Asian Forum at WMU
The purpose of the Asian forum at WMU is to bring together academicians, artists, scholars and international education professionals from Asia and the West to dialogue and explore various aspects and issues related to Asia and the global community through a multidisciplinary and multifaceted conference.
We are inviting paper and panel proposals encompassing all aspects on Asia’s past, present and future, including: arts, literature, history, culture, humanities, business, economics, politics, religion, educational exchange and cooperation and language pedagogy. Through this conference we also seek to enhance and expand research and educational ties between Western Michigan University (WMU) and existing and prospective partner institutions in Asia and the Midwestern area.
2021 Asian Forum
The 7th annual Asian Forum will be conducted virtually on October 8, 2021.
Keynote speaker:
Dr. Leta Hong Fincher
Author and Journalist
Winner of Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award
Journalist who has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, CNN and other major media
Please check the 2021 Asian Forum Program below for more details. You are welcome to join us for any part you are interested in by simply clicking on the “Join meeting” link from the program below.
The Asian Forum is sponsored by the Diether H. Haenicke Institute for Global Education, Soga Japan Center and the Timothy Light Center for Chinese Studies.
For more information, contact the conference facilitator:
Dr. Ying Zeng
Director of Asian Initiatives
@email+1 (269) 387- 3840
Past Asian Forums
2020 Asian Forum
Panel I: Voice of the Arts: Chinese Poetry, Song, and Beijing Opera in America
Workshop: Food Consumption Changes Due to COVID-19: Lessons from China
Individual Presentations:
- The Yan’an Way or the Shrew's Way: Gender and Rural Communist Feminism
- The Language of Protest: A Small Study of the Signage Used in the 2019-2020 Hong Kong Protests
Panel II: Different Elements of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
Print 2020 Asian Forum Program
2019 Asian Forum
Panels:
- Global Education
- Global Politics
- Literature and History
- Policy and Society
Print 2019 Asian Forum Program
2018 Asian Forum
Keynote speakers:
Dr. Stephen MacKinnon
Emeritus Professor
Director of Center for Asian Studies
Arizona State University
Dr. Alisa Freedman
Professor & Editor-in-Chief of U.S. Japan Women's Journal
University of Oregon
Panels:
- Communicating Colonial Discourse in Asia
- Development of Physical Education and Sports in Modern China
- Economy, Education and Finance
- History and Society
- Language and Arts
- The Demonic and Otherworldly in Medieval Japan
Print 2018 Asian Forum Program
2017 Asian Forum
Keynote speaker:
Dr. Jeffrey Angles
Professor of Japanese
Western Michigan University
Panels:
- Art, Culture and Society
- Current Scholarship on South Asia Across Languages, Perspectives and Time
- Individual Presentations
Print 2017 Asian Forum Program
2016 Asian Forum
Keynote speaker:
Dr. Graeme Wilkinson
Vice-chancellor & Professor
Sunway University, Malaysia
Panels:
- Creating and Advancing Partnerships in Japan
- Language and Education in Modern China
- Culture and Society in Medieval China
- Collaborative Researchers on Land, Water and Environment
- Research on Sports Development Issues
- Challenges in Economic Transformation
Print 2016 Asian Forum Program
2015 East Asian Forum
Keynote speaker:
Dr. Timothy Light
Professor Emeritus & Former Provost
Western Michigan University
Panels:
- Environment and Tourism in China
- Language and Literature
- History, Literature and Religion of Japan
- Asia and Globalization
- Business and Finance