Asia is changing fast. From the dark memories of colonial legacy, Eastern part of the super continent has transformed itself to the most promising center of global economy for the twenty first century. Future reports of many kinds are generous in forecasting the continent's bright days to come. The economic developments of China and India are much praised. Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore are doing pretty well as usual. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines are also reshaping their outfits.

Economic developments of the region are not the only story that attracts our attention. Political and cultural changes are also quite remarkable. Many Asian countries were long parted from their closest neighbors in terms of cultural understanding and exchanges. They have linked closer to the former colonial empires or advanced West than their immediate border sharers. This is also changing. Cultural spaces in many Asian metropoles are wide opening to the 'Asian made' ideas and products from pop music to films to television serials. Asia is also making itself a leading edge in making digital and mobile culture in the world. Highly complicated texting cultures of Tokyo and Manila, endless Internet enclaves developed in broadband Korea, and lucky number seeking Chinese mobile users are all shaping and reshaping the face of new media culture everyday.

Despite of all these hopeful progress, however, Asian politics and economy are not going without potential dangers and crisis. Political antagonism is still very alive among countries within the region. Economic rivalry sometimes pumps up a strong sentiment of competition against one another than the mood of peaceful co-existence. Futures of Asian societies are still more often than not decided by the outside 'friends' than Asians themselves. Asian societies seem to in need of creating a more stable sphere of public concern and discussion on a transnational level. This conference intends to contribute to the vitalization of various academic discourses on the cultural spaces and public sphere of Asia. It is meant to be more than a sequel of the one that we hosted last year with the title of "Culture Industry and Cultural Capital" in Seoul. If the CICC was narrowly casting its focus on pop culture and the Korean wave, the current project eyes on a broader range including popular and media culture. The conference should serve for our better understanding on Asian popular culture and also for building spheres of public discussion.

TOPICS

- Spaces of Asian popular culture
- Cultural hybridization and fusion in Asia
- Creating/constructing Asian public spheres
- Transnational Asian popular culture
- Films and televisions of trans-Asia
- Digital, mobile, and Internet cultures in Asia
- Changing images of the West in Asian minds
- Consuming Asia and Asian media
- Korean wave: present and future
- Pro- and anti-sentiments to the Korean wave
- Cultural capital and productivity of popular culture
And other related issues...

TIMELINE and SUPPORT

- One-page abstract with authors' brief bio deadline: January 31, 2006 (or the sooner the better)
- Paper deadline: February 28, 2005
- Selected presentations will receive partial amount of support either for travel or accommodation.
- All submissions and correspondence should be directed to Shin Dong KIM at kimsd@hallym.ac.kr

Contact

Shin Dong KIM, PhD
Director, Institute for Communication Arts and Technology (iCAT)
Associate Professor, School of Communication, Hallym University
Board Member, Asia's Future Initiative(AFI)
Chair, Programming Committee of the CSPS conference
kimsd@hallym.ac.kr