At a time when dialogue within East Asia is more important than ever before, and on a theme that is of relevance to all, we would like to invite you to a conference that will be going on at Sophia University, hosted by the Graduate School of Global Studies.

The East Asian Sociologists Network is a growing group of scholars from South Korea, Japan and China, and the conferences are a rare opportunity to collectively address issues of mutual importance.

The full schedule of panels should be up next week, but please mark your calendars for November 22-23rd, 2012. For further information, see the conference website: http://easnjapan.com

Sophia University International Conference ===========================================
East Asia at a Crossroads:
Toward the Construction of a New East Asia ==================================
Graduate School of Global Studies, Sophia University East Asian Sociologists Network _______________________________________________________
_

Theme:

Owing to modern technological advancement, East Asian countries have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity in recent years; yet this prosperity has also brought us a new set of problems. Among the most recent examples are nuclear power plant explosions that occurred in March 2011, Japan. This disaster has caused immense social dislocations and disruptions among Japanese people. Such incidents are not confined only in Japan. A high-speed train collision in July, 2010, in China and the collapse of a huge department-store complex in June, 1995, in South Korea have sent many people in deep sorrow.
These incidents are
not mere accidents; they are man-made disasters and thus remain central social problems that deserve serious attention.

Social advancement and social problems stay side by side. While social advancement, with its inherent logic, is to be scrutinized academically, social problems and their causes and consequences should also be studied vigorously. Specifically, the logic and consequences of social change in East Asian countries have not been fully examined in our academic world.

In this conference, scholars, researchers and students gather from diverse research fields to discuss issues and problems of today and explore possible future route for the construction of a new East Asia.

Session titles:
・Confronting the Difficulties: East Asia as a Unit
・Life World in East Asia
・East Asia as a Continent of Migration
・New Forms of Politics: East Asia and Beyond
・Minds and Cultures of East Asia
・On 3.11 Disaster
・East Asian Civil Society (1): Workers & Peasants
・East Asian Civil Society (2): Environmental NGOs
・Modernity, Development, and Social Transformation Further Information: http://easnjapan.com (conference
website)

Dates , Location, Time, etc.：
・November 22-23, 2012 (Thursday& Friday) (Registration starts at 15:00pm, Nov. 21)
・Sophia University, Yotsuya Campus, Bldg.2, 5F, Room
506&510
・No prior registrations necessary
(Sophians are free of charge)
・Symposium will be conducted in English
(No Japanese translation provided)

Contact:
Graduate School of Global Studies, Sophia University
7-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo, 102-8554, Japan
+81-(0)3-3238-4075 (Phone)
+81-(0)3-3238-3240 (Fax)
Email: easnjapan@gmail.com
Conference special website: http://easnjapan.com

Sponsors：
・Sophia University
・The Kajima Foundation
・Egusa Foundation for International Cooperation in the Social Sciences

The East Asian Sociologists Network is an academic network of sociologists and scholars in related fields residing in East Asian countries. It started ten years ago, when representatives from South Korea, Japan, and China gathered and held an academic conference to
discuss various issues on East Asia. Since then the
Network has
served as an indispensable platform where scholars come together to freely discuss current concerns and problems related to East Asia.

The Network conference is held annually, with China, Japan, South Korea taking turns as its host country.

--
David H. Slater, Ph.D.
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Sophia University, Tokyo