Asian Australian Identities 3 (AAI3) Conference: Regionalising Asian Australian Identities

Asian Australian Identities 3 (AAI3) Conference: Regionalising Asian Australian Identities
Curtin University, Perth, Australia
13-14 November 2009


REGISTRATIONS OPEN

The Asian Australian Studies Research Network, in collaboration with the Centre for Advanced Studies in Australia, Asia and the Pacific (CASAAP), Curtin University, presents the Regionalising Asian Australian Identities conference, to be held at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia, from 13-14 November 2009.

Building on the momentum of previous successful Asian Australian Identities conferences, AAI3 considers the importance of understanding Asian Australian identities and communities within both regional and transnational contexts. In holding the 2009 conference in Western Australia, we are particularly mindful of the rhetoric of the rise of ‘Asia’ which has sustained much of the State’s (and nation’s) boom years. From distanciation to fascination and engagement, Australia’s relationship to Asia continues to inform the culture and politics of the nation. At the same time, the conference theme also reminds us to look into our own backyards and to consider the often neglected histories of the nation’s own regional encounters with Asians, in particular Asian-Indigenous interactions in the north of Australia. How does the articulation of ‘Asian Australian identities’ fit within these shifting terrains? And how might we reconsider Australia’s relationship to Asia and to its own local regions in new and productive ways, particularly as it affects identity formation?

As Asian Australian studies comes of age, what new pathways will the field take? Do we (continue to) learn from the direction Asian American studies has taken? Does Asian Australian studies have a role to play in the growth of Inter-Asia cultural studies? What kinds of conversations might scholars in Asian Australian studies have with their counterparts in North America, Europe and Asia, as well as with ‘locals’ from regional parts of Australia?

Keynote speakers include:

* Koichi Iwabuchi (Waseda U)
* Krishna Sen (U of Western Australia)
* Jon Stratton (Curtin U)
* Featured Artist - Mayu Kanamori

For tickets or more information, click here