We have extended the deadline for abstracts for ISSH2024 by ten days.
Though the deadline for text for the proceedings is still 1st May. Conference is 26-27 July. Please consider coming. Its hard to show what is great about a conference, but having organised many – in nine countries – it was not until doing this series of events in Vietnam that I learned what a real team effort can achieve – the pictures do NOT do it justice – https://hutnyk.wordpress.com/2019/10/08/innovations-in-the-social-sciences-and-humanities-issh2019/
Tuesdays 4pm in Vietnam [8pm Melbourne/Sydney; 9am UK; 2.30pm Kolkata; 5pm Taiwan] Tune in on the same zoom link each time. [Bilingual event, please scroll down for English]
Dec 19, 2023 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Joyce C.H. Liu Limit as Method -Phương Thức Giới Hạn
Jan 23, 2024 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Ned Rossiter Reflections on Organized Networks and Collective Research Methods – Những Phản Ánh về Mạng Lưới có Tổ Chức và Những Phương Pháp Nghiên Cứu Tổng Hợp
PHƯƠNG PHÁP TRONG 30 PHÚT
Trường Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng, Ban Công tác phía Nam Hội Xã hội học Việt Nam và Transit Asia Research Network, 2023-3024
Chuỗi seminar “Phương pháp trong 30 phút” mời các học giả nổi tiếng trình bày hiểu biết sâu của họ về những phương pháp xã hội học mới và cấp bách.
Năm học 2023-2024, chuỗi seminar là sự hợp tác giữa Khoa Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn Trường Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng, Ban Công tác phía Nam Hội Xã hội học Việt Nam, và Mạng lưới Nghiên cứu quá độ châu Á (TARN).
Diễn giả từ TARN bao gồm GS. Brett Neilson (Viện Văn hóa và xã hội, Đại học Tây Sydney) thuyết trình ngày 12/12/2023, GS. Joyce C. H. Liu (Trung tâm Nghiên cứu văn hóa quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Yang Ming Chiao Tung) thuyết trình ngày 19/12/2023, và GS. Ned Rossiter (Viện Văn hóa và xã hội, Đại học Tây Sydney), thuyết trình ngày 23/01/2024.
Chuỗi seminar có phiên dịch Anh-Việt.
Ngày 12/12/2023, 16.00-18.00, GS. Brett Neilson thuyết trình “Biên giới với tính cách là phương pháp”.
Ngày 19/12/2023, 16.00-18.00, GS. Joyce C. H. Liu thuyết trình “Giới hạn với tính cách là phương pháp”.
Ngày 23/1/2024, 16.00-18.00, GS. Ned Rossiter thuyết trình “Phản tư về những mạng lưới có tổ chức và các phương pháp nghiên cứu tập thể”.
30 Minute Methods TDTU, VSA (Sth) and TARN 2023-3024
The 30-minute Methods seminar series invites noted scholars to present their insights on new and pressing sociological approaches.
In 2023-2024, the series is a collaboration between the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), the Southern Department of the Vietnam Sociological Association (VSA – Sth) and the Transit Asia Research Network (TARN).
TARN provides the speakers: Professor Brett Neilson of the Institute for Culture and Society at the Western Sydney University (12/12/23), Professor Joyce C H Liu of The International Center for Cultural Studies of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (19/12/23) and Professor Ned Rossiter, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University (23/01/24). [Slides will be bilingual and spoken text will be translated]
Trường Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng, Ban Công tác phía Nam Hội Xã hội học Việt Nam và Transit Asia Research Network, 2023-3024
Chuỗi seminar “Phương pháp trong 30 phút” mời các học giả nổi tiếng trình bày hiểu biết sâu của họ về những phương pháp xã hội học mới và cấp bách.
Năm học 2023-2024, chuỗi seminar là sự hợp tác giữa Khoa Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn Trường Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng, Ban Công tác phía Nam Hội Xã hội học Việt Nam, và Mạng lưới Nghiên cứu quá độ châu Á (TARN).
Diễn giả từ TARN bao gồm GS. Brett Neilson (Viện Văn hóa và xã hội, Đại học Tây Sydney) thuyết trình ngày 12/12/2023, GS. Joyce C. H. Liu (Trung tâm Nghiên cứu văn hóa quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Yang Ming Chiao Tung) thuyết trình ngày 19/12/2023, và GS. Ned Rossiter (Viện Văn hóa và xã hội, Đại học Tây Sydney), thuyết trình ngày 23/01/2024.
