IAFOR > The Asian Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS) > ACAS2021 > Programme (Live-Stream)

Programme (Live-Stream)

The Asian Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS) is an interdisciplinary conference held alongside The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies (ACCS). Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either conference will allow delegates to attend sessions in the other.

This page provides details of featured presentations, the conference schedule and other programming. For more information about presenters, please visit the Speakers page.

Conference Outline

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9) (time difference converter tool)

Thursday, June 3, 2021Friday, June 4, 2021Saturday, June 5, 2021

09:00-09:25: Announcements, Recognition of IAFOR Scholarship Winners, & Welcome Address

09:25-10:00: Featured Interview Session
Doomed to Happen? The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Anoma van der Veere, The IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy, Japan

10:40-10:10: Break

10:10-10:55: Keynote Presentation
Intercultural Strategies in High-Performance Environments: Observations from the Rugby World Cup 2019
Sean O'Connell, Nanzan University, Japan

10:55-11:05: Break

10:05-12:05: Keynote Presentation
Bradley J. Hamm, Northwestern University, United States

12:05-12:15: Break

12:15-13:30: Live-Stream Session 1: Asian & South-East Asian Studies

13:30-13:40: Break

13:40-15:45: Live-Stream Session 2: Interdisciplinary: Cultural Studies

15:45-15:55: Break

15:55-17:10: Live-Stream Session 3: Interdisciplinary: Cultural Studies

17:20-18:20: Featured Interview Session
Sino-Japanese Relations: History, Martial Culture, Cross-cultural Exchanges and Interdisciplinary Research
Clementina Cardoso, CIHRC Research and Development, Hong Kong
Hing Chao, Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings, Hong Kong

10:00-11:15: Live-Stream Session 1: Comparative Studies of Asian and East Asian Studies

11:15-11:25: Break

11:25-13:05: Live-Stream Session 2: Chinese Studies

13:05-13:15: Break

13:15-14:55: Live-Stream Session 3: Education/Pedagogy

14:55-15:05: Break

15:05-16:20: Live-Stream Session 4: Literary Studies

16:20-16:30: Break

16:30-17:45: Live-Stream Session 5: Interdisciplinary: Cultural Studies

17:45-17:55: Break

17:55-19:05: Featured Interview Session
Selfless: Journeys Through Identity and Social Class
Geoffrey Beattie, Edge Hill University, United Kingdom

10:00-11:15: Live-Stream Session 1: Education

11:15-11:25: Break

11:25-12:40: Live-Stream Session 2: Interdisciplinary: Cultural Studies

12:40-12:50: Break

12:50-14:05: Live-Stream Session 3: Interdisciplinary: Cultural Studies

14:05-14:15: Break

14:15-15:30: Live-Stream Session 4: Identity, Race, and Queer Theories

15:30-15:40: Break

15:40-17:20: Live-Stream Session 5: East Asian Studies (Japanese / Korean)

17:20-17:30: Conference Closing Address
Joseph Haldane, IAFOR, Japan

The draft version of the Conference Programme will be available online on May 03, 2021. All registered delegates will be notified of this publication by email.

The above schedule may be subject to change.

Featured Presentations

  • Sino-Japanese Relations: History, Martial Culture, Cross-cultural Exchanges and Interdisciplinary Research
    Sino-Japanese Relations: History, Martial Culture, Cross-cultural Exchanges and Interdisciplinary Research
    Featured Interview: Clementina Cardoso & Hing Chao
  • Doomed to Happen? The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
    Doomed to Happen? The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
    Featured Interview: Anoma van der Veere
  • The Case of Jimmy Lai & The Rapid Loss of Freedom in Hong Kong
    The Case of Jimmy Lai & The Rapid Loss of Freedom in Hong Kong
    Keynote Presentation: Bradley J. Hamm
  • Intercultural Strategies in High-Performance Environments: Observations from the Rugby World Cup 2019
    Intercultural Strategies in High-Performance Environments: Observations from the Rugby World Cup 2019
    Keynote Presentation: Sean O’Connell
  • Selfless: Journeys through Identity and Social Class
    Selfless: Journeys through Identity and Social Class
    Featured Interview: Geoffrey Beattie

Final Programme

The online version of the Conference Programme is now available to view below via the Issuu viewing platform. Alternatively, download a PDF version. The Conference Programme can also be viewed on the Issuu website (requires a web browser). An Issuu app is available for Android users.

Click to download as a PDF

The Conference Programme contains access information, session information and a detailed day-to-day presentation schedule.

Important Information Emails

All registered attendees will receive an Important Information email and updates in the run-up to the conference. Please check your email inbox for something from "iafor.org". If you can not find these emails in your normal inbox, it is worth checking in your spam or junk mail folders as many programs filter out emails this way. If these did end up in one of these folders, please add the address to your acceptable senders' folder by whatever method your email program can do this.

Pre-Recorded Virtual Presentations

A number of presenters have submitted pre-recorded virtual video presentations. We encourage you to watch these presentations and provide feedback through the video comments. A full list of these is on the conference website.

Virtual Video Presentations

Previous Programming

View details of programming for past ACAS conferences via the links below.

ACAS2020ACAS2019ACAS2018
ACAS2017ACAS2016ACAS2015
ACAS2014ACAS2013ACAS2012
ACAS2011
Sino-Japanese Relations: History, Martial Culture, Cross-cultural Exchanges and Interdisciplinary Research
Featured Interview: Clementina Cardoso & Hing Chao

Cultural practices and cultural knowledge are often neglected or allocated a minority role in international and intra-national relations.

