EAST MEETS WEST

CALL FOR PAPERS

2010 Conference

 

JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY:  March 25-26, 2010



The Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures is organizing its eighth conference at James Madison University with the collaboration of the departments of English, History, Justice Studies, Philosophy and Religion, Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, The School of Art and Art History, The School of Music and the support of the College of Arts and Letters.  This conference will bring together scholars/researchers from a variety of disciplines to address the various fields in which the Eastern and the Western worlds have come together, integrating their minds and souls.

East and West could not have come into significant contacts until their respective philosophical traditions made deliberate attempt to study each other.  It took centuries; but the world situation has changed and the East and the West have come once and for all into intimate contact.  Each feels the necessity of mutual understanding and even for assimilating whatever in the other is true and useful.  This need to understand is no longer a matter of mere intellectual curiosity but of survival.  The influences of each other’s cultures have for some time coexisted in various fields; for example, some consumers prefer Traditional Chinese medicine over Western medicine; the influence of Japanese prints and Chinese pottery established the stylistic precedents for Post-Impressionist painting; writers like the Akutagawa use western references without abandoning their own culture; Takemitsu Toru brings works by Japanese composers to the attention of Western performers and introduces Western musical innovation to Japan.   Influences between these two worlds are also found in fashion, in design, in science and technologies, in food and cuisine, and even in politics. 

   We are inviting faculty, students, and independent scholars and researchers in fields such as English, foreign languages, history, art history, philosophy and religion, music, theater and dance, political science, psychology, sociology, and the sciences to submit abstracts/proposals and convene panel discussions and/or workshops.  We also encourage participants to organize and chair sessions.



Guidelines for Submitting Abstracts/Proposals

1.      Submit abstracts of about 300 words.

2.      Each abstract should include: title, author’s name, affiliation, address, telephone number and e-mail address.  Proposals with multiple authorships should indicate the person to be contacted.

3.      The deadline for submission of abstracts/proposals is March 8, 2010.

4.      Send abstracts/proposals to: Dr. Giuliana Fazzion, Conference Program Director, Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 22807.
Tel: (540) 568-6128; Fax: (540) 568-6904; E-mail: fazziogx@jmu.edu

5.      Proceedings: Abstract/Full text of your paper(s) presented at the conference may also be published in the Proceedings. Upon receiving acceptance of your paper, please send a copy of your abstract/full paper and a diskette to the Proceedings Editor, Dr. Stephany Plecker, Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures, by no later than March 8, 2010.    E-mail: pleckesg@jmu.edu