Chuỗi seminar có phiên dịch Anh-Việt.
Ngày 12/12/2023, 16.00-18.00, GS. Brett Neilson thuyết trình “Biên giới với tính cách là phương pháp”.
Ngày 19/12/2023, 16.00-18.00, GS. Joyce C. H. Liu thuyết trình “Giới hạn với tính cách là phương pháp”.
Ngày 23/1/2024, 16.00-18.00, GS. Ned Rossiter thuyết trình “Phản tư về những mạng lưới có tổ chức và các phương pháp nghiên cứu tập thể”.
30 Minute Methods TDTU, VSA (Sth) and TARN 2023-3024
The 30-minute Methods seminar series invites noted scholars to present their insights on new and pressing sociological approaches.
In 2023-2024, the series is a collaboration between the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), the Southern Department of the Vietnam Sociological Association (VSA – Sth) and the Transit Asia Research Network (TARN).
TARN provides the speakers: Professor Brett Neilson of the Institute for Culture and Society at the Western Sydney University (12/12/23), Professor Joyce C H Liu of The International Center for Cultural Studies of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (19/12/23) and Professor Ned Rossiter, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University (23/01/24). [Slides will be bilingual and spoken text will be translated]
Times:
Dec 12, 2023 16:00 Professor Bret Neilson
Border as Method
-Lý Thuyết Giới Hạn
Dec 19, 2023 16:00 Professor Joyce C.H. Liu
Limit as Method
-Phương Thức Giới Hạn
Jan 23, 2024 16:00 Professor Ned Rossiter
Reflections on Organized Networks and Collective Research Methods
Những Phản Ánh về Mạng Lưới có Tổ Chức và Những Phương Pháp Nghiên Cứu Tổng Hợp
Tuesdays 4pm in Vietnam [8pm Melbourne/Sydney; 9am UK; 2.30pm Kolkata; 5pm Taiwan] Tune in on the same zoom link each time. [Bilingual event, please scroll down for English]
Dec 12, 2023 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Brett Neilson Border as Method -Lý Thuyết Giới Hạn
Dec 19, 2023 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Joyce C.H. Liu Limit as Method -Phương Thức Giới Hạn
Jan 23, 2024 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Ned Rossiter Reflections on Organized Networks and Collective Research Methods – Những Phản Ánh về Mạng Lưới có Tổ Chức và Những Phương Pháp Nghiên Cứu Tổng Hợp
PHƯƠNG PHÁP TRONG 30 PHÚT
Trường Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng, Ban Công tác phía Nam Hội Xã hội học Việt Nam và Transit Asia Research Network, 2023-3024
Chuỗi seminar “Phương pháp trong 30 phút” mời các học giả nổi tiếng trình bày hiểu biết sâu của họ về những phương pháp xã hội học mới và cấp bách.
Năm học 2023-2024, chuỗi seminar là sự hợp tác giữa Khoa Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn Trường Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng, Ban Công tác phía Nam Hội Xã hội học Việt Nam, và Mạng lưới Nghiên cứu quá độ châu Á (TARN).
Diễn giả từ TARN bao gồm GS. Brett Neilson (Viện Văn hóa và xã hội, Đại học Tây Sydney) thuyết trình ngày 12/12/2023, GS. Joyce C. H. Liu (Trung tâm Nghiên cứu văn hóa quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Yang Ming Chiao Tung) thuyết trình ngày 19/12/2023, và GS. Ned Rossiter (Viện Văn hóa và xã hội, Đại học Tây Sydney), thuyết trình ngày 23/01/2024.
Chuỗi seminar có phiên dịch Anh-Việt.
Ngày 12/12/2023, 16.00-18.00, GS. Brett Neilson thuyết trình “Biên giới với tính cách là phương pháp”.
Ngày 19/12/2023, 16.00-18.00, GS. Joyce C. H. Liu thuyết trình “Giới hạn với tính cách là phương pháp”.
