itself be seen as a critical method to debunk the epistemological
underpinnings of area studies by investigating the shifting landscapes of sovereignty and
governmentality, nation and identity, race and ethnicity, or gender and sexuality, all of
which are integral to the making of the postcolonial/neoliberal state? We invite submissions
that can envision Taiwan not only as a comparative case study but a decolonial
project to examine the processes and consequences of imperialism, colonialism, and
neoliberal globalization.
RE: Taiwan as Theory
This conference recognizes the intersected genealogies of the theorizing attempts
of humanities and social sciences done by Taiwan studies communities in Taiwan, North
America, and other parts of the world. Shifting our focus from Taiwan as the passive object
for theorization to an active agent that can negotiate and produce theories of its own,
we encourage submissions that highlight the flashpoints of theoretical debates within a
discipline or among disciplines in Taiwan studies. We especially welcome pieces that can
contrast and compare the diverse trajectories of theorization projects proposed by different
academic communities.
Capitalizing on the innovative culture and progressive atmosphere that Stanford
University and San Francisco Bay Area are renown for, the NATSA 2017 conference endeavors
to provide a platform for discussions, debates, and dialogues with a future projection
of the direction Taiwan studies should take through a critical review of the fundamentals.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Spencer Chen, NATSA 2017 Co-Program Director, scchen0918@ucla.edu
Lawrence Yang, NATSA 2017 Co-Program Director, knulpyang@berkeley.edu
Sandy Tseng, NATSA Secretary, secretary@na-tsa.org
ABSTRACT PROPOSAL SUBMISSION RULES
Individual abstracts, panel proposals, and poster presentation applications MUST be
submitted at http://www.na-tsa.org/new/2017/main-theme
*DEADLINE: December 31, 2016
The NATSA aims to promote Taiwan studies in North America and in English publications.
All abstracts and papers must be written and presented in ENGLISH ONLY.
A) Individual Abstract Submission
Each submission MUST include (a) an abstract and (b) a personal bio (please see below
for more details). We encourage your abstract to include elements expected within your
own discipline that are jargon-free. Your abstract should be informative to both scholars
working within the specialized areas of your work, and as much as possible, to a wider
readership.
Following the guidelines below will aid our reviewers in more precisely evaluating
whether your abstract, as representative of your proposed conference paper, will be accepted.
A well-structured abstract will facilitate their reviewing and improve your chances
of being accepted.
Submissions missing any section(s) will not be considered by the organizing committee.
• SECTION A: Abstract (up to 300 words) with your paper title
Please note that the scope should be that of a journal-length paper NOT that of a booklength
project or an entire dissertation. The abstract is encouraged to address the following
points:
1) Main argument(s) in relation to the conference theme;
2) Summary of paper objectives and theoretical framework;
3) Explicitly address the methodologies and/or sources upon which this paper’s arguments
will be;
4) Describe the paper’s intellectual contribution to your academic discipline(s) and, if
possible, broader social and political impacts;
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5) Below the abstract, please list 3 to 5 keywords for your paper and 2 to 3 disciplines to
which your paper is most closely related (this will be used to help us select reviewers
for your abstract).
• SECTION B: Presenter’s Bio
Please describe your professional/social experience in a way that tells us something about
yourself, your interest in Taiwan studies, and your engagement in the research for this
presentation (about 100 words). This section will not be sent to abstract reviewers (as it is
a blind review process). Instead, the bio will be included in the conference manual if your
paper or poster is accepted. Please refer to the guidelines of bios in your discipline for
further details.
B) Panel Proposal
We encourage panel organizers to include at least one relatively junior scholar (either
graduate student or recent graduate) in their panels. All submissions must include the following:
1) A panel title and individual paper titles to be included in the panel;
2) A 600-word statement of purpose for the entire panel identifying the central issue(
s)/theme(s), the relevance of each paper to the theme/issue, and to what extent this
panel is relevant to the concept of motions and Taiwan Studies ;
3) 3 to 5 keywords for your panel and 2 to 3 disciplines to which your panel is most
closely related (this will be used to help us select reviewers for your panel);
4) A full list of participants, including title, institutional affiliation, and contact information.
Please specify which presenter will be the panel organizer. We recommend
that the optimal number of paper presenters in a panel should be 3-4.
Should you desire, we will assign at least one discussant to each panel after it is accepted.
C) Poster Presentation and Competition
We also encourage undergraduate and graduate students, who have not yet begun their
main research, to submit proposals for our poster session. While poster session participants
will generally be ineligible for the NATSA travel grants, we will present a $300
award to the best student poster at the conference’s closing session. The judges of this
competition will be comprised of a few of our invited scholars. The basic size of poster
should be 24" x 36" with academic standard.
Each submission must include an abstract. Please follow the guidelines below in composing
your abstract. The title of your poster does not count towards the 150 word limit. The
abstract should address the following points:
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1) Poster title;
2) Summary of poster objectives and key research question(s);
3) Your engagement in the research;
4) Explicitly address the methodologies, sampling methods (if possible), and/or sources
upon which your arguments will be;
5) Describe the poster’s intellectual contribution to your academic discipline(s) and, if
possible, its potential broader social and political impacts;
6) Below the abstract, please list 3 to 5 keywords for your poster and 2 to 3 disciplines to
which your presentation is most closely related (this will be used to help us arrange
posters if selected).
CONFERENCE UPDATES AND NEW PANEL MAKER WEBPAGE
Please check our website and Facebook fan-page frequently for updated information:
Website: http://www.na-tsa.org/new/2016/main-theme
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-America-Taiwan-Studies-
Association-NATSA/128166173923634?fref=ts