IAFOR > The Asian Conference on the Social Sciences (ACSS) > ACSS2021 Overview

ACSS2021 Overview

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.

Special Announcement: ACSS2021 will be held Online

Due to continued uncertainties surrounding the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic, IAFOR has made the decision to hold ACSS2021 entirely online via Zoom.

View the Conference Programme

Submit an Abstract

Join us online for ACSS2021!

May 24-26, 2021 | Held online from Tokyo, Japan

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 ACSS2021 will offer a remarkable opportunity for the sharing of research and best practice, and for the meeting of people and ideas.

The 12th Asian Conference on the Social Sciences (ACSS2021) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The 12th Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities (ACAH2021). Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds.

We look forward to seeing you online!

– The ACSS2021 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, USA & NACDA Program on Aging
Sela V. Panapasa University of Michigan, USA
Haruko Satoh Osaka University, Japan

Key Information
  • Location & Venue: Held online from Tokyo, Japan
  • Dates: Monday, May 24, 2021 ​to Wednesday, May 26, 2021
  • Early Bird Abstract Submission Deadline: January 06, 2021*
  • Final Abstract Submission Deadline: March 10, 2021
  • Registration Deadline for Presenters: April 15, 2021

*Submit early to take advantage of the discounted registration rates. Learn more about our registration options.

Submit an Abstract

Back to Top

Speakers

    Back to Top

    Programme

      Back to Top

      Organising Committee

      The Organising Committee of The 12th Asian Conference on the Social Sciences (ACSS) is composed of distinguished academics who are experts in their fields. Organising Committee members may also be members of IAFOR's International Academic Advisory Board. The Organising Committee is responsible for nominating and vetting Keynote and Featured Speakers; developing the conference programme, including special workshops, panels, targeted sessions, and so forth; event outreach and promotion; recommending and attracting future Organising Committee members; working with IAFOR to select PhD students and early career academics for IAFOR-funded grants and scholarships; and overseeing the reviewing of abstracts submitted to the conference.

      • Grant Black
        Grant Black
        Black Inc. Consulting, Japan
      • Clementina Cardoso
        Clementina Cardoso
        CIHRC Research and Development
      • Joseph Haldane
        Joseph Haldane
        The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
      • Donald E. Hall
        Donald E. Hall
        University of Rochester, USA
      • Hiroshi Ishida
        Hiroshi Ishida
        University of Tokyo, Japan
      • Fan Li
        Fan Li
        LePing Social Entrepreneur Foundation & Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), China
      • James W. McNally
        James W. McNally
        University of Michigan, USA & NACDA Program on Aging
      • Sela V. Panapasa
        Sela V. Panapasa
        University of Michigan, USA
      • Haruko Satoh
        Haruko Satoh
        Osaka University, Japan

      Back to Top

      2021 Review Committee

      IAFOR's peer review process, which involves both reciprocal review and the use of Review Committees, is overseen by conference Organising Committee members under the guidance of the Academic Governing Board. Review Committee members are established academics who hold PhDs or other terminal degrees in their fields and who have previous peer review experience.

      If you would like to apply to serve on the ACSS2019 Review Committee, please visit our application page.

