2019 ACIAC Emerging Scholars’ Forum

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Chinese New Culture (aka the May Fourth) Movement and it affords different societies an opportunity to reflect on their current cultural developments, to re-accentuate the importance of global cultural exchange at a time of international distrusts, paranoid nationalism and anti-globalization. This is as much a job of the future as it has been of the past and present, so the involvement of young scholars is important. It is hoped that this could facilitate the building of “New Cultures” in the 21st century that are both more open and accommodating to and appreciative of cultural differences. Highlighting comparison, contrast, convergence and commingling – four aspects in the study of Australian and Chinese arts and culture, as well as the challenges encountered along the way, the 2019 ACIAC Emerging Scholars Forum brings together over 30 emerging scholars and research students from Australia, China and other parts of the Sinosphere, and elsewhere in the world for an exchange in Australian and Chinese studies in arts and culture. The multidisciplinary forum showcases research in various disciplines ranging from literature, film, history of art and theatrical studies to media and communication, food culture, and diaspora studies. Keynote speakers include Professor Paul Gladston (Inaugural Judith Neilson Chair of Contemporary Art, University of New South Wales) and Professor Wanning Sun (FAHA Professor of Media and Communication Studies, University of Technology Sydney). As part of the forum, there will be a book launch for Dr. Ceciila Leong-Salobir (University of Wollongong)’s Urban Food Culture: Sydney, Shanghai and Singapore in the Twentieth Century (2019, Palgrave Macmillan US), at 13:50 to 14:30. For any enquiry, please contact Dr Kiu-Wai Chu (ACIAC) at k.chu@westernsydney.edu.au.