CFP: EAST ASIAN ECOCINEMA CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO

East Asian Ecocinema Conference,

University of Idaho, February 22-23, 2024

Description:

Ecocinema has recently drawn scholarly attention in East Asian cinema studies, though usually within nation-state frameworks. This conference will contribute to exploration of ecological thinking with regards to media by encouraging inter-Asian conversations about ecocinema. Given the global issue of climate change, it is urgent to develop ecocritical perspectives beyond national cinema frameworks. For example, what can we learn about the relationship between cinema and natural disasters by comparing documentaries from Japan and China? How did filmmakers capture the changing cityscape and landscape during industrialization in different regions in East Asia? Challenging the Euro-America-centric discourse of Theory, what kind of ecocritical approaches and concepts are formed in media theories and criticisms in Asia? Can the increasing popularity of anime, which often reflects on natural disasters such as 3/11, inspire ecocritical thinking in the global audience? By providing scholars in East Asian cinema with a space for dialogue, this conference aims at mapping out alternative perspectives toward ecocinema beyond national borders.

This conference invites paper proposals from all areas in East Asian film studies. Interdisciplinary submissions from across the humanities are welcomed. Possible topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Catastrophe in anime

• Eco-activism by celebrities

• Ecocinema as a genre

• Ecocriticism and media theory in Asia

• Ecological documentary

• Environmentalist film

• New media and environment

• Non-anthropocentric worldview

• Sustainability and the film industry

Keynote speakers:

• Kiu-wai Chu, Assistant Professor of Environmental Humanities, Nanyang Technological University

• Rachel DiNitto, Professor of Japanese Literature, University of Oregon

Submission process:

We invite scholars at all stages of their careers, across multiple disciplines as well as employing diverse methods and theories to submit proposals to this in-person conference. We will consider publishing selected contributions in an edited volume. The conference sponsor (the Idaho Asia Institute) will provide presenters with three nights lodging at a hotel in Moscow, Idaho (room shared with one other participant) and some meals. Participants will be expected to fund their own travel to and from Moscow, Idaho and other expenses.

Please submit the paper title, a 300-word abstract, and a short CV to Yuta Kaminishi (yutak@uidaho.edu) by July 30, 2023. Acceptance of proposals will be communicated by August 14, 2023.

Conference Organizers:

• Yuta Kaminishi, Postdoctoral Fellow in Asian Cinema, University of Idaho

• Jeff Kyong-McClain, Associate Professor of Chinese History, University of Idaho