Dear all,

We hope you are all well and staying safe. We are writing to inform you that the call for applications is open for a graduate student summer school (in-person)

Innovative Research Designs and Methods in Asian Migration Research: Embarking on Fieldwork in the 2020s
18-19th July 2022 at Goethe University Frankfurt/

The summer school targets participation of early PhD students and late MA students from different social science disciplines, and we welcome applicants who examine methodological issues related to migration, mobility, and ethnic diversity in Asia. The deadline for abstract (250-300 words) and short-bio (100-150 words) is _*15 April 2022*__**_(via email to _quamafa@gmail.com_ <mailto:quamafa@gmail.com>). The abstract needs to mention your (potential) research design or preliminary findings of your research. Once your abstract is accepted, we ask you to submit a short paper (1500-3000 words) discussing your methodological concerns or fieldwork challenges. Costs for transportation and accommodation during the workshop are fully covered by the organizer of the workshop.

*For further information on the summer school please see below or check**our website* -_https://quamafa.de/upcoming-event/ _
For any further queries please write to us at: _quamafa@gmail.com_ <mailto:quamafa@gmail.com>

*The summer school is funded by the****German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). This event is part of the BMBF-funded project "Qualification and Skill in the Migration Process of Foreign Workers in Asia (**QuaMaFA**)", organized at the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO) at Goethe University Frankfurt.*

Looking forward to your applications!

Best regards,
Megha Wadhwa

/*Conven*//*o*//*rs*/
Dr. Ruth Achenback (Goethe University Frankfurt)
Dr. Joohyun Justine Park (Goethe University Frankfurt)
Dr. Helena Hof (Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity)
Dr. Aimi Muranaka (University of Duisburg-Essen)
Dr. Megha Wadhwa(Free University of Berlin)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


*Call for Applications*


*Innovative Research Designs and Methods in Asian Migration Research *

-*Embarking on Fieldwork in the 2020s*


Graduate Student Summer School

Goethe University Frankfurt (18-19^th July 2022)

Research designs, fieldwork techniques, and analytical tools for social science research have diversified in recent years. The pandemic was just one, albeit a crucial, turning point in considerations over research designs and methodologies. The spread of social media and digitalization however is a more long-term process that has urged researchers to reassess traditional research designs and add novel methodologies to their portfolio. Young scholars new to the research world and conducting a larger research project in the early 2020s face starkly different challenges and opportunities to those that senior researchers confronted. For example, the usability and reliability of new (digital) methods in an increasingly competitive academic world, where time in the field, availability of financial resources and even geographical mobility itself can no longer be taken for granted on the journey towards the PhD degree.

Research in migration, mobility and ethnic diversity in Asia adds further complexity to the picture of designing a research project and selecting suitable methods: We study those who are vulnerable, sometimes illegal, those who are discriminated/marginalized and have no voice in their current place of residence but also those who work-around-the-clock, who are hypermobile or whose visibility in their place of residence demands certain ethical and methodological considerations.

This workshop aims to bring together these challenges and offers a platform to jointly discuss new opportunities and constraints that arise in a rapidly digitalizing, pandemic struck world. We invite contributions from early PhD students, and late MA students who can demonstrate their plan of pursuing a PhD, who examine methodological issues related to migration, mobility and ethnic diversity in Asia. Questions and topics addressed can include but are not limited to:

-Considerations of how to deal with (repeatedly) interrupted field work and thus fragmentary/insufficient data

-How to plan and conduct an on/off-research project within a limited budget and other issues, like time management and family responsibility

-Use of mixed-methods research designs and multi-sited research in migration/mobility and ethnic diversity studies

-Use of digital tools for participant recruitment, data collection, tracking spatial movements, or as an opportunity to develop novel research questions

-Discussion on ethical and methodological issues in fieldwork (in Asia)

The workshop would include**student presentations and roundtable discussions. In addition, the organizers of this workshop (interdisciplinary migration scholars and trained in various methods themselves), will share hands-on research practices, discuss the pros and cons of traditional (publishing in journals) and creative (blogs, YouTube videos, etc.) ways to disseminate research outcomes and stimulate innovative ideas for building a young scholar's career.

*Application*

The workshop will be conducted on 18-19 July 2022 at Goethe University Frankfurt. We welcome submissions from across migration, mobility and ethnic diversity research on Asia which are methodologically oriented in the social sciences. Please submit your short bio (100-150 words) and abstract (250-300 words), which discusses your (potential) research design or preliminary findings of your research. Once your abstract is accepted, please submit a short paper (1500-3000 words) describing your methodological concerns or fieldwork challenges.


*Deadline abstracts and short bios: 15 April 2022*

*Notification of acceptance: 30 April 2022*

*Deadline for papers: 15 June 2022*


*Please send your application to the following e-mail address: quamafa@gmail.com*

This workshop will be in-presence style, but depending on the situations of travel restrictions, it may be switched to online. Costs for transportation and accommodation during the workshop are fully covered by the organizer of the workshop. Please enclose a calculation of your estimated costs with your application.

*For further questions, feel free to contact the conveners via the following email: quamafa@gmail.com*


*Conveners*

Dr. Ruth Achenbach (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Dr. Joohyun Justine Park (Goethe University Frankfurt)

Dr. Helena Hof (Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity)

Dr. Aimi Muranaka (University of Duisburg-Essen)

Dr. Megha Wadhwa (Free University of Berlin)

This summer school is part of the project 'Qualification and Skill in the Migration Process of Foreign Workers in Asia' funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), organized at the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO), Goethe University Frankfurt.

Website: https://quamafa.de <https://quamafa.de/>

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/QuaMaFA2021/ <https://www.facebook.com/QuaMaFA2021/>

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QuaMaFa1 <https://twitter.com/QuaMaFa1>

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Megha Wadhwa, Ph.D.
Research Associate
Institute of East Asian Studies
Japanese Studies
Freie Universität Berlin
Hittorfstr. 18
14195 Berlin
Germany

Visiting Fellow
Institute of Comparative Culture
Sophia University Tokyo

Current Project - https://quamafa.de/blog/our-team/megha-wadhwa/ <https://quamafa.de/blog/our-team/megha-wadhwa/>

Indian Migrants in Tokyo: A Study of Socio-Cultural, Religious, and Working Worlds <https://www.routledge.com/Indian-Migrants-in-Tokyo-A-Study-of-Socio-Cultural-Religious-and-Working/Wadhwa/p/book/9780367896836> (Routledge 2021)

In the Age of COVID-19 - Indian restaurants and the Indian cooks in Japan <https://apjjf.org/-Megha-Wadhwa/5479/article.pdf> (The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus 2020)

Collection of articles for The Japan Times <https://www.japantimes.co.jp/author/megha-wadhwa/>