More than 1,500 academics, students, artists, and practitioners from 43 countries will attend the Association for Asian Studies (AAS)-in-Asia international conference at Universitas Gadjah Mada from Jul. 9 to 11, 2024.
Participants from the 43 countries include those from the United States, China, Japan, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Australia.
“The AAS conference held at UGM is one of the largest in the world in terms of the number of registrants, presenters, and participants. In other countries, the number of participants is usually around 500-700,” said UGM Vice-Rector for Education and Teaching, Professor Wening Udasmoro, to reporters on Thursday (Jun. 13).
Professor Udasmoro mentioned that around 1,700 participants from various countries have registered, but only about 1,500 have been designated as presenters and participants.
“UGM as the host and its location in Yogyakarta is a unique attraction for participants to attend. The largest number of participants come from America and China,” she said.
The 10th AAS conference is themed “Global Asias: Latent Histories, Manifest Impacts.” This theme was chosen because Asia has long been a global crossroads of diverse civilizations, politics, trade, migration, religion, art, and material culture.
Steering Committee Chair, Professor Pujo Semedi Hargo Yuwono, said the conference aims to explore Asia’s plurality, complexity, and dynamics about other parts of the world, from the past to the present.
“The theme is designed to review Asia’s developments over the past few centuries, where Asia was once a power target. Since decolonization, Asia has begun to rise, not only influencing politically, economically, and culturally but also showing significant strength globally,” he said.
According to Professor Yuwono, this conference is a key moment for exchanging academic knowledge and thought, aiming to decolonize knowledge that Western nations have long dominated.
“Just as Asia’s political fate was dominated in the past, other nations have dominated knowledge production. This conference is an opportunity for us to build equal knowledge relations,” he said.
Regarding the conference’s readiness, Professor Mirwan Ushada, an organizing committee member, stated that preparations for this international conference have been ongoing since last year. Previous conferences held in South Korea and the United States served as references for the committee.
“Preparations have been underway since last year. Several UGM delegations were sent to attend these conferences. We want the conference at UGM to have its unique characteristics,” Professor Ushada said.
The AAS-in-Asia Conference 2024 will be divided into two sessions: the pre-conference and the main conference. Two workshops will be held in the pre-conference session on Jul. 8, 2024.
The first workshop is about reconciliation between Timor-Leste and Indonesia. It will focus on deepening historical understanding, promoting human rights awareness, and enhancing knowledge of past relations between the two countries.
The second workshop is themed “Migration and Interconnectivity in the Global South,” aiming to encourage dialogue about migration in the Global South among academics, researchers, and young practitioners from Asia from various perspectives such as geography, politics, and economy.
Additionally, this workshop aims to discuss migration from various dimensions, including knowledge creation, dynamics, methods, ethics, and case studies.
UGM Rector Professor Ova Emilia will open the main conference session on Jul. 9, 2024, at the Grha Sabha Pramana Auditorium at 08:00 WIB.
Following the opening ceremony, the event will continue with panel sessions from various fields of study, such as East and Inner Asia, Southeast Asia, Inter-area/border crossing, South Asia, and Northeast Asia until 17:00 WIB.
The first day of the conference will close with a second opening ceremony featuring remarks from Hyaeweol Choi, President of the Association for Asian Studies, and a dinner.
On the second day of the conference, Wednesday, Jul. 10, 2024, there will be a panel discussion on calligraphy from Islamic, Chinese, and Korean perspectives.
The speakers, who are renowned calligraphers from these countries, will discuss the beauty, meaning, and techniques of each calligraphy tradition. They will also discuss the uniqueness and similarities of Islamic, Chinese, and Korean calligraphy.
Participants can witness live demonstrations of calligraphy techniques by the experts. Sub-themes to be discussed include the Aesthetics of Islamic, Chinese, and Korean Calligraphy, Comparative Knowledge Pathways of Calligraphy, and Calligraphy Preservation in the Modern Era.
Another event is a panel featuring representatives from regional Japanese research networks worldwide to share their experiences and knowledge to support and encourage junior researchers. The discussion will focus on how these networks can maximize career development opportunities across regions and disciplines.
At the end of the second day, a keynote lecture titled “Revisiting Freedom vs Harmony Debate: From Asian Values to Decolonization” will be held on Wednesday, Jul. 10, 2024, from 17:30 to 18:30 WIB at Grha Sabha Pramana (GSP), 2nd floor.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, Director of the National Consortium for Inter-religious Studies in Yogyakarta. This lecture will discuss the freedom vs harmony debate that has been ongoing for decades and remains controversial, particularly regarding freedom of expression, assembly, thought, conscience, and religion.
This lecture argues that this debate leads to a possible convergence of “East and West” with new terms without necessarily easing the tension between freedom and harmony.
Several special events will be held on the last day, Thursday, Jul. 11, 2024. These include film screenings and a speech by the Tang Prize Foundation.
At the AAS-in-Asia Conference 2024, Professor Dame Jessica Rawson, the 2022 Tang Prize in Sinology winner, will deliver a public lecture titled “Tang Prize Lecture: China’s Great Tombs and Treasures They Have Revealed.”
This lecture will be held from 10:30 WIB until noon at the Soegondo Building, 7th Floor, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
This lecture will discuss the ancient Chinese tomb traditions and the valuable relics found within them. Professor Rawson, a world-renowned Chinese art and archaeology expert, will explain how these objects help us understand ancient Chinese society and cultural transmission.
This lecture is related to her latest book, “Life and Afterlife in Ancient China,” which discusses ancient Chinese beliefs about life and death.
In addition to the public lecture, there will be two film screenings, namely “Pada Suatu Hari Nanti” (2021), a short documentary film by Tonny Trimarsanto, nominated for Best Short Documentary Film at the 2022 Melbourne Short Film Festival, and “Annah La Javanaise” (2020), an animated short documentary film by Professor Fatimah Tobing Rony, which addresses the issue of child trafficking.
The film screenings will be held from 13:30 to 15:30 WIB at the Djarum Auditorium, 6th Floor, Pertamina Building, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada.
Three names from the Indonesian film industry and studies, namely Tonny Trimarsanto, Nia Dinata, and Dr. Budi Irawanto, will be present as discussants in the film screening session at the AAS-in-Asia Conference 2024.
The AAS-in-Asia Conference 2024 in Yogyakarta is expected to be an ideal platform for intellectual and cultural exchanges about “Global Asias.”
UGM and AAS welcome all approaches from various disciplines and themes related to history, literature, religion, cinema, law, politics, labor, economics, gender, archaeology, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, media studies, social movements, public health, and the environment.
This event supports the achievement of the SDGs in partnerships to achieve goals, peace, justice, strong institutions, and gender equality.
Author: Gusti Grehenson
Photographer: Donnie