The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2017
Art Center Kobe, Kobe, Japan
Thursday, June 1 - Sunday, June 4, 2017
Abstract Submission Deadline: January 12, 2017
Registration Deadline for Presenters: April 14, 2017
Conference Theme: “Global Realities: Precarious Survival and Belonging”
The theme for the Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2014 in Osaka was “Borderlands of becoming, belonging and sharing”. In his presentation, Conference Co-Chair Professor Baden Offord wrote “Gloria Anzaldua’s idea of the borderland has become a critical conceptual rubric used by cultural researchers as a way of understanding, explaining and articulating the in-determined, vague, ambiguous nature of everyday life and the cultural politics of border-knowledge, border crossings, transgression, living in-between and multiple belongings. Borderlands is also about a social space where people of diverse backgrounds and identities meet and share a space in which the politics of co-presence and co-existence are experienced and enacted in mundane ways.”
Now we revisit that territory under the title “Global Realities: Precarious Survival and Belonging”. While retaining the ideas expressed by Prof. Offord in 2014, this conference will turn its focus on to the precariousness of life across the world, life being understood in all its amplitude. Since 2014 we have witnessed the horror of the refugee crisis in Europe and how borders which should have been crossed have been blocked off by barbed wire fences. The whole context of borders, belonging and survival has shifted resulting in an increase in racism, radical nationalisms, terrorism, infringements of human rights, and rising poverty levels, to mention only a few of the globalised problems confronting our world. The result of such precarity, even of the planet itself, has led to a generalised sense of communal and individual vulnerability.
Raimond Gaita recently noted, “It is striking how often people now speak of ‘a common humanity’ in ethically inflected registers, or ethically resonant tones that express a fellowship of all the peoples of the earth, or sometimes the hope for such a fellowship.” Hopefully, this conference will discuss the ways and means by which a “common humanity” may be aspired to by future generations.
The organisers encourage submissions that approach the conference theme from a variety of perspectives. However, the submission of other topics for consideration is welcome and we also encourage sessions within and across a variety of interdisciplinary and theoretical perspectives. Abstracts should address one or more of the streams below, identifying a relevant sub-theme.
Submissions are organised into the following thematic streams:
Conference Theme and Streams
Conference Theme: "Global Realities: Precarious Survival and Belonging"
The conference theme for ACCS2017 is "Global Realities: Precarious Survival and Belonging", and the organisers encourage submissions that approach this theme from a variety of perspectives. However, the submission of other topics for consideration is welcome and we also encourage sessions across a variety of interdisciplinary and theoretical perspectives.
Submissions are organised into the following thematic streams:
Black Feminism
Critical Legal Studies
Critical Race Theory
Cultural Geography
Cultural History
Cultural Studies
Cultural Studies Pedagogy
Education
Gender studies / Feminist Theory
Justice Studies
Linguistics, Language and Cultural Studies
Media Studies
Orientalism
Political Philosophy
Political Theory
Queer Theory
Social Criticism
Sociology
Visual Culture
Abstract Submission Process
In order to present at the conference, your abstract must first pass a double blind peer review. Upon payment of registration fees, your presentation will be confirmed. Learn more about conference streams.
Deadlines
Abstracts submission: January 12, 2017
Results of abstract reviews returned to authors: Usually within two weeks of submission
Full conference registration payment for all presenters: April 14, 2017
Full paper submission: July 4, 2017
How to Submit
Register with our online submission system.
Create your account. Your email address will be used as your username and you will be asked to submit a password.
Submit your abstract of no more than 250 words, choosing from the presentation formats listed below (Individual, Poster or Virtual).
Submit well before the submission deadline in order to benefit from Early Bird rates.
Your proposal will normally be reviewed within two to three weeks after undergoing a double blind peer review. Those who submit near the extended deadline will usually receive results by January 26, 2017.
If your proposal is accepted you will be invited to register for the conference. Upon payment of the registration fee, you will be sent a confirmation email receipt.
Status of Submission
The status of your abstract can be checked by logging in to the online submission system. The status will be displayed in the "Your Submissions" area. If your paper is accepted, a notification email will be sent to the registered email address. If you do not receive this email, please contact us at accs@iafor.org.
You can return to the system at any time using your username and password to edit your personal information. If you wish your paper to be published in the conference proceedings, please ensure that a paper is uploaded through the online system by July 4, 2017.
Ways to Present
Oral Presentation (25 minutes)
This is the standard format for presentation and involves the presenter delivering their research to their audience, often accompanied by a PowerPoint slideshow. Oral Presentations are generally organised by stream into parallel sessions comprising three or four presentations.
