FAH Hosts Critical Island Studies 2024 Colloquium
Hosted by the Department of English of FAH and in cooperation with the Critical Island Studies Consortium, the Critical Island Studies 2024 Colloquium was successfully held on April 17 and 18. Leading international scholars from the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau participated in this two-day academic conference, which attracted over a hundred audience members. With the theme “Waves of Emotions: Theorizing Archipelagic Affects,” the colloquium focused on theorizing affects within the framework of critical island studies, an emerging area of research in the Humanities and Social Sciences in recent years. At the opening of the conference on April 17, Assistant Dean for Faculty Publicity and Events Plannng (FAH) Professor Joaquim Kuong spoke on behalf of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities to welcome all the participants. His warm welcome was followed by remarks from Professor Andrew Moody, Head of the Department of English, who highlighted the significance of critical island studies and its fitting alignment with the research and teaching interests of the Department of English.
Prof. Jeremy De Chavez
The colloquium featured six panels exploring various topics about Island Studies and its connection to language, literature, law, translation, emotions, geography, film, and performances, punctuated by three captivating keynote lectures. Professor Tim Simpson (Department of Communication, University of Macau) delivered the first keynote lecture that addressed Macau’s astonishing transformation into a global gambling archipelago in the last two decades. Professor Toshiya Ueno (Department of Human Science, Wako University, Japan) sparked in-depth discussion with his keynote lecture on archipelagic thinking and planetary chaosophy, engaging with philosophies by Edouard Glissant and Félix Guattari. Professor Alex Taek-Gwang Lee (Department of Cultural Studies, Kyung Hee University, Korea) delivered a thought-provoking keynote lecture on technology and planetary cognition. The conference ended with closing remarks from Prof. Jeremy De Chavez (Department of English, FAH), conference convenor. In his remarks, Prof. De Chavez thanked the participants of the conference and attributed the success of the conference to his team of organizers, which included Dr. Luka, Zhang Lei (Postdoctoral Fellow of the Department of English and Conference Program Chair), and Mr. Pang Kam Tou (PhD student of the Department of English and Conference Local Chair). The next Critical Island Studies conference will be hosted by De La Salle University, Manila in October 2024.
Group photo