We invite scholars of various academic fields of humanities and social science to submit proposals to an academic conference “Nation Building and Cultural Diversity in East Asia: Challenges, Narratives, Perspectives” which will be held at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU, Kaunas, Lithuania) on October 18–19, 2024.

East Asia is one of the most diverse regions in the world when it comes to its ethnic composition as well as traditional and contemporary culture. This diversity can be explored from multiple academic angles, ranging from history and cultural studies to anthropology and political sciences. On the one hand, diversity can be celebrated by exploring its multifaceted forms of expression through arts, language, customs, etc. On the other hand, diversity is also a political field which is actively managed, controlled and shaped through the process of nation building, centralization, and economic integration. All East Asian countries must deal with historical legacies, trends of globalisation and migration, regional dynamics, as well as transformations of identity that challenge real or imagined cultural homogeneities. For example, the conference is partially inspired by a major change of self-identification among Taiwan’s citizens as well as development of national policies regarding multiculturalism. The organisers believe that such and other cases deserve in-depth investigation to draw lessons that are relevant not only for the East Asia region but Lithuania and Europe as a whole.

With all this in mind, the organisers of the conference invite participants from various academic fields to present their original research that is focused on aforementioned topics. Considering the recent developments, special attention will be given to presentations that deal with Taiwan related issues. The conference is not limited to one approach and encourages submission of proposals that can be classified under different fields of humanities and social sciences: anthropology, ethnology, history, sociology, economics, political science, etc. The working language of the conference is English.

Panel and individual paper proposals can be submitted by filling a form and sending it by email to conference.asc@vdu.lt by July 15, 2024 (extended to July 22). More information is provided in the application form.

The conference is organized by VMU Centre for Asian Studies and supported by Spotlight Taiwan.

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