Ngày 23/1/2024, 16.00-18.00, GS. Ned Rossiter thuyết trình “Phản tư về những mạng lưới có tổ chức và các phương pháp nghiên cứu tập thể”.
30 Minute Methods TDTU, VSA (Sth) and TARN 2023-3024
The 30-minute Methods seminar series invites noted scholars to present their insights on new and pressing sociological approaches.
In 2023-2024, the series is a collaboration between the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), the Southern Department of the Vietnam Sociological Association (VSA – Sth) and the Transit Asia Research Network (TARN).
TARN provides the speakers: Professor Brett Neilson of the Institute for Culture and Society at the Western Sydney University (12/12/23), Professor Joyce C H Liu of The International Center for Cultural Studies of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (19/12/23) and Professor Ned Rossiter, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University (23/01/24). [Slides will be bilingual and spoken text will be translated]
Times:
Dec 12, 2023 16:00 Professor Brett Neilson
Border as Method
-Lý Thuyết Giới Hạn
Dec 19, 2023 16:00 Professor Joyce C.H. Liu
Limit as Method
-Phương Thức Giới Hạn
Jan 23, 2024 16:00 Professor Ned Rossiter
Reflections on Organized Networks and Collective Research Methods
– Những Phản Ánh về Mạng Lưới có Tổ Chức và Những Phương Pháp Nghiên Cứu Tổng Hợp
30 Minute Methods TDTU, VSA (Sth) and TARN 2023-3024
The 30-minute Methods seminar series invites noted scholars to present their insights on new and pressing sociological approaches.
In 2023-2024, the series is a collaboration between the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU), the Southern Department of the Vietnam Sociological Association (VSA – Sth) and the Transit Asia Research Network (TARN).
TARN provides the speakers: Professor Brett Neilson of the Institute for Culture and Society at the Western Sydney University (12/12/23), Professor Joyce C. H. Liu of The International Center for Cultural Studies of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (19/12/23) and Professor Ned Rossiter, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University (23/01/24). [Slides will be bilingual and spoken text will be translated]
Dec 12, 2023 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Brett Neilson Border as Method -Lý Thuyết Giới Hạn
Dec 19, 2023 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Joyce C.H. Liu Limit as Method -Phương Thức Giới Hạn
Jan 23, 2024 16:00 (Time Zone: UTC+7) Professor Ned Rossiter Reflections on Organized Networks and Collective Research Methods – Những Phản Ánh về Mạng Lưới có Tổ Chức và Những Phương Pháp Nghiên Cứu Tổng Hợp
ISSH2021 is all online now thanks to the National Library of Australia – this was somehow automatic I guess because of the ISBN thing. Nevertheless, here you go: Conference proceedings : the 2nd International Conference on Innovations in The Social Sciences & Humanities 2021: ISSH 2021
‘Robinsonades: pertaining to allegories from the East India Company in Ceylon and other islands, from Marxism to Post-structuralism, and in which, dear reader, a 300-year-old adventure book may still have something to say’ in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 2020, 21:2, 279-286, DOI: 10.1080/14649373.2020.1766236
A book written at the start in Germany after finding the letters of Elsie and Bronislaw Malinowski had been published – and able to mention how Malinowski’s copy to Elsie attributes ‘more than half’ the labour on the book to her. Rare occurance, not on the cover.
This was my third single author book (Bad Marxism) but the first one has sold better over time, based on hanging out in Calcutta in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I had given up on academic work, though was still devoted to the writings of Zawar Hanfi on Heidegger and of course Marx.
The middle book of the set is Critique of Exotica, the product of a reading group at the Charterhouse Hotel in Manchester with mates who also published Dis-Orienting Rhythms (perhaps the favourite title I’ve com up with – after Rumour, which I did not identify as a title at first, as a friend, Matt, saw it as a part of the draft first para and he said ‘is that gonna be the title’. Yes, as it turns out. Critique though is a great title too, inspired varipusly by Kant, the anthro journal Crit of Anth and Gayatri Spivak’s Critique of Postcolonial Reason – which had come out he year before.
On the morning of December 17, 2021, the 2nd International Conference on Innovations in The Social Sciences & Humanities 2021 – ISSH 2021 was opened at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU).
