Asian Forum at Western Michigan University
The purpose of the Asian Forum at WMU is to bring together academicians, artists, scholars and international education professionals from Asia and the West. The goal is to foster dialogue and explore various aspects and issues related to Asia and the global community through a multidisciplinary, multifaceted conference.
This year's theme is "East Asian Perspectives on Aging and the Seasons of Life." Please join us on May 2nd and 3rd 2026, in 1710 Sangren Hall, WMU main campus.
2026 Asian Forum Program
East Asian Perspectives on Aging and the Seasons of Life
May 2, Saturday
9:30-10:15 a.m. Invited Speech: Care Economy in China: Situations, Challenges, and Responses
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Panel I: Aging and Governance: Policy, Community, and Care
12:30-1:30 p.m. Lunch Break
1:30-3:30 p.m. Panel II: Aging and Meaning: Cultural and Religious Narratives
3:45-5 p.m. Panel III: Aging and Representation: From Film to Digital Media
May 3, Sunday
9-10:30 a.m. Invited Panel: Aging in Contemporary East Asia
10:45a.m.-12:15 p.m. Roundtable: Mediating Plurality of Aging
Watch opening remarks from the 2017 Asian Forum by Dr. Jeffrey Angles, professor of Japanese and winner of the 2017 Yomiuiri Prize for Literature in Poetry.
Past Asian Forums
The 9th Asian Forum “Self-Cultivation in East Asian Martial Arts” was held on July 26-27, 2024.
The 8th Asian Forum “Death and Dying in East Asia” was held on May 5-7, 2023.
Keynote speaker:
Dr. Karen Thornber
Harry Tuchman Levin Professor in Literature and Professor of East Asian Languages and Civilizations
Harvard University
Panels:
- Memorializing Children
- Suicide
- Mourning and Ritual
- Space and Materiality
Invited Speech:
Bioethics of life and death East and West--what can we learn from each other?
Invited Panel:
Death and Dying in Contemporary East Asia
Keynote speaker:
Dr. Leta Hong Fincher
Author and Journalist
Winner of Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi awardPanels:
Panels:
- Economics and Resource Management
- Literature and Language
- Fulbright Faculty Scholar Experiences in Asia
- History and Religion
- Japan in the Classroom and the World: Literature, Translation, Morality, and Ethics
- Individual Presentations
Workshops:
- Simple Japanese Woodblock Printing Techniques
Special Presentation:
Panels:
- Voice of the Arts: Chinese Poetry, Song, and Beijing Opera in America
- Different Elements of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language
- Individual Presentations
Workshops:
- Food Consumption Changes Due to COVID-19: Lessons from China
Panels:
- Global Education
- Global Politics
- Literature and History
- Policy and Society
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
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
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
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