뉴스레터

AAS Annual Conference

  The Association for Asian Studies(AAS) is the largest Asian studies research association in the world established in 1941, and the AAS Secretariat is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, US. The AAS holds annual conferences for three to four days in the US and the scale of these conferences is massive. Over 50% of panels among the applicants are eliminated in the review process and there are hundreds of panels that pass the review with more than 3,000 researchers. More than 3,000 researchers around the world gather in one place through the AAS Annual Conference for presentations to share their latest research outcomes and opportunities to directly interact with researchers from overseas academic circles. The AAS Annual Conference is the best academic conference that contributes to sharing and spreading Asian studies, and networking.

Four regional councils of the AAS

  In 1970, the AAS formed four regional councils: China and Inner Asia(CIAC), Northeast Asia Council (NEAC), South Asia Council(SAC), and Southeast Asia Council(SEAC), to represent the interests of each region of vast Asia and ensure a proportionate voice in the board of directors. In 2022, China and Inner Asia(CIAC) was renamed to East & Inner Asia Council(EIAC). The renaming removed the name of the only country, China, in the names of the Asia regional councils. The rather awkward name of “East & Inner Asia Council” is a result of this process and the four geographic areas are reflected in the operation and academic conferences of the AAS. The panels at the annual conference are organized into the four geographic areas.

Trends in Korean studies research

  The 2023 AAS Annual Conference was held from Mar. 16 to 19 in Boston, Massachusetts, US. Out of the 414 panels that participated in the conference, 24 panels were solely on Korean studies and 39 panels were on East Asia in which Korean studies were mentioned. Korean studies was presented in 63 panels.

Examining the 63 panels by period, 51 panels were research on the modern and contemporary period and 13 panels were research on the pre-modern period. There were only three presentations on the pre-modern period out of the 24 Korean studies panels. This indicated that there are many Korean studies researchers studying the pre-modern period but their participation in the AAS is low and Korean studies researchers overseas are more interested in modern and contemporary Korean history.

  The themes regarding Korean studies handled international relations, war, politics, and religions. More sessions handled public hygiene, the environment, and gender issues, while culture became a huge part of discussions. In the panels, Asian cultural production was the focus of the major topics including informing the world of East Asian stories, and boundaries of global Asia, and media censorship. Modern Korean culture was the frequent basis for the issues including the globalization of Korean foods, Korean drama and fandom culture, and K-pop. Interest in Hallyu is a good news but I hope this will be taken as an opportunity to further expand the scopes and themes of Korean studies or research on Korean culture overseas.

Panel presentations by NAHF participants

  I participated in the “Peripheral Peoples of the Korean Peninsula” panel with Wee Kaya, a researcher at the NAHF. We examined the life and identity of the “peripheral people” with multicultural and multinational backgrounds of the Korean Peninsula in chronological order from ancient times to the late Joseon period. The term “peripheral people” refers to those who have transcended nationalism involving nation and ethnicity and have established multinational relations and boundaries. The existence of the peripheral people was often focused on people of maritime countries such as Japanese raiders within the geographical area of East Asia and the peripheral people who briefly appear in Korean history are relatively paid little attention. The absence of peripheral people , who led numerous changes in the peripheral area away from the center, was often interpreted negatively as the “identify” and “rigidity” of Korean history. However, different levels of peripheral people extend even within the category of Korean history.

Our panel was prepared for an opportunity to expand the interpretation of Korean history and aimed to share the dynamic history subjects in the Korean Peninsula that have driven changes in various levels of Korean history.

Concluding the report on the AAS Annual Conference

The participation of researchers in Chinese studies or Japanese studies in AAS is higher than in Korean studies. As a conclusion for the report on the AAS Annual Conference, I hope there is more active promotion for the internationalization of Korean studies.