      Apply to Join the Review Committee

      Back to Top

      Grant Black
      Black Inc. Consulting, Japan

      Biography

      Dr Grant Black is an associate professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, where he has taught Global Skills and Global Issues since 2013. Grant is engaged in diverse roles as a global manager, systems builder, executive leader and university professor. His research and teaching areas include global management skills, intercultural intelligence (CQ) and organisational management. He also has taught Japanese Management Theory at J. F. Oberlin University (Japan), and a continuing education course in the Foundations of Japanese Zen Buddhism at Temple University Japan. Previously, he was Chair of the English Section at the Center for Education of Global Communication at the University of Tsukuba where he served in a six-year post in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He holds a BA Highest Honors in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara; an MA in Japanese Buddhist Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Doctor of Social Science (DSocSci) from the Department of Management in the School of Business at the University of Leicester. Dr Black is a Chartered Manager (CMgr), the highest status that can be achieved in the management profession in the UK. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Grant is President of Black Inc. Consulting (Japan), a business & university global strategic management firm based in Tokyo which helps individuals and organisations achieve their global targets. He is the director of the newly formed Nippon Academic Management Institute (NAMI) and the author of the forthcoming “Education Reform Policy at a Japanese Super Global University: Policy Translation, Migration and Mutation” (Routledge, 2021). He serves as a Vice-President and Auditor for the International Academic Forum (IAFOR).

      Dr Grant Black is a Vice-President (at large) of IAFOR and Auditor of the organisation. He is a member of the Business & Economics section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

      Clementina Cardoso
      CIHRC Research and Development

      Biography

      Clementina Cardoso is the Director of CIHRC Research and Development. Prior to this she was at the School of Social Sciences, History and Philosophy of the University of London Birkbeck College where she taught courses on Local Government, Public Policy and Management.

      Dr Cardoso completed her PhD at LSE and held positions at University College London Institute of Education where she researched, taught and advised MA and PhD students and coordinated training for overseas civil servants and researchers. She has also been a European Commission Research Fellow, LSE, an Associate Fellow at the University of Lisbon and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Bristol Faculty of Social Sciences and Law; and held Visiting positions at the Universities of Lisbon, Louvain and has been Guest Professor on the MA and PhD programmes of, amongst others, the University of S. Paulo, Brazil. She has also been a keynote speaker at the European Parliament and at conferences.

      She works within the tradition of British Government and Policy Studies, across the Social Sciences disciplines and uses comparative methodologies.

      As a grant holder, she produced research sponsored by the National Science, Research and Technology Council of Portugal and the European Commission on comparative central government policy and political and economic philosophies; comparative methodologies; market-oriented policies, funding and financial management; the involvement of commercial organisations in service provision and management and partnership governance. She has served on Editorial Boards of Academic Journals; lived in Portugal, the United States, England and Hong Kong; is fluent in English, Portuguese and French, reads and speaks Spanish and Italian, has beginners knowledge of Chinese and starters knowledge of Japanese.

      Dr Cardoso has an interest in the History, Culture, Philosophy and the Arts of China and Japan.

      Joseph Haldane
      The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

      Biography

      Joseph Haldane is the Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.

      Dr Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil (France), Sciences Po Paris (France), and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France), The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris (France), and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).

      Dr Haldane’s current research concentrates on post-war and contemporary politics and international affairs, and since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course, and Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated within Osaka University.

      A Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance, Dr Haldane is also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), a Visiting Professor at the School of Business at Doshisha University (Japan), and a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the College of Education of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA).

      From 2012 to 2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu Region) and he is currently a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.

      Donald E. Hall
      University of Rochester, USA

      Biography

      Donald E. Hall is Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering at the University of Rochester, USA. Prior to moving to Rochester, he was Dean of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University, USA. Dean Hall has published widely in the fields of British Studies, Gender Theory, Cultural Studies, and Professional Studies. Over the course of his career, he served as Jackson Distinguished Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English (and previously Chair of the Department of Foreign Languages) at West Virginia University. Before that, he was Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English at California State University, Northridge, where he taught for 13 years. He is a recipient of the University Distinguished Teaching Award at CSUN, was a visiting professor at the National University of Rwanda, was Lansdowne Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Victoria (Canada), was Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Cultural Studies at Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria, and was Fulbright Specialist at the University of Helsinki. He has also taught in Sweden, Romania, Hungary, and China. He served on numerous panels and committees for the Modern Language Association (MLA), including the Task Force on Evaluating Scholarship for Tenure and Promotion, and the Convention Program Committee. In 2012, he served as national President of the Association of Departments of English. From 2013-2017, he served on the Executive Council of the MLA.