The conference was co-organized by TDTU with international partners including: University of Melbourne (Australia), Purdue University (USA), Moscow State University of Economics (Russia), University of the South Pacific (Fiji), Jadavpur University (India), Pratt Institute (USA) and Tricontinental Institute for Social Research.
In addition to the delegates who are experts from the United States, Europe and Australia, ISSH 2021 Conference also had the participation and presentation of delegates from Asian countries such as: Vietnam, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines,… With the diversity of delegates and research topics, the academic discussions at the Conference shed light on the reasons why there should be new research methods related to the field of social sciences and humanities.
The highlight of the ISSH-2021 Conference is that the inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary approach to social sciences has been widely used in research. The appropriateness of the inter-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary approach to the social sciences has been reflected in new research results focusing on four areas: Tourism, Communication Anthropology, Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work. The research topics are considered from many perspectives: Culinary tourism, whose main purpose is to discover food, is of great significance in a world where hunger, deprivation and migration are on the rise; Industry 4.0, digital technology and access to “smart cities” for all social classes; Issues of education, migration, population, poverty, disadvantaged people, middle class, tourism, … affected by COVID-19 are considered from many different approaches and presented at ISSH 2021.
Compared to the 1st ISSH conference organized in 2019, the number of research papers presented at ISSH 2021 had doubled. The conference program took place on December 17 and 18, 2021 with 11 discussion sessions and 75 research papers presented and discussed.
The hosting of ISSH 2021 shows that TDTU has been trusted and chosen as a bridge for international research forums in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Dr. Tran Trong Dao – Acting President of TDTU delivering the opening speech.Assoc. John Hutnyk – President of the Conference speaking at the opening session.Prof. Jonathan Beller – Pratt, New York presenting at the conference.Live discussion at the conference venues.Organizers of the conference taking photos.
This item by Sankar Ray appeared Dec 13th. I’ve removed the ads (as there were many and they were nothing too)
When Karl Marx Was Interested In ‘Nothingness’ Of Buddha
By Sankar Ray
Lay readers in the SAARC region may be pleasantly surprised to learn that Karl Marx read and commented on the ‘concept of nothingness (Sanskrit: Śūnyatā; Pali: Suññatā; Vietnamese: Không)’ of Gautama Buddha in two letters, written on 18 and 20 March 1866. While staying as a medical tourist in Margate, England, Marx was, suffering from hidradenitis suppurativa which is a painful and chronic dermatological state that causes abscesses and scarring on the skin, hair follicles, specifically, sweat glands, usually around the groin, bottom, breasts and armpits.
This revelation of Marx is in one of the two papers, to be presented online, by Marx scholar Pradip Baksi from Kolkata + at a two-day international conference on innovation in the social sciences and humanity, hosted by Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City on 17 and 18 December 2021 – the second conference in Vietnam. Baksi who translated ‘Mathematical Mauscripts of Marx into English and Bengali is the author of ‘Karl Marx and Mathematics (Aakar books and Routledge).
Marx wrote to his second daughter, Laura who married Paul Lafargue, “I have become myself a sort of walking stick, running up and down the whole day, and keeping my mind in that state of nothingness which Buddhaism (Buddhism) considers the climax of human bliss… As to myself, I have turned into a perambulating stick, running about the greatest part of the day, airing myself, going to bed at 10 o’clock, reading nothing, writing less, and altogether working up my mind to that state of nothingness which Buddhaism considers the climax of human bliss”
Although published in the 1970s in the complete works of Marx and Engels by the two institutes of Marxism-Leninism of Moscow and Berlin, party ideologues either missed these letters or deliberately ignored them. In the post-Soviet Union years when Marx-related study and researched imbibed sort of ‘glasnost’, such findings assume scholastic interests that were not encouraged under Soviet Union.
So Bakst’s paper is likely to trigger debate around Marx anew. Baksi in a communication stressed that Marx was ‘irreligious but not anti-religion’. Marx came to learn Buddha’s thoughts from one of books by an intimate friend Carl (Karl) Friedrich Koeppen (Köppen) –‘Die Religion des Buddha, 2 Bde. Erster Band. Die Religion des Buddha nd ihre Entstehung’. But ‘Marx’s personal copies of these books appear to be lost; they are not yet indicated in the reconstructed catalog of the on-going publication of complete works, letters, notes etc (original) of Marx and Engels (MEGA2), at the International Institute of Social History, University of Amsterdam.
