Call for Papers

Facing Methodological Challenges in Asian Studies Graduate Student Workshop

University of Zurich - November 19, 2020


Regional social science studies with a focus on Asia are no longer at the margin of universities' degree programs. China's economic rise and Japan's soft power appeal are just two examples for the growing public and academic interest in Asia and have led to the creation of a myriad of new study programs and research institutes around the world. Given that Asian studies are interdisciplinary in nature, research and writing require a fine balance of knowledge on the country or area in focus and sound training in social science methods. Furthermore, methodologies and theoretical concepts developed in non-Asian contexts confront students with the difficulty to choose the right one among a range of possible research designs and methods and to be sensitive to a potential Eurocentric bias at the same time.

This workshop targets doctoral students and offers a platform for discussing research methodologies and writing for social science projects on all areas in Asia. The workshop will be kicked off by an expert presentation on methodological challenges and techniques in Asian studies and stimulate discussion. Doctoral students then have the opportunity to present a chapter/research paper related to their dissertation and receive feedback by an expert of their area of study. We invite submissions from students who wish to discuss or problematize methodological issues of their dissertation projects such as

- How to select and devise unconventional research designs, i.e. comparative studies, multi-sited ethnographies and online ethnography, mixed methods designs

- How to deal with foreign-language resources, communication issues and translation? How to reflect on potentially arising misinterpretation or bias in the analysis, what are the implications for interpretation?

- How to collect and interpret data, especially on sensitive issues, as an outsider to the sample group (non-native speaker, foreigner, gender, age, other personal bias)

- How do we research social phenomena in and of Asia in times of the globalization of risks (e.g. pandemics) that obstruct the execution of research designs or deny fieldwork on site?

- How do we decide for an approach to data analysis? When might it be useful to combine methods of analysis or even change a method within the running research project?



How to apply

The workshop will be held on 19 November 2020 in adjunction to the annual conference of the German Association for Social Science Research on Japan (VSJF) at the Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies (IAOS) at the University of Zurich. We welcome submissions from across social science studies on Asia, including but not limited to Japanese studies, Chinese studies, Islamic studies and Indian studies. Being aware of students' varying stages in the doctoral program and in writing, submissions of incomplete chapters or papers are allowed if accompanied by an explanatory note (max. 1 page) that explains the methodological difficulties the authors face and which they wish to discuss during the workshop.


Deadline abstracts: 13 July 2020 (300-500 words)

Deadline full papers: 1 October 2020 (6,000-8,000 words)


Please submit an abstract summarizing argument, methods and empirical basis of the chapter/paper. Please include a short bio (max. 200 words) outlining your affiliation, field of study, year in the doctoral program, and main research methods. Abstracts, as well as full papers and presentations in case of acceptance, can be given in English or German. The workshop language will be decided upon acceptance of the papers, but German speaking applicants should be prepared to follow the program in either language as to allow for a greater diversity among applicants. The selection results will be announced by late July.


Costs for transportation and accommodation are born by the presenters.


Please send your application as MS Word attachment to Nora Gilgen (nora.gilgen@aoi.uzh.ch).


For further questions, feel free to contact the conveners:

Dr. Helena Hof (helena.hof@aoi.uzh.ch)
Dr. Fynn Holm (fynn.holm@uzh.ch)
Nora Gilgen (nora.gilgen@aoi.uzh.ch)