In November 2025, doctoral researchers, postdocs and participating researchers of the Research Training Group GRK 2833 “East Asian Futures” visited the RTG’s partner institutions in China, Taiwan, and Japan. The intention was to enhance the ongoing cooperation, to plan for new synergies, and most of all, to meet colleagues and students from the partner institutions and extend the RTG’s networks. For this purpose, short workshops were held in Tianjin, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo.
The first workshop took place at Nankai University in Tianjin on November 3, 2025. Members of the RTG were warmly welcomed by the Department of Economics on the City Campus Balitai 八里台校区. A workshop programme prepared by our collegues may be accessed here.
The group was greeted by the Vice Dean of the School of Economics, Professor JIANG Dianchun 蒋殿春. Professor QIN Haiying 秦海英 was our host and thoughtfully organised the transfer between the city campus and the new campus in the outskirts, Jinnan 津南校区. The presentations by the RTG speakers, professors Markus TAUBE and Christine MOLL-MURATA, and the RTG doctoral researchers Igor SEVENARD and Eetu LAUSTELA alternated with those of the Nankai economy professors LI Ninghui and JIN Wei.
Following this morning workshop, the group was taken to the Jinnan campus by Professor Richard J. COOK, our liaison and host for the afternoon session. At the Zhou Enlai School of Government, the group met with Dean Prof. WU Xiaolin 吴晓林, Vice Dean Prof. ZHANG Falin 张发林, Library Director and Senior Professor HAN Zhaoying 韩召颖, faculty staff and students from the school. After a visit to the highly impressive university library with its collection of precious prints and manuscripts, the group enjoyed a delicious meal at the university restaurant. The doctoral students Mr. SEVENARD and Mr. LAUSTELA stayed at the university for interactions with students and faculty on the next days, while the Speakers took the train to Shanghai.
© RUB, Moll-Murata
The second workshop was held at the East China Normal University’s Minhang Campus in the outskirts of Shanghai on November 5, 2025. While Ms. ZHANG Chao from the International Affairs Office greeted the group before the workshop. RTG speakers, postdoc PENG Qinqin and the doctoral researchers GONG Buyun and Anna-Maria RAU were welcomed by the host professor FENG Xiaocai, his M.A. and B.A. students, and junior faculty members. The programme comprised talks by RTG members alternating with presentations by the ECNU graduate students that took up on Professor FENG’s current research outlook, which he introduced as “Materiality for a global history of the 20th century”. A full programme of the workshop held in Shanghai is available here.
After the workshop, the RTG members had the rare chance to observe a further 3 hours of class in which Professor FENG taught reading, contextualising, and criticising the validity of archival documents from Republican China to about 30 graduate students. While Ms. RAU and Mr. GONG stayed in Shanghai for further research and networking, the speakers left for Germany and Taiwan respectively.
The Taiwan workshop at the History Department of National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei on November 10, 2025 was conducted by RTG Mercator Fellow Professor WU Lin-Chun 吳翎君. The workshop programme can be found here. The Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Professor William Yau-nang NG 吳有能 addressed the group, citing Hölderlin in a poignant opening speech.
Professor WU Lin-Chun had asked not only NTNU Faculty and doctoral students to present their research, but had also organised discussants for every presentation. The workshop occupied the time slot of Professor WU’s Monday afternoon lecture, with a number of graduate students joining the audience. In a scholarly and discursive atmosphere, the papers by RTG members HUANG Pao-wen and WU Ming-Feng received highly favorable feedback, as did the other presentations on history and historiography of Republican China and post-war Taiwan.
The meeting was concluded with a visit to the hill region of Maokong which offered picturesque views of the skyline of Taipei at night, in spite of rainfall. Ms. HUANG remained in Taipei for additional visits to the Academia Sinica gathering materials for her dissertation while Mr. WU travelled on to the workshop in Tokyo and visited further universities and archives with relevance for his research there.
The final workshop of the series took place at the Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien (DIJ) in Tokyo on November 13, 2025. The event was hosted by Dr. Nicole M. MÜLLER, who facilitated the discussions and brought in perspectives from the institute’s ongoing projects, together with her colleagues Dr. Celia SPODEN, Dr. Dolf-Alexander NEUHAUS, and Dr. Harald KÜMMERLE. Prof. Mariko JACOBY from Hitotsubashi University in Kunitachi also joined the workshop. Representing the RTG were Prof. Dr. Katja SCHMIDTPOTT, Simone KORTUNG, Dr. Aya HINO, and Youlim KIM. The workshop’s programme may be accessed here.
The workshop began with greetings from Dr. MÜLLER and Prof. Dr. SCHMIDTPOTT, who followed up with an introduction to the conception and development of the Research Training Group “East Asian Futures”. RTG coordinator Simone KORTUNG then provided insights into the internal structure and main characteristics of the RTG.
The following presentations addressed key questions of future imaginaries in East Asia. Dr. Aya HINO explored the temporality of utopian thought in the Japanese Empire, while Youlim KIM analysed media framing of abortion in South Korea, comparing legal and social contexts with Japan. A panel by DIJ researchers examined technology, globalization, and societal challenges in Japan and Asia. The discussions highlighted how visions of the future are shaped by historical experiences, cultural contexts, and contemporary social and political issues.
Following the academic programme, discussions continued informally during a walk to a nearby restaurant, where participants enjoyed local produce.
After the workshop, Dr. HINO continued archival and institutional work in and around Tokyo, and Youlim KIM met with Prof. TAKAI Shiho (Waseda University) to discuss her research and plan a future workshop in Europe. The event strengthened collaborations between the RTG and the DIJ and provided new perspectives for joint research in East Asia.
Taken together, these workshops revealed how concepts of the future are shaped by specific historical trajectories, cultural contexts, and present-day social and political concerns. They also demonstrated the value of sustained academic exchange. The meetings not only opened new avenues for research collaboration but also strengthened the RTG’s network across the region, laying foundations for future joint projects and continued scholarly dialogue.