Oceanic Asia: Global History, Japanese Waters, and the Edges of Area Studies

Oceanic Asia: Global History, Japanese Waters, and the Edges of Area Studies

Organizer
Asia Research Institute (ARI) of the National University of Singapore (NUS)
Venue
Online via Zoom
ZIP
119260
Location
Singapore
Country
Singapore
From - Until
05.10.2021 -
By
Connections Redaktion, Leipzig Research Centre Global Dynamics, Universität Leipzig

Our “Oceanic Asia” roundtable convenes a multi-national and multi-disciplinary group to expand the scope of Asian Studies and, in particular, global Japan’s place within it. We do this by drawing from the broader turn to the sea—the “new thalassology”—that is developing within our fields and in adjacent areas such as Pacific History, Indian Ocean Studies, and environmental history.

Oceanic Asia: Global History, Japanese Waters, and the Edges of Area Studies

Asia’s oceans demand our attention. Violent and fecund, they define life in the region: pushing the shore under the rush of tsunami; charging typhoon circulation and seasonal monsoons; feeding billions. And yet, Asian Studies remains largely beholden to a terrestrial view of the world that is at odds with the importance of the sea across all eras of the region’s history. This “terrestrial bias” also means that oceans are seen as dividers or connectors, while the interaction with the wet environment often remains obscure. Our “Oceanic Asia” roundtable convenes a multi-national and multi-disciplinary group to expand the scope of Asian Studies and, in particular, global Japan’s place within it. We do this by drawing from the broader turn to the sea—the “new thalassology”—that is developing within our fields and in adjacent areas such as Pacific History, Indian Ocean Studies, and environmental history.
Oceanic and global perspectives are opening up new spaces that were often left untouched by area studies and maritime history. Approaching the nation-state from an oceanic “outside in” perspective also provides new insights into historical agency. Taking “ocean time” instead of terrestrial time into account will bridge modern and pre-modern interactions with the sea above and below its surface. Doing so also draws our attention to environmental, territorial, and social practices and changes. We will investigate especially those that emerged from or took place in the greater Pacific region, driven by our shared interest in integrating Asia and Japan more strongly into global and transnational oceanic history. This interest will lead us far beyond Asia’s coastlines. But it will also help us to shed light on coastal regions otherwise marginalized in “terrestrial” or port-oriented global histories.
Seeing the ocean as more than merely empty space between entrepots or political entities thus elicits questions: How does thinking with and about and against the sea require us to change our practice as humanists and social scientists? Does an oceanic perspective change how we understand the trans- of “trans-national”, “trans-regional”, or other scalar frames? What interests are unsettled by an oceanic approach, especially within the ambit of Asian Studies?

Roundtable with:
Ian J. Miller (Harvard University), Nadin Heé (Osaka University), David Howell (Harvard University), Stefan Huebner (NUS), Manako Ogawa (Ritsumeikan University), Sujit Sivasundaram (Cambridge University), Takehiro Watanabe (Sophia University)

The roundtable will take place through Zoom at the Asia Research Institute (ARI) of the National University of Singapore (NUS). For registration please see the following details:

Date: 05 Oct 2021
Time: 20:00 - 21:30 (SGT, Singapore) = 13:00–14:30 (BST) = 21:00–22:30 (JST) = 5:00–6:30am (PDT) = 08:00–9:30am (EDT) = 14:00–15.30 (CEST)

Online via Zoom

Registration: https://ari.nus.edu.sg/events/20211005-oceanic-asia/

Programm

MODERATOR
Prof Ian Jared Miller, Harvard University, USA

PROGRAM

20:00
WELCOME REMARKS
Prof Tim Bunnell | National University of Singapore

20:05
INTRODUCTION BY MODERATOR
Prof Ian Jared Miller | Harvard University, USA

20:10
THEMATIC PRESENTATIONS BY PANELLISTS
Prof Nadin Heé | Osaka University, Japan
Prof David L. Howell | Harvard University, USA
Dr Stefan Huebner | National University of Singapore
Prof Manako Ogawa | Ritsumeikan University, Japan
Prof Sujit Sivasundaram | University of Cambridge, UK
Assoc Prof Takehiro Watanabe | Sophia University, Japan

21:00
QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

21:30
END

Contact (announcement)

Minghua Tay
aritm@nus.edu.sg

https://ari.nus.edu.sg/events/20211005-oceanic-asia/
Editors Information
Published on
02.10.2021
Classification
Regional Classification
Additional Informations
Country Event
Language(s) of event
English
Language of announcement