SEAA News Blog: Conferences

Virtual international conference
“Cosmopolitan Pasts of China and the Eurasian World”
2021 June 11, 12, 18, 19, from 1500 CET (2100 China, 0900 EST, 0600 PST)

Free and open to all. Registration required. Go to: https://www.cosmopolitanpasts.sinologie.lmu.de.
For questions, please contact Dr. Annie Chan at cosmos@ostasien.fak12.uni-muenchen.de.

Abstract:

Cosmopolitanism may prove to be the creed of our times. Globalized infrastructure and digital technologies have rendered alien political and cultural spheres unprecedentedly more accessible, hospitable, and intelligible, but also made visible new structures of segregation and “othering”. The paradoxical challenges of cosmopolitanism in tolerance and communication are, however, hardly a modern geopolitical tale, nor characteristically European for that matter. Statesmen in pre-imperial China had reached for the notion of “tianxia” (all under Heaven) somewhere between a concentric “fu” zoning by degree of civility, an all-encompassing appreciation of “xing” (human nature), and a mix of bridling and conciliatory diplomatic strategies. It was the expansive realization of this cosmic order that then made Tang Dynasty the (arguably) quintessentially cosmopolitan -and great Chinese- epoch. Fast forward to early Republic China, cosmopolitan ideals of Western education gave voice to the modernization of Chinese poetry and provided inspiration for literary exoticism and patriotism.
 

Friday, April 16th at 12-1pm Eastern / 11am-12 Noon Central / 9-10am Pacific

Sponsored by the Society for East Asian Archaeology and the Southeast Asian Archaeology Interest Group

We look forward to seeing you at our Virtual Get-Together! The schedule for our meeting is as follows: 

1. Greetings from meeting hosts Francis Allard and Alison Carter
2. Brief presentations from editors from the journals Antiquity, Archaeological Research in Asia, Asian Archaeology and Asian Perspectives as well as the Institute for Southeast Asian Archaeology. 
3. Brief presentations by two junior researchers on their work, as well as their thoughts and ideas on the present and future of East/Southeast Asian Archaeology, with time for Q&A. 
   1. Dr. Piphal Heng, Postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University
   2. Dr. Lauren Glover, Honorary Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Familiarity with unearthed materials has become the norm among scholars of early China across the world. The field has come to re‐examine narratives of early Chinese history in a more nuanced way, moving beyond questions of “doubting” or “verifying antiquity” to detail how the situation on the ground in early China related to its representation in traditional historical constructs. The fruits of this process are undeniable. Confronting entrenched historical narratives through archaeology, however, has widespread methodological and epistemological implications. Unquestioned, traditional narratives can distract scholars from the motivations of ancient actors; moreover, they can limit the broad humanistic value of early China scholarship and its reception outside the field. Unchecked, however, the incautious deconstruction of such narratives can cast pointless doubt on well-founded networks of knowledge. Further, deploying unearthed material in historiography brings the narratological habits of history into contact with the customs of field archaeology, raising both practical problems of data management and theoretical issues about the production of knowledge about the past.  

The Irresistible Allure of Patina and Pedigree: A Case Study

Lothar von Falkenhausen (University of California Los Angeles)

Understanding Authenticity in China’s Cultural Heritage

Conference at the University of Oxford, 16-20 March, 2021

Organized by Christopher Foster and Anke Hein

Contact: understandingauthenticity@gmail.com

What we deem to be genuine or fake is not an objective determination, but something that we agree upon as communities. Debates about authenticity, moreover, are often intimately bound to question who owns the past and its representation. The “Understanding Authenticity in China’s Cultural Heritage” conference this March will explore these issues and more. From contesting narratives about the mother trees of Big Red Robe tea, to the restoration of Qin terracotta soldiers; from the experience of visiting a replica Eiffel Tower in Hangzhou, to US-China diplomatic tensions over "originality" and "shanzhai 山寨 (imitation)” – "Understanding Authenticity in China's Cultural Heritage” brings together specialists from a broad range of fields and backgrounds, to explore how questions about “authenticity” impact their work on objects, texts, and intangible cultural heritage in China.

Please join us online March 16^th- 20^st, 2021, for a discussion on the construction of “authenticity,” both historically and today, in relation to China’s cultural heritage. Registration is free, attendance is open to all, via submission of a short survey at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X8T7T2C

The Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association has recently announced their upcoming conference, details of which are below. We would also like to congratualte Prof. Rasmi Shoocongdej, who has recently taken up the role of preident of IPPA!

About the conference:

The IPPA Executive Committee voted to support the Thailand proposal to host the 2022 IPPA Congress:

The Congress will be held at the Le Meridien Hotel, Chiang Mai from the 6th-12th November 2022. 

Seminar Series jointly organized by Oxford University and SOAS

Everyone is welcome to attend the following sessions: 

Wednesday, 21 October 2020, 11:00 BST
Zhang Lisheng and David Francis (UCL): Re-evaluating authenticity: Creativity in contemporary craft making in China

Wednesday, 28 October 2020, 12:00 BST
David Lebovitz (HKBU Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology): Was it really so, royal uncles? Notions of authenticity in the reception, redaction and reconstruction of some avuncular remonstrations.

The University of Kansas (KU) Center for East Asian Studies and Kress Foundation Department of Art History will be hosting a symposium "Visual & Material Culture of the Silk Road" from September 11-12, 2020 via zoom. The symposium will feature a diverse lineup of speakers from KU and other institutions [Registration information below]. 

What we deem to be genuine or fake is not an objective determination, but something that we agree upon as communities. Debates about authenticity, moreover, are often intimately bound to question who owns the past and its representation. Please join us at Oxford on March 18^th- 21^st, 2021, for a discussion on the construction of “authenticity,” both historically and today, in relation to China’s cultural heritage.