The paper is of relevance to scholars and perceptive readers of South East Asian region including Vietnam where many currents of Buddhism and Marxism have converged for many years from many directions and made grounds for ‘some unique opportunities for the future emergence of scientific investigations on the teachings of Siddhārtha Gautam Buddha and those of Karl Marx from within the contemporary societies there’, Baksi envisions.
Over 100 papers are scheduled to be presented at the two-day brainstorming conference where Marx and Marx related topics will come under discussion but the papers cover a wide range focusing on the major social issues .. Well known scholars such as Peter Hudis (‘Pathways to social development: Rosa Luxemburg’s studies on the anthropology and sociology of imperialism’) and Marcello Musto (‘A Reappraisal of Marx’s ethnological notebooks) will be participating. .
Apart from Vietnamese who comprise the largest participants at the global conclave, over a dozen of Indians and India-born scholars will take part in the deliberations. Their research is on burning issues from the kinetics of violence on Rohingyas lives (Arnab Roy Chowdhury, Higher School of Economics University, Moscow: ‘Citizen’s alterity: the dynamics of violence, temporality, and sovereignty on Rohingya lives’ and Md Reza Habib: ‘The Rohingyas in Bangladesh: refugees-host community conflicts over natural resources in Cox’s Bazar) to militarism and ethnic dissent in post-LTTE Sri Lanka( Debopriya Shome: Tourism, army and ethnic – conflict in post –war Sri Lanka ) and problems of intertwined spaces of cultural practice of intertwined spaces of cultural practice: the case of Cing/gong culture of Lach people in Vietnam (Truong Thi Thu Hang: The intertwined spaces of cultural practice: the case of Cing/gong culture of Lach people in Lac Duong district, Lam Dong province, Vietnam).
The spread of academic interests is evident. If Anna Potsar and Artem Uldanov’s paper, ‘New Russian political myths: how the narratives on the poisoning of Alexei Navalny and his return to Russia construct binary oppositions, exploit public trust, and deploy arguments through mythologization’, Jack Boulton’s ‘Plantations and prisoners: escaping the plantationocene, by hook or by crook, Jonathan Beller’s (Pratt Institute, New York) ‘A preamble to the decolonization of money’ and Michelangelo Paganopoulos’ ‘Transgressing the ‘field’ notes on the dialectics of enlargement in live cinematic events are of theoretical construct in the main, papers cover topics that are of present continuous reality, varying from tourism and tourism-related issues to COVID-generated socio-psychic and ambient realities.
Huynh Thi Anh Hong ‘Food image to perceive tourists’ awareness on branding destination and revisit intention when traveling post -COVID pandemic, Scott McQuire’s ( University of Melbourne) ‘The right to the networked city: urban communication, geomedia and urban digital infrastructure’, Nguyen Huu Minh’s (Vietnam Sociological Association) ‘Main challenges of Vietnamese families nowadays and the coming years’ , Nikos Papastergiadis’s (University of Melbourne’ ‘ Cosmopolitanism: from the moral imperative to the impulse for eros and hospitality in the creative constitutive and Ishita Banerjee’s ( El Colegio de México) ‘The flavours of tourism and the aroma of home: food as a diasporic concept’ focus on the imperative to fathom into day-to-dayness of human society. (IPA Service)
These are the abstracts and agenda for the 2nd International Conference on Innovations in the Social Sciences and Humanities 2021 (17th-18th Dec 2021). Some 75 papers are included, with half from scholars in Vietnam, the rest from 25 other countries. Of course, as the conference is also online, which means something of a juggle in scheduling, the conference traverses time-zones as if they were almost invisible, porous borders – as really, to some extent, aren’t they all – but nevertheless, we think a global conviviality can prevail. The conference is on zoom and in person at Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 17-18 December 2021 (next week as I write) and participation is free – on filling a registration form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3x0wkn-5B-8RLVK_tFlgkHiOkJJ665yiuI6YgYwh9Et8tAA/viewform). J
In which I talk to my class about the content of the upcoming conference at TDTU – ISSH2021.tdtu.edu.vn
A ten-minute walkthrough of the conference programme for the Dec 17-18 ISSH2021, the international conference Innovations in the Social Sciences and Humanites, at Ton Duc Thang Univeristy, Vietnam. with some narrative for some of the papers I am particularly excited about, or focused upon – see http://issh2021.tdtu.edu.vn for details of how to register as a participant.
