The international conference “Thinking Futures in Asia”, held on May 9–11, 2025, was organised by the Young Scholars’ Group of the German Association for Asian Studies (DGA) in cooperation with the Institute for Asian and African Studies at Universität Leipzig. The rich programme covered topics such as religion, intellectualism, political strategies, governance, spatial transformations, geopolitics, activism, multinational entanglements, as well as society and media.
Several members of the Research Training Group GRK 2833 “East Asian Futures” attended. On May 9, Dr. Aya HINO and Pao-wen HUANG gave presentations on “Transgression: A theoretical reflection on the temporality of future imagery of the Japanese Empire” and “Taiwan’s Tariff Reform Model (1960s–1980s) and Its Future Vision”, respectively, at the panel “Political Strategies and Governance”, chaired by Prof. Dr. Nadin HEÉ (Leipzig) and PD Dr. Daniel HEDINGER (Leipzig). Dr. Monika ARNOŠTOVÁ contributed her research insights as the chair of the panel “Multinational Entanglements” during the following day. Youlim KIM (“Framing Shifts in Abortion Discourse in South Korea”), Anna-Maria RAU (“Future Conceptions and Music in Republican China”) and Nora WÖLFING (“Imagining the Future through Nature – New Media Art in the Sinophone Region”) introduced their research with presentations on May 11 as part of the panel “Society and Media”, chaired by Gwendolyn DOMNING (FU Berlin).
The EAF members will remember the conference for its pleasant atmosphere and the lively discussions with peers. Thanks to the submission of conference papers in advance and short presentations on site, all presenters received targeted and detailed feedback from the panel chairs, followed by many questions and comments from other conference attendees. EAF members are grateful to the Young Scholars’ Group for organising this stimulating conference and providing many opportunities to network with other early-career researchers who share similar interests.
Further information on the event including the full conference programme may be found on the organizer’s website.