      His current and forthcoming work examines issues such as professional responsibility and academic community-building, the dialogics of social change and activist intellectualism, and the Victorian (and our continuing) interest in the deployment of instrumental agency over our social, vocational, and sexual selves. Among his many books and editions are the influential faculty development guides, The Academic Self and The Academic Community, both published by Ohio State University Press. Subjectivities and Reading Sexualities: Hermeneutic Theory and the Future of Queer Studies were both published by Routledge Press. Most recently he and Annamarie Jagose, of the University of Auckland, co-edited a volume titled The Routledge Queer Studies Reader. Though he is a full-time administrator, he continues to lecture worldwide on the value of a liberal arts education and the need for nurturing global competencies in students and interdisciplinary dialogue in and beyond the classroom.

      Professor Donald E. Hall is a Vice-President of IAFOR. He is Chair of the Arts, Humanities, Media & Culture division of the International Academic Advisory Board.

      Hiroshi Ishida
      University of Tokyo, Japan

      Biography

      Hiroshi Ishida is Professor of Sociology at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Tokyo. He served as the Director of the Institute of Social Sciences and the Director of the Center of Social Research and Data Archives, at the University of Tokyo, from 2012 to 2015. He received his PhD in sociology from Harvard University, conducted post-doctoral research at Nuffield College and St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford, and held positions of Assistant and Associate Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. He was a Visiting Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan and a Visiting Fellow of Sociology at Yale University.

      Professor Ishida’s research interests include comparative social stratification and mobility, school-to-work transition, and social inequality over the life course. He is the author of Social Mobility in Contemporary Japan (Stanford University Press) and the co-editor with David Slater of Social Class in Contemporary Japan (Routledge). His work has been published in a number of journals and edited volumes, including American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, European Sociological Review, and Japanese Sociological Review.

      Professor Ishida was the president of the Japanese Association of Mathematical Sociology from 2011 to 2013, and currently serves as the secretary/treasurer of the Research Committee on Social Stratification of the International Sociological Association. From 2005 to 2010, he was the editor-in-chief of Social Science Japan Journal, an international journal on social science research on Japan published by Oxford University Press. He is the principal investigator of the Japanese Life Course Panel Surveys, funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He presently serves on the international editorial board of several journals, including British Journal of Sociology, European Sociological Review, and Social Forces. He is currently the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Official Representative for the University of Tokyo.

      Featured Panel Presentation (2018) | Health Across the Lifecourse

      Previous Presentations

      Featured Panel Presentation (2017) | Easts Meets West – Healthy, Active and Beautiful Aging in Asia
      Fan Li
      LePing Social Entrepreneur Foundation & Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), China

      Biography

      Fan founded Global Links Initiative with Robin Rowland in 2003, a nonprofit organisation headquartered first in Tokyo and then in Shanghai that fostered practical links among social entrepreneurs around the world. In 2004, GLI first brought the concept of social entrepreneurship to China.

      Fan was a founding member of the China-US Strategic Philanthropy Partnership (CUSP), a leading network that promotes research, exchange and collaboration between the philanthropic sectors of China and the United States, she worked with CUSP from 2010 to 2016. Fan connected and advised partnership building between two leading social enterprises in Japan and China from 2009 to 2012, which resulted in the first China-Japan social joint venture in sustainable farming.

      Fan is co-editor-in-chief of the Chinese version of Stanford Social Innovation Review. She is also editor of the groundbreaking book, A New Horizon: 10 Stories of Social Entrepreneurs in China (HongKong, 2010). Her translation of Kazuyoshi Fujita’s book, Radish Revolution, was one of the best sellers of the SanLian Publishing House in 2013. She currently serves as International Advisor for the LePing Foundation in Beijing. Fan’s work as Senior Fellow at the IAFOR Research Centre leads efforts to grow the East Asia Social Innovation Initiative, a cutting-edge network for research, dialogue and knowledge sharing on social innovation in East Asia.

