*Call for proposals*

/1^st Swiss Asia Society Japan Workshop "Borders, Thresholds, Barriers", June 6-7, 2022, University of Geneva/

Organization: Claire-Akiko Brisset (U. Geneva), David Chiavacci (U. Zurich), Raji Steineck (U. Zurich)

The Swiss Asia Society (SAG) invites proposals for its first Japan workshop on the theme "Borders, Thresholds, Barriers." The call is addressed to researchers from all fields of Japanese studies, especially at the earlier stages of the academic career from PhD to assistant professorship.

Borders, thresholds, barriers have multiple meanings: social, literary, political, philosophical, economic, religious. Movements come to a halt at them or start from them, are slowed down, diverted, or break through; developments peter out or enter a new phase, some involuntarily, others consciously accompanied and brought into a certain form. Boundaries can be found, but more often they are set. Thresholds and barriers in the literal sense are such designs of boundaries, they should be passable, but also restrict movement, enable their monitoring and regulation. Borders, thresholds, and barriers are also locations and occasions for pausing, reflecting, and expressing what is at stake in the movement or its prevention, or even the space that is included or excluded and its possibilities.

Borders, thresholds, and barriers are the subject of discussion in fields from migration and economic policy to poetry, from anthropology to art history, and gained new salience recently as matters of public health.

Our workshop, itself an attempt to overcome language barriers as well as the boundaries of different research fields and methods, would like to explore the differences as well as their interrelationships and thereby create new connections. We plan papers of 30 minutes and 15 minutes of discussion. The conference is multilingual. The language of the presentation can be English, French, German, Italian or Japanese. A presentation in a second of the mentioned languages should be provided. Papers may serve as the basis for an article in the journal /Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques/:

https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/asia/html <https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/asia/html>

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_/Deadline for proposals: March 15, 2022/_

Proposals should consist of a title, a summary (250 words), and a brief information concerning the presenter.

Please send proposals to:Claire-Akiko Brisset: claire-akiko.brisset@unige.chDavid Chiavacci: david.chiavacci@aoi.uzh.chRaji Steineck: raji.steineck@aoi.uzh.ch