The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies (ACCS) is one of IAFOR's longest established and best attended events, bringing together delegates from many different national, cultural and linguistic backgrounds to present new research and exchange ideas. This exceptional platform welcomes speakers and delegates working in any area of cultural and area studies for challenging debate and stimulating discussions around the latest concepts and newest approaches.
IAFOR's conferences are encouraging and nurturing environments where ideas can be shared and tested, where research synergies and collaborations can be formed, and where some of the biggest names in the field have the opportunity to interact with up-and-coming faculty members.
IAFOR’s cultural and area studies conferences are organised in partnership with some of the world’s most reputable institutions, including Birkbeck, University of London (UK), University of Sussex (UK), Waseda University (Japan), Moscow State University (Russia), Barcelona University (Spain) and Virginia Tech (USA), and feature programmes developed by leading academics to ensure both timeliness and academic rigour.
ACCS2022
June 06-09, 2022 | Held online from Tokyo, Japan
ACCS2021
June 03-06, 2021 | Held online from Tokyo, Japan
ACCS2020
May 27-30, 2020 | Online from Tokyo, Japan
ACCS2019
Conference Theme: "Reclaiming the Future"
May 24-26, 2019 | Toshi Center & Tokyo Garden Terrace Kioicho, Tokyo
ACCS2018
Conference Theme: "Fearful Futures: Cultural Studies and the Question of Agency in the Twenty-First Century"
June 1–3, 2018 | Art Center Kobe, Kobe, Japan
ACCS2017
Conference Theme: "Global Realities: Precarious Survival and Belonging"
June 1–4, 2017 | Art Center Kobe, Kobe, Japan
ACCS2016
Conference Theme: “Cultural Struggle and Praxis: Negotiating Power and the Everyday”
June 2–5, 2016 | Art Center Kobe, Kobe, Japan
ACCS2015
Conference Theme: “Human Rights, Justice, Media and Culture”
May 28–31, 2015 | Osaka International Conference Center, Osaka, Japan
ACCS2014
Conference Theme: “Borderlands of becoming, belonging and sharing”
May 29 – June 1, 2014 | Osaka International Conference Center, Osaka, Japan
Conference Report
Delegates from over 40 nations attended the Fourth Annual Asian Conference on Cultural Studies (ACCS) and the Fourth Annual Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS) in Osaka, Japan, to once again experience an exciting and enjoyable exchange of culture, academic practice and collaboration.
The conference was opened by Conference Co-Chair Dr Baden Offord, the Professor of Cultural Studies and Human Rights & Co-Director of the Centre for Peace and Social Justice Southern Cross University, Australia, who spoke about the theme for the 2014 conference “Borderlands of becoming, belonging and sharing,” and its significance in this time of transformation within our local, national and global lives as human migration, human mobility intensify.
IAFOR was pleased to have as its Keynote speaker and Conference Co-Chair, Koichi Iwabuchi, the Professor of Media and Cultural Studies and Director of the Monash Asia Institute, at Monash University, Australia. Professor Iwabuchi’s address titled, “On the predicament of the borderland imagination, ” considered the context of East Asia nations and their difficulty in opening a dialogue between such irreconcilable social divide, and whether and how the critical imagination associated with the notion of borderland could gain a creative edge toward it.
IAFOR was also pleased to welcome back 2013 Delegate ACCS to Osaka as Featured Speaker Professor Donald E. Hall, the Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Dean at Lehigh University, USA. Professor Hall in his address “Looking Beyond Our Horizons: Interdisciplinary Education as Our Best Hope for the Future,” spoke of the need of academia to defend and advocate interdisciplinary training in the liberal arts and sciences. Professor Hall passionately stressed that only through inter-disciplinarity we can cross boundaries comfortably, even enthusiastically.
The organizing committee at IAFOR was also pleased to welcome Professor Hsiao-Chuan Hsia, our second Featured Speaker, Professor and Director at the Graduate Institute for Social Transformation Studies, at Shih Hsin University, Taipei. Professor Hsia in her address “Gender, Citizenship and Empowerment of Marriage Migrants in East Asia,” spoke of the great challenges to the dominant ideology that marriage migrants and their children face in modern East Asia countries.