The most useful thing I heard anyone say (it was Olivia Harris) about a methods course is that it should never be a discussion of how to, but rather a debate about what and why. Methods in this sense is something we wrangle with – a philosophical, contemplative, political, convivial, agitator-practitioner, collective, considerate set of choices of how to talk with people. If methods were simply to be applied, the study will be too rigid for the varieties and surprises of social life.
In these three “30 Minute Methods” discussions, the sense of debate comes through in short significant sensibilities concerned with process and outcome in a moving, meaningful world. The social sciences, and media anthropology in particular, need to look outside media and anthropology for methodological inspiration, and to be thereby inspired to risk something on method. These talks given to the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Ton Duc Thang University in November 2021 do just that:
16 November 2021. Prof Paolo Favero, University of Antwerp, Belgium:
‘Expanded Ethnography: technologies and the senses’
****
23 November 2021. Dr Ken Fero, Regents University, London:
‘Documentary as memory when dealing with national trauma through state violence‘
***
November 302021. Dr Jack Boulton, Leuven University, Belgium:‘
TV, film and literature sci-fi as part of the new literary turn in anthropology’
*****
30 Minute Methods – Dr Sarunas Paunksnis, 21. 02 . 23
*******
30 Minute Methods TDTU talk by Runa Chakraborty Paunksnis March 7 2023
********
30 Minute Methods TDTU Brett Neilson 12 12 23
*********
Joyce C H Liu Limit as Method TDTU Xh&NV 19.12.2023
30 minute methods’ seminar series [online in November] in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanites, Ton Duc Thang University, Vietnam.
1. Tuesday November 16, 2021, at 4pm HCMC
Prof Paolo Favero, Uni Antwerp, Belgium:
‘Expanded Ethnography: technologies and the senses’
_______________
2. Tues November 23, 2021, at 4pm HCMC.
Dr Ken Fero, Regents University, London:
‘Documentary as memory when dealing with national trauma through state violence‘
_______________
3. Tues November 30, 2021, at 4pm HCMC.
Dr Jack Boulton, Leuven Uni, Belgium:
‘TV, film and literature sci-fi as part of the new literary turn in anthropology’
_______________
Seminars via Zoom (email Johnhutnyk@tdtu.edu.vn for the link) all held at 4pm Ho Chi Minh City time – that’s 2.30pm in Kolkata, 9pm in Melbourne, 10am in Western Europe, 9am on Airstrip one, 4am in NYC (sozz).
a book from 2004 – people didn’t get the title that much, but Derrida, Bataille (the best bit is on Bataille – reclaimed for the left). From books4you. Here.
A short film made to explain a model of teaching for a class on Capital and Anthropology/Mapping at Ton Duc Thang University, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2018 – Director: Đỗ Thị Xuân Hương Camera and Editor: Võ Nguyễn Thiện Phúc
Innovations are the key. In method and analysis, in the ways in which scholarship engages with society and organisations today, there can be no doubting the relevance of the social science and humanities to all our pressing questions. The Innovations discussed at the conference challenged our thinking. The topics were wide-ranging and varied, the approaches distinctly alive; some of the papers demonstrated a vivid combination of theoretical and practical research, some were insistently in a humanities’-oriented style, others more forthright and strictly social science, and still others experimented with the form and tone of the social sciences. Perhaps while bringing new methods to Vietnam, the creativity of the social sciences and relevance of the humanities for contemporary understanding was brought out even more by the diversity of themes and perspectives. Of course the traditional scholarship of the social sciences was also represented, but in writing that has an urgency and verve that excited discussion.
Professor Guido Abbattissta from the University of Trieste in Italy said the conference ‘was an exciting experience’. Dr Arnab Choudhury from the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, said it was an ‘immensely wonderful conference, by far one of the most well-organised conferences I have ever attended’.