Poster Presentation (90 minutes)
A poster presentation provides a relaxed presentation atmosphere in which the presenter uses a poster pinned to a poster board (1800mm high by 900mm wide) to illustrate their research. Presenters will often engage with interested participants on a one-to-one basis, which is great for networking, discussion and relationship building.
Virtual Presentation
Virtual presentations afford authors the opportunity to present their research to IAFOR’s far-reaching and international online audience, without time restrictions, distractions or the need to travel. Presenters are invited to create a video of their presentation which will be uploaded to the official IAFOR Vimeo channel, and will remain online indefinitely. This is a valuable and impactful way of presenting in its own right, but also an alternative means for those delegates who may be unable to travel to the conference due to financial or political restrictions. The same publishing opportunities apply to virtual presenters, with final papers being included in Conference Proceedings.
Following the conference, virtual presenters will be mailed a conference pack, including receipt of payment, certificate of participation and a printed copy of the Conference Programme.
The Vimeo channel will be referenced on all conference materials.
There is no limit to length or style but certain restrictions apply to files size and music selection. Guidelines and further information on creating the video will be sent following registration.
Please note that video presentations are to be created by the author. IAFOR does not permit live video conferencing.
We do not allow presentations by video-conferencing but presenters have the opportunity to submit a video of their presentation, which will be placed on the official Vimeo channel. Information on how to do this will be sent following registration.
Workshop Presentation (60 to 90 minutes)
A workshop is a brief, intensive course, lasting 60 to 90 minutes, which is led by an experienced practitioner, usually with a Ph.D. It facilitates group interaction and the exchange of information amongst a smaller number of participants than is usual at a plenary session.
Often a workshop involves problem solving, skills training, or the dissemination of new content or disciplinary approaches. Conference workshops are typically more instructional and interactive in nature than oral presentations and involve participants working with the workshop leader on a particular topical issue.
Symposium Presentation (90 minutes)
Symposia sessions are conceived and organized by individuals who recruit speakers to present papers or participate in panel discussions organized around a special topic. A symposium is a 90-minute session. A symposium presentation includes:
An introduction
3 or 4 oral presentations based on submitted abstracts
A discussion
As the organiser of a proposed panel, submit a proposal for the symposium through the online system.
Symposiums presenters can either submit a joint paper or separate papers to the conference proceedings.
Review System and Scheduling Requests
Authors as Reviewers: A Reciprocal System
Our academic events would not be what they are without a commitment to ensuring adherence to international norms of abstract peer review. IAFOR relies on a large number of international scholars from around the world to contribute to a shared vision of promoting and engaging in international, intercultural and interdisciplinary dialogue, and if you are taking part in an IAFOR event, then that means you. Authors may be asked to review up to five abstracts for the conference. You are under no obligation to participate in this reciprocal system, but if you are selected to review, and undertake this task of grading abstracts for the the conference you will be credited in the conference programme.
Scheduling Requests
Requests for specific times and days for presentations are not usually allowed due to the large number of participants. We ask that you reserve requests for religious reasons or other exceptional and unavoidable circumstances.
We hope that participants attend each day in order to have a rewarding conference experience. If you must put in a scheduling request, you may only request one black-out day -- one day to not present at the conference. Requests for specific days or times will not be accepted.
Scheduling requests will not be accepted after the registration deadline.
Conference Proceedings
Once you have registered, you can submit your final paper via the online submission system anytime until July 4, 2017.
Final papers are only accepted in a Microsoft Word format. Please download our Final Paper Template and read the Final Paper Submission Guidelines.
The Official Conference Proceedings will be published online in a PDF format under an ISSN issued by the National Diet Library of Japan on August 4, 2017.
Publication and Licensing Issues
Abstracts, research papers, articles, video footage, images, and other forms of print and digital media will be made available by IAFOR to the general public on an open access, online basis.
By submitting to an open access agreement under Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution Non Commercial International an author or creator is hereby granting IAFOR an exclusive license for the full period of copyright throughout the world, including the exclusive right to publish, distribute, or communicate, their original submitted work in any IAFOR publication, whether in an online, electronic or print format, be that in whole, partial or modified form.
Authors retain originating copyright of their own work but through the act of agreeing to transfer the license to IAFOR under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Attribution Non Commercial International conditions allow IAFOR to take measures on behalf of authors against infringement, inappropriate use of an article, libel or plagiarism of any work, materials or content attributed under this license by other parties and allows IAFOR to monitor, uphold and maintain the integrity of an abstract, paper or article and its author once refereed and accepted for publication or public exhibition.
All publications and digital media produced for the conference will be openly archived on the IAFOR research archive.