However, cultural exchange is a fundamental factor in human society, informing artistic and cultural developments, and has been at the root of economic and political relations and a　route to commercial, political, technological and educational relations since the origin of the world economies and societies. Both material and intangible culture have been embedded in relations between countries and between peoples when coming together to exchange goods or technology, knowledge or material artifacts, raw materials or foods. This has been the　case within the Pacific as well as across the seas and continents.

Sometimes such practices and knowledge are lost or kept by individuals or by small　communities struggling to keep them alive and to pass them on to the next generations, as　their cultural survival is threatened by rapid changes in their inhabited landscape and ways　of life.

Historically, Sino-Japan relations have been defined by cultural exchanges as the peoples of Japan and China came together to trade, to learn from each other, to adopt each other’s　technologies and practices, ways of doing things and ways of thinking. Such has been the　case with martial culture in the two countries, which has influenced one another since the　beginning of diplomatic and trade relations, over a timespan of nearly two thousand years.

Hing Chao, a business leader and a scholar dedicated to working collaboratively across　sectors and to the exchange and dissemination of knowledge, practice and the material　culture of nomadic groups and martial arts will discuss the place of martial culture in the　history of Sino-Japan relations and will share the work and activities that are at the root of　demonstrating the fundamental importance of cross-cultural work and of working across　disciplines in collaboration across borders.

Read presenter's biography
Doomed to Happen? The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Featured Interview: Anoma van der Veere

The Olympic Games held in Tokyo in 1964 heralded the arrival of Japan on the world stage in the midst of rebuilding and regeneration following the Second World War. From global pariah, it was symbolically embraced into the family of nations. A few generations later the Olympic and Paralympic Games were once again awarded to Japan and were set to take place in 2020. The handover from Rio de Janeiro to Tokyo during the 2016 Games by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as he was dressed as Super Mario, gave us a glimpse of the effort that Japan would put into organizing the Tokyo 2020 Games. Soon after, the Olympic clock outside Tokyo Station began counting down the days to the opening ceremony. However, Tokyo 2020 was not to be, at least not in 2020, and due to the fallout from the global pandemic and chronic mismanagement by the central government, the games were postponed and are now planned to be held in the face of widespread apathy and opposition. As we count down to Tokyo 2020, a year late, and without any foreign spectators, we ask ourselves: what is the point?

In this conversation, Anoma van der Veere, a researcher on Japan's Olympics and Paralympics and health policy will discuss the history of the Games in the country and of these games in particular, and his perspective on why the prospect of holding the Olympics has sometimes seemed like the most pressing item on the Japanese government's agenda.

Read presenter's biography
The Case of Jimmy Lai & The Rapid Loss of Freedom in Hong Kong
Keynote Presentation: Bradley J. Hamm

The case of imprisonment for billionaire and media leader Jimmy Lai reflects the extraordinary speed over the past two years in the loss of freedoms in Hong Kong. The July 1 national security law, along with other laws and restrictions, has changed Hong Kong from an open society to authoritarian rule in just months.

Hong Kong’s situation also will have significant impact on Asia, though we are still in the early stages of that effect.

Lai is a central figure in the fight to keep basic freedoms of speech, press and assembly. His Next Digital media company that includes Apple Daily newspaper is the leading opposition to the legal changes, including the destruction of the Sino-British Joint Declaration treaty that guaranteed autonomy, rights and freedoms in Hong Kong through 2047.

This talk will discuss the case of Jimmy Lai, the loss of Hong Kong freedoms, and potential impact for other countries in Asia.

Read presenter's biography
Intercultural Strategies in High-Performance Environments: Observations from the Rugby World Cup 2019
Keynote Presentation: Sean O’Connell

Heralded as the most commercially successful and socially engaged world cup to date, the Rugby World Cup 2019 was hosted across 12 cities in Japan from September to November in 2019. A total of twenty national teams participated in the tournament over a 44-day period and delivered the most competitive and best attended tournament in the world cup’s history. In order to succeed in the tournament, naturally each of the competing teams were immersed in a high-performance cultural environment. In this presentation, I will specifically discuss the intercultural strategies (intercultural sensitivity, adaptation and efficacy) witnessed and investigated during the world cup using a qualitative survey and non-participant observation approach in my role as a researcher and as a Team Liaison Officer for one of the competing national teams. Finally, I will address the research findings in terms of future implications for high-performance culture building contexts.

Read presenter biographies
Selfless: Journeys through Identity and Social Class
Featured Interview: Geoffrey Beattie

Geoff Beattie has come a long way from his humble beginnings in Belfast, as this stellar student became one of the world’s foremost experts on non-verbal communication following his studies at Birmingham and Cambridge Universities. Throughout his career, he has balanced being both an academic of international renown with parallel explorations into reportage, social commentary and journalism, and even found the time to write works of nonfiction. He is perhaps most well known from his burgeoning career as a populariser and interpreter of psychology on numerous television programmes, including his most high profile position: being the resident psychologist on the UK version of the worldwide sensation, Big Brother.

In this interview, Professor Beattie speaks to IAFOR Chairman and CEO, Joseph Haldane about his life and work, and his recently published autobiography, Selfless, and the intellectual, physical and moral journeys Beattie has undertaken throughout his life.

Read presenter's biography
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