CALL FOR PAPERS

International Conference on THE STATE OF SCHOLARSHIP ON THE CHINESE IN THE PHILIPPINES: PROBLEMS, PERSPECTIVES, AND POSSIBILITIES

January 10-11, 2020

Department of International Studies, Miriam College

Quezon City, Philippines

Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (KAISA) and Philippine Association of Chinese Studies (PACS) invite you to participate in the International Conference entitled “The State of Scholarship on the Chinese in the Philippines: Problems, Perspectives, and Possibilities” from January 10 to 11, 2020 at the Miriam College, Philippines. The conference is supported by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Department of International Studies of Miriam College.

Over the years, the field “Chinese in the Philippines” has seen the production of scholarly works ranging from those in literary arts and the humanities, economics, history, anthropology, and education. During the last three years, the country has also experienced an increasing anti-Chinese sentiment due to the growing presence of Chinese workers and businesses in the Philippines from mainland China; the continuing dispute between China and the Philippines over the islands in the West Philippine Sea; and President Rodrigo Duterte’s China pivot policy. Such xenophobia is directed at anyone Chinese, including Filipinos of Chinese ancestry. 

In the light of these developments, the international conference being convened this January 2020 aims to (1) assess the current political, economic, and cultural situation in the Philippines and its impact on the Chinese-Filipino community; (2) continue to showcase new and innovative scholarly works on the Chinese in the Philippines; and (3) discuss and assess the direction of the field. This conference is one of its kind in the field of Chinese diaspora/Chinese overseas as it focuses mainly on the Philippines, in light of the fact that this field—including the Sinophone studies—continues to be conceptualized with Chinese in the U.S., and also Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia, as the dominant case studies.

The questions the conference seeks to answer include: What are the latest studies on the Chinese in the Philippines? What are the questions, approaches, and paradigmatic frameworks currently used by scholars? How do these studies shape and reshape the field “Chinese in the Philippines”? How does the field “Chinese in the Philippines” differ from or overlap with “China” studies or “Chinese Studies” overseas? How will the current political climate and the problematic Philippines-China relations affect the Chinese in the Philippines?  What is the future direction of the field?

Topics for this conference include, but are not limited to:

• History and Heritage

• Economics and Business 

• Literature, Media, and the Arts

• Religion and Spirituality

• Performance Studies

• Language, Education, and Translation Studies

• Philippines-China Relations

• Diasporic, (Trans)National, and Regional Society and Culture

• The Sciences and the Environment

• Nationalism and Identity

The organizing committee welcomes paper proposals (individual or panel) related to any aspect(s) of the multidisciplinary, inter-cultural, and cross-regional study of the Chinese in the Philippines. Please email a 200-word abstract and CV to tsinoy2020@gmail.com by April 30, 2019.

Accepted abstracts will be announced on May 31, 2019. Scholars whose abstracts are accepted are expected to finish and submit the draft of the full paper in November 2019. Papers must be typed double-spaced using Times New Roman font size 12 with 1”x1” margin on all sides.  Ideal word count ranges from 5000 to 7500 words. For purposes of uniformity, papers must use the MLA documentation style (8^th edition). 

A conference volume of selected essays is also being planned. Papers to be included will be in English, or English translations of papers written in non-English languages. Editors of this volume will contact authors of essays to be included.

For more information, please email tsinoy2020@gmail.com.