Programme (Live-Stream)
Keynote and Featured Speakers at The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences 2020 will provide perspectives from a variety of academic and professional backgrounds.
The 11th Asian Conference on the Social Sciences (ACSS2020)
Special Announcement: ACSS2020 will be held Online
Due to continued uncertainties surrounding the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, IAFOR has decided to move its May 2020 conferences online.
ACSS is organised by IAFOR in association with the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in Osaka University, Japan.
The Final Abstract Submission Deadline has now past. To register as a presenter please visit the Presenter Registration page. To register as an audience member please visit the Audience Registration page.
Held in partnership with the IAFOR Research Centre at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, this international conference encourages academics and scholars to meet and exchange ideas and views in a forum stimulating respectful dialogue. This event will afford an exceptional opportunity for renewing old acquaintances, making new contacts, networking, and facilitating partnerships across national and disciplinary borders.
Since its founding in 2009, IAFOR has brought people and ideas together in a variety of events and platforms to promote and celebrate interdisciplinary study, and underline its importance. Over the past year we have engaged in many cross-sectoral projects, including those with universities (the University of Barcelona, Hofstra University, UCL, University of Belgrade and Moscow State University), a think tank (the East-West Center), as well as collaborative projects with the United Nations in New York, and here, with the Government of Japan through the Prime Minister’s office.
With the IAFOR Research Centre, we have engaged in a number of interdisciplinary initiatives we believe will have an important impact on domestic and international public policy conversations. It is through conferences like these that we expand our network and partners, and we have no doubt that ACSS2020 will offer a remarkable opportunity for the sharing of research and best practice, and for the meeting of people and ideas.
The 11th Asian Conference on the Social Sciences (ACSS2020) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The 11th Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities (ACAH2020). Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either conference will allow participants to attend sessions in both.
We look forward to seeing you online!
– The ACSS2020 Organising Committee
Grant Black, Black Inc. Consulting, Japan
Clementina Cardoso, CIHRC Research and Development
Joseph Haldane, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
Donald E. Hall, University of Rochester, USA
Hiroshi Ishida, University of Tokyo, Japan
Fan Li, LePing Social Entrepreneur Foundation & Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), China
James W. McNally, University of Michigan & NACDA Program on Aging, USA
Sela V. Panapasa, University of Michigan, USA
Haruko Satoh, Osaka University, Japan
Key Information
- Location & Venue: ACSS2020 will now be held online
- Dates: Sunday, May 24, 2020 to Wednesday, May 27, 2020
- Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: January 07, 2020*
- Final Abstract Submission Deadline: March 10, 2020
- Registration Deadline for Presenters: April 30, 2020
*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.
Our Response to the Ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) Global Pandemic
Present, Publish, Participate On-site or Online
Continued excellence in service, wherever you are
Our commitment to you; academics, scholars and educators around the world, is to continue to run conferences where and how possible, but in the full knowledge that in these unprecedented and changing times, we must engage as much as is possible online, allowing those who choose not to travel, or who cannot travel, opportunities to present, publish and participate online.
Flexibility
Given the uncertainties surrounding travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, and related and evolving government responses, we understand that potential delegates’ plans may be subject to change beyond their control, and indeed many people may not be able to travel to our conferences. We will be as flexible as we can our side to allow delegates to switch registration types between “on-site” and “online” depending on their circumstances, up until one month before the conference, so that you can be assured that whatever your situation, you can still present, publish and participate.
Special Themes and Areas of Focus
Authors have the optional opportunity of identifying whether their paper addresses either the 2020 IAFOR Special Theme and/or one of the ongoing IAFOR Special Areas of Focus.
IAFOR 2020 Special Theme: “Embracing Difference”
At a time when nationalism and ethno-centrism have become ascendant ideologies and provide easy refuge from the anxieties generated by globalisation and economic uncertainty, it is far too easy to see “difference” as a problem rather than an opportunity. Yes, cultural, religious, linguistic, and social differences can make us uncomfortable. They can be frightening, unsettling, and intellectually challenging. At the same time, they are enormously generative. It is only through encountering cultures and belief systems unlike our own that we learn anything about the flaws and limitations inherent in our own perspectives.
“Difference” is the source of innovation and change. While negotiating the difficulties of seemingly incompatible belief systems may pose tremendous challenges to us all, the payoffs for actively seeking out, celebrating, and working to converse across profound differences are manifold. As we learn about others, we learn about ourselves. And through those encounters, we have the opportunity to chart a future in which difference does not lead to violence, intolerance, or retrenchment, but instead is celebrated as the source of our collective strength.
IAFOR Special Areas of Focus
In line with its organisational mission, IAFOR encourages, facilitates and nurtures interdisciplinary research, with an emphasis on international and intercultural perspectives. Current areas of focus of the organisation include the following ongoing collaborative programmes and initiatives.
About IAFOR
“Inspiring Global Research Collaborations”
Founded in 2009, The International Academic Forum (IAFOR) is a politically independent non-partisan and non-profit interdisciplinary think tank, conference organiser and publisher dedicated to encouraging interdisciplinary discussion, facilitating intercultural awareness and promoting international exchange, principally through educational interaction and academic research. Based in Japan, its main administrative office is in Nagoya, and its research centre is in the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), a graduate school of Osaka University. IAFOR runs research programs and events in Asia, Europe and North America in partnership with universities and think tanks, and has also worked on a number of multi-sector cooperative programs and events, including collaborations with the United Nations and the Government of Japan. Read more about IAFOR.