Symposium: Doing Cultural Research in Asia Media, Power, Communities

In an age of ubiquitous digital media and the platformization of everyday life, what new forms of identity, community and politics are emerging in diverse Asian and Asian diasporic contexts? How are power relations around class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, religion and other identity axes being reproduced or reconfigured under evolving economic, political and social conditions across our region?

This in-person symposium will bring together PhD and early career scholars from across the humanities and social sciences to share their research and reflect collectively on emerging issues around doing cultural research in Asian contexts today. Papers may address any aspect of contemporary or historical Asia* related media cultures, communities of cultural practice, and social power relations. Presentations will be organized into thematic panels, with possible foci including:

• Cultural politics in Asia: Activism, creativity and resistance
• Asian mobilities: Mobile media, mobile people
• Transforming identities: Genders and sexualities in Asia
• Digital Asia: Researching networked worlds
• Asian celebrity and fandom: Stars, influencers and fans
• Asian cinema, television and pop music
• Youth cultures in Asia
• Soft power and cultural diplomacy in Asia
• Media, power and identities in Asian diaspora communities

Please note that symposium attendance will be limited to presenter-participants.

A Keynote address open to the public will be made by Professor Crystal Abidin (Curtin University).