Greetings Colleagues,

A reminder about the University of Texas's spring 2014 conference on Japanese food studies. Proposals from the social sciences are most welcome!

All best,
Patti Maclachlan
University of Texas at Austin

The Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin invites paper proposals for "Devouring Japan," a 2-day interdisciplinary conference on Japanese food and food cultures, to be held in Austin on February 21-22, 2014. Building on growing academic interest in food studies, the conference seeks to explore five themes that will serve as analytical frameworks for the proceedings: Production, Consumption, Circulation, Representation, and Identity.
We seek to include innovative research that explores Japanese foods from a variety of perspectives,
including: the material culture of cuisine; histories of iconic foods, beverages or key chefs/restaurateurs; ethnographic and ritual practices involving foods; government policy and the regulation of food; representations of food in art, literature and film; globalization and/or transnational hybridization of foods; and how local, regional and national identities are shaped by foods.

The conference will include keynote lectures by Ken Albala (Professor of History, University of the
Pacific) and Eric Rath (Professor of History, University of Kansas). It will culminate in a keynote roundtable discussion by Professors Albala and Rath, together with select panelists, to reflect upon the potentials for cross-disciplinary research between Food and Japan Studies.

In addition to presenting original research, invited scholars will be asked to actively participate in panel discussions and in the culminating roundtable session.
Participants will also be asked to submit a draft
(12-15 pages) of their papers by January 25, 2014 for distribution to other conference participants. A select number will be invited to revise their papers by August 31, 2014 for publication in an edited volume.

Thanks to the generous support of the Japan Foundation and the Northeast Asia Council of the Association of Asian Studies, UT will cover all ground transportation, meal and hotel expenses in Austin. As befits the themes of the conference, participants will have several opportunities to sample some of Austin's best food offerings. Invited scholars, particularly junior scholars with little access to travel support, will also have an opportunity to apply for additional travel funding in fall 2013.

Interested scholars are asked to submit a short (max. 3
pages) CV and a paper proposal of max. 400 words to Dr.
Nancy Stalker, nancy.stalker[at]austin.utexas.edu, by August 15, 2013.