Conferences and Public Events

From July 1 to 4, 2024, Curtin’s Korea Research and Engagement Centre (KRC), in collaboration with Faculty of Humanities, Global Curtin and the School of Media, Creative Arts, and Social Inquiry (MCASI), hosted the 25th Biennial Asian Studies Association of Australia Conference (ASAA) under the theme of “Asia Futures: Studies of, in, and with Asia.”

As the largest gathering of scholars and experts working on Asia in the Southern Hemisphere, this year’s ASAA featured a total of 234 exciting and original academic presentations over four days, as well as a postgraduate training day. Presentations covered a range of disciplines, as well as area studies more generally.

The conference Plenary featured Dr Se-woong Koo of Korea Exposé, who spoke on “Uses and Abuses of Imagined 'Asia': Neo-Orientalist Representations and Role of Higher Education”. The Plenary was opened by Faculty of Humanities Pro Vice Chancellor Professor Richard Blythe with an acknowledgment of Country, and the session was chaired by Faculty of Humanities Dean Global Futures, Professor Farida Fozdar, and reflected the Humanities Future’s platform’s goal to respond to global challenges and opportunities with real-world research. The conference also featured seven other regional plenary speakers, covering topics of interest in the context of China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, as well as South and Southeast Asia more broadly.

The welcome reception included distinguished guests, Consul-General Mr Naito (Consulate of Japan in Perth), Vice-Consul Mr Noel Hara, Consul-General Mrs Listiana Operananta (Consulate of the Republic of Indonesia), Honorary Consul of the Republic of Korea Mrs Fay Duda, Consul Mr Hongtao Chao and Consul Mr Huwei Wang (Consulate of the People’s Republic of China). The event also featured two renowned traditional music performers from Korea: Master Singer Jinsook Choi, a Presidential Prize-winning pansori artist registered to perform UNESCO national tangible heritage pansori songs, and Dr Jocelyn Clark. Additionally, the prize-winning WA Youth Guzheng Ensemble delivered a captivating performance. During the conference dinner, delegates were treated to a traditional Japanese tsukushi-mai dance performance by master dancer Namitoshi Nishiyamamura (Nao Kamei) from Kyushu in Japan.

The Korean Studies Association of Australasia Keynote was delivered by Assoc/Prof Stephen Epstein on the topic of "'Korea', Korean Studies and Global Futures", delivering the audience of Korean Studies scholars a challenge to rethink where the future of Korean studies might look like in the next 30 years.

The conference organisers would like to acknowledge the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS), Asian Studies Association of Australasia and Perth Business Events (BEP) for their support of the conference. The full conference program, and more information, can be found on the ASAA 2024 website: www.asaa2024.org.

The conference would not have been made possible without a dedicated group of volunteers who can be seen on the left in their Curtin jumpers!