IAFOR would like to thank conference chairs, Professor Baden Offord, Reverend Professor Stuart Picken and Professor Koichi Iwabuchi for their continued and committed academic support and guidance. Lastly IAFOR wishes to thank the delegate for their fantastic contribution and enthusiasm when attending the 2014 ACAS and ACC Conference.
ACCS2013
Conference Theme: “Intersecting Belongings: Cultural Conviviality and Cosmopolitan Futures”
May 24–26, 2013 | The Ramada Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Conference Report
The Third Annual Asian Conference on Cultural Studies (ACCS) and the Third Annual Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS) welcomed 180 delegates from nearly 40 nations to Osaka to experience an exciting and enjoyable exchange of culture, academic practice and collaboration. The theme for the joint ACAS/ACCS 2013 Conference was “Intersecting Belongings: Cultural Conviviality and Cosmopolitan Futures.” Though it is one of the smaller IAFOR conferences, ACAS/ACCS was both a cosmopolitan and convivial event, as many of the academics present were coming from divergent cultures and backgrounds, different academic disciplines and world-views. This unique and interdisciplinary diversity of the conference made for a compelling range of views, exchanges, research topics, and most importantly respectful dialogue.
IAFOR was pleased to have as its Keynote speaker, Professor Baden Offord of Southern Cross University, Australia, whose topic “Through the Looking Glass: Home, the World and the Anthropocene” was an engaging exploration into the context of the other and tensions of belongingness and change. According to Professor Offord the key challenge for us all is co-existence, which he urged delegates is possible if we embrace the theme of the conference, conviviality.
The first of the featured speakers was Professor Kiyoshi Abe from Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan who presented his paper, “A critique of Japan’s political-cultural nostalgia and its impasse: How can the LDP restore lost Japaneseness?” It was a fascinating presentation that revealed the underlying discourse of modern political marketing in Japan and how a mediated nostalgia for the golden past of post-war Japan is used to emotionalize voter responses.
Professor Yujin Yaguchi of the University of Tokyo, spoke on Making Paradise: Cultural Dynamics of Tourism and Shifting Images of Hawai’i in Japan.Profesor Yaguchi revealed to the audience both the politico-cultural clashes and synergies that lay behind the Japanese views and representations of Hawaii as space for cultural gaze and experimentation. Finally Professor Yasue Arimitsu, of Doshisha University, spoke on the question, Is Australia the Other for Japanese Writers? Differences of Literary Perceptions of the Other between Australia and Japan. Professor Arimitsu, in her presentation, focused on examining the literary traditions of both nationsf, as they move from a binominal post-colonial framework into a context, where the narrative of otherness is more contested.
IAFOR would like to thank conference chairs, Professor Baden Offord, and the program advisers for their continued and committed academic support and guidance. Lastly IAFOR wishes to thank the delegatesf for their fantastic contribution and enthusiasm when attending the 2013 ACAS and ACC Conference.
ACCS2012
Conference Theme: “Encounters and Exchanges”
June 1–3, 2012 | The Ramada Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Conference Report
The Second Asian Conference on Cultural Studies, was held this year with the Second Asian Conference on Asian Studies, in Osaka, Japan. The event offered a diverse variety of papers that encouraged interdisciplinary reflection, and the forging of new relations across national borders. At just over 100 delegates, ACCS/ACAS 2012 was one of IAFOR’s smaller events, but no less diverse with over 25 countries represented in Osaka. Thanks to a friendly and open atmosphere, many relationships and friendships were forged during our time together and we hope these will continue and be renewed at next year’s event.
ACCS2011
Conference Theme: "Brave New World"
March 23–25, 2011 | The Ramada Osaka, Osaka, Japan
Conference Report
The Inaugural Asian Conference on Cultural Studies, was held this year with the first Asian Conference on Asian Studies, in Osaka, Japan. The event offered a diverse variety of papers that encouraged interdisciplinary reflection, and the forging of new relations across national borders. Although the programme was interrupted by an above average number of withdrawals due to to the earthquake of early March 2011, the conference was a success, and we have every confidence that the event will grow in 2012.
We would like to thank all the delegates who made the event so enjoyable, including conference chair and featured speaker, Professor Stuart Picken, conference coordinator Professor Steve Cornwell of Osaka Jogakuin University, and Michael Sakamoto of UCLA, who lead an introduction and demonstration of Butoh, the Japanese dance form.