      James W. McNally
      University of Michigan, USA & NACDA Program on Aging

      Biography

      Dr James W. McNally is the Director of the NACDA Program on Aging, a data archive containing over 1,500 studies related to health and the aging lifecourse. He currently does methodological research on the improvement and enhancement of secondary research data and has been cited as an expert authority on data imputation. Dr McNally has directed the NACDA Program on Aging since 1998 and has seen the archive significantly increase its holdings with a growing collection of seminal studies on the aging lifecourse, health, retirement and international aspects of aging. He has spent much of his career addressing methodological issues with a specific focus on specialized application of incomplete or deficient data and the enhancement of secondary data for research applications. Dr McNally has also worked extensively on issues related to international aging and changing perspectives on the role of family support in the later stages of the aging lifecourse.

      Featured Presentation (2019) | Defining and Measuring Resilience in an Aging World
      Featured Workshop Presentation (2019) | Locating Data for Research: Data Collections and Resources for Thesis Writing, Teaching, and Grant Development for the Social Sciences and the Environment

      Previous Presentations

      Featured Panel Presentation (2018) | Health Across the Lifecourse
      Featured Workshop Presentation (2018) | Locating Data for Research
      Featured Presentation (2017) | Methodologies for the Collection of Comparative Community Level Public Health Data: Obtaining Powerful and Statistically Meaningful Findings for Small Populations
      Featured Panel Presentation (2017) | Easts Meets West – Healthy, Active and Beautiful Aging in Asia
      Sela V. Panapasa
      University of Michigan, USA

      Biography

      Dr Sela V. Panapasa studies family support and intergenerational exchanges among aged Pacific Islanders living in the US and Pacific region. Her work examines changes in elderly living arrangements and headship status in response to demographic and socioeconomic change. Her interests include family demography, race and ethnicity, measuring health disparities and comparative studies.

      Featured Presentation (2018) | Presentation details will be announced here shortly

      Previous IAFOR Presentations

      Featured Presentation (ACE2017) | Teaching Health Equity at the Community Level: Engaging Faith Based Organizations in Teaching Community Based Nutritional and Health Behaviors
      Haruko Satoh
      Osaka University, Japan

      Biography

      Haruko Satoh is Specially Appointed Professor at the Graduate School of Engineering Science in charge of CAREN (Osaka University Centre for the Advancement of Research and Education Exchange Networks in Asia) and also lecturer at the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP), where she runs MEXT Reinventing Japan project on “Peace and Human Security in Asia (PAHSA)” with six Southeast Asian and four Japanese universities. She is also the President of the The Asian Political and International Studies Association (APISA).

      In the past she has worked at the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), Chatham House, and Gaiko Forum. Her interests are primarily in state theory, Japanese nationalism and identity politics. Recent publications include: “Rethinking Security in Japan: In Search of a Post-‘Postwar’ Narrative” in Jain & Lam (eds), Japan’s Strategic Challenges in a Changing Regional Environment (World Scientific, 2012); “Through the Looking-glass: China’s Rise as Seen from Japan”, (co-authored with Toshiya Hoshino), Journal of Asian Public Policy, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 181-198 (July 2012); “Post-3.11 Japan: A Matter of Restoring Trust?”, ISPI Analysis No. 83 (December 2011); “Legitimacy Deficit in Japan: The Road to True Popular Sovereignty” in Kane, Loy & Patapan (eds), Political Legitimacy in Asia: New Leadership Challenges (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011), “Japan: Re-engaging with China Meaningfully” in Tang, Li & Acharya (eds), Living with China: Regional States and China through Crises and Turning Points, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

      Professor Haruko Satoh is a member of IAFOR’s Academic Governing Board. She is Chair of the Politics, Law & International Relations section of the International Academic Advisory Board.

      Previous Presentations

      Featured Panel Presentation (2017) | East Meets West