| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, June 10, 2016 | 9:00AM - 5:00PM | External Event, University of Toronto, Canada |
| Saturday, June 11, 2016 | 9:00AM - 5:00PM | External Event, University of Toronto, Canada |
North American Taiwan Studies Annual Conference
We are pleased to announce that the 22nd North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) Annual Conference will be held from June 10-11, 2016. This year’s conference, titled “Taiwan Studies in Trans* Perspectives: Transdisciplinary, Transnational, and Transcultural,” welcomes scholars interested in studying Taiwan from all disciplines and explores how Taiwan—as a case, a theory, or even a method—can further transform current knowledge constructs toward an inclusive global vision.
Trans*, used in transgender studies as an umbrella term to include individuals seeking gender identities within and beyond the traditional male-female dichotomy, sheds light on an insightful and radical approach to Taiwan Studies. The asterisk in trans*, originating from computer science, serves as a wildcard character that stands for any words starting with trans, and symbolizes the openness and inclusiveness of the transdisciplinary community of Taiwan Studies. In line with this inclusive spirit, Trans* opens up new approaches to encourage scholars of Taiwan Studies to boldly transgress disciplinary boundaries and cull perspectives from various intellectual communities.
Of all the relevant trans* themes in this conference, participants are encouraged, but not limited, to set transdisciplinarity, transnationality, and transculturalism as a point of reference. Transdiciplinarity is not only a series of cross-disciplinary activities but also a transformation among contexts and the transcendence of multiple disciplines to create innovative context-based theories. Taiwan Studies from a transdisciplinary perspective offers a lens for researchers to examine, discuss, and understand issues in multiple contexts. Transnationality both emphasizes and questions the existence of universal values or a one-size-fits-all nation-state theory. It not only digs out the diversity derived from the uniqueness of local contexts, but also tries to clarify the imbalanced power structure among the units. Transculturalism, a theoretical concept that seeks to break the boundaries between different communal, cultural, societal, and national sectors. Additionally, a new framework is established in which participants are understood not as members exclusively belonging to particular groups but as constantly crossing categorical boundaries in a search for self-identity.
Complete Conference Schedule:
http://www.na-tsa.org/new/2016/conference-schedule
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