Following a successful conference and exhibition focused on Italy and China at the University of Toronto in 2016, the organizers at Stony Brook University and at the University of British Columbia are now seeking proposals for a new conference centered on Italy and East Asia to take place at Stony Brook during October 11-13, 2018.
Many exchanges and parallels exist between Italy and East Asia that have captured the attention of current English-language scholarship. In addition to special issues published in Journal of Modern Italian Studies (2010) and in Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies (2014), several books appeared addressing topics as varied as China in Italian operas (Adrienne Ward 2010), Italian colonialism in China (Shirley Ann Smith 2012), modern Italian-Chinese international relations (Maurizio Marinelli and Giovanni Andornino 2013), and Chinese migration to Italy (Valentina Pedone 2013; Antonella Ceccagno 2017). Parallels in economy, fascism, and architecture have been the focus of recent scholarship on Italy and Japan (Andrea Boltho, Alessandro Vercelli, and Hiroshi Yoshikawa 2001; Hiroaki Richard Watanabe 2014; Reto Hofmann 2015; Alberto Clementi 2010). Other new volumes compare Europe and East Asia in order to gain a global view of social and cultural issues ranging from democracy (Nam-Kook Kim 2014) to book cultures (Joseph Peter McDermott and Peter Burke 2015). (Italian- and East Asian-language scholarship on exchanges and parallels between Italy and East Asian countries and regions is even more extensive.)
What is at stake in examining Italian-East Asian exchanges and parallels? How can we best examine the dialogical process in these crossings? What theoretical insights and policy recommendations can we yield from these intellectual endeavors? The main goals of our conference are to assess research interests and frames in existing scholarship on issues relating to Italy and East Asia, to encourage interdisciplinary and intercultural research and collaboration, and to strengthen and expand an existing network in the field of study (https://mobilitiesitalychina.wordpress.com). We plan to publish selected papers from the conference in an edited volume.
Scholars from both the humanities and social sciences are welcome to submit, via email, abstracts of no more than 300 words and brief biographical notes to both conference organizers before May 31, 2018:
Dr. Mario B. Mignone, SUNY Distinguished Professor in Italian Studies, Stony Brook University (USA) (mario.mignone@stonybrook.edu);
Dr. Gaoheng Zhang, Assistant Professor of Italian Studies, University of British Columbia (Canada) (gaoheng.zhang@ubc.ca).