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Stephen Muecke Flinders University
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The featured keynotes included a powerfully engaging presentation from Professor Stephen Muecke of Flinders University Australia. Prof Muecke is a hugely important voice in cultural studies and theorist of notions of the cultural landscape and ways of reading cultural relations between settler and Aboriginal Australia. His explanation of the walking method innovated by Aboriginal traditional landholders will inspire reflection and new practices, and perhaps some in Vietnam will want to take up the invitation of Aboriginal elder Paddy Roe to visit Western Australia and walk the ancient dreaming tracks near Broome with his family.
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Professor Joyce Liu (NCTU Taiwan) and Professor Ursula Rao (Uni Leipzig, Germany)
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A keynote lecture by Professor Joyce Liu from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, on new methods of inter-Asian joint and multi-site research inaugurated a perspective on political and cultural research that promises new opportunities for collaboration and debate across borders. She spoke with an engagement that should never be sacrificed in scholarship while there are so many urgent and relevant issues upon which scholars must comment as the leading presenters of, explorers of, and advocates for ideas.
The conference as a whole addressed debates about why innovation and new methods in the social sciences and humanities in Vietnam are needed. This was to respond to clear demands within Vietnam for such methods and enthusiasms (perspectives of a number of Government and non-Government agencies have supported this with relevant statements, such as the government Global Challenges position papers in 2018, and the work of independent research units like Social Life). Mild Hombrebueno from the Philippines said she had ‘learnt a lot from the conference, built new networks, friendships and linkages’ and claimed enthusiastically:
‘I have been to other international conferences, but so far, this is the best experience I’ve ever had. The host university and the organizing committee were so accommodating even up to the last leg of the program. It was indeed full of intellectual discussions, where I made many realizations’
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Professor Rao
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Participatory development projects need a new lease of life and a major rethink – and this was provided by Professor Ursula Rao from the University of Leipzig in Germany as she explored new thinking on the challenges of development in anthropology.
Ms Hombrebueno again commented:
‘meeting with Prof. Rao and her advocacy on Shaping Asia is just so exciting one! I am grateful [to have] the chance to be with the team’
Professor Elaine Carey from Purdue NorthWest in Indian a, USA, spoke on women and research on drugs in the archive, the depredations of the war on drugs and the lives of women drug lords were fascinating topics, with side excursions into the interests of American author William Burroughs and images from the press of mid-20th century Mexico and South America. The thinking here was deep as well as a gripping story – if there are no short cuts and no easy solutions, we are challenged at least to think hard – and it is also an inspiration to hear how we can also care about writing well, and hear this from the leading international scholars of our times.
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The conference had articles/panels on over 40 topics by cutting edge thinkers and on themes that remain urgent and pressing – for example, there was a session on the new area of sociobiology, there was the panel on education provision and socialization with a discussion of Vietnam and Australia on higher education successes. There was an engaging panel on participatory methods as a research tool eminently suited for new ways of doing research in the social sciences and humanities. Experts were involved and risking their ideas and critiques in every panel of the conference, though the discussions also spilled over into conversations in the corridors and in cafes afterwards. And the conference will continue to have an impact on scholarship in Vietnam and the region because the papers were published in a conference volume and some will be rewritten for journals and books in the coming months. The effect of the conference will help make TDTU one of the major centres in Vietnam for discussion of new research in these areas.
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The conference was open-ended and its assessment will continue long afterwards, with consequences that will shape ongoing research. As such, the papers presented are not only about new results, so much about new ways of going about getting those results and discussing those results – fostering a culture of research in the Universities that are open to the experience of social change, the challenges of the times and globally, shifting the locus of advanced research towards the region again, so that perhaps we will begin to arrest the so-called brain-drain where so much budding talent leaves the country for several, sometimes many, years . The conference will be part of a much-needed boost to refresh the social sciences and humanities.
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The key point to make is: that with such a large number of regional delegates – from India, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines – and a significant number of wider international guests – from the USA, Europe and Australia – this conference can be seen as a crucial establishing part of the project of making Vietnam, and TDTU, a key hub in the region for discussions about innovative research in the social sciences and humanities. It is highly appropriate then that this conference was held at TDTU – a young university, able to do things in a creative and exciting new way. We can only hope for more of this.
Innovations are the key. In method and analysis, in the ways in which scholarship engages with society and organisations today, there can be no doubting the relevance of the social science and humanities to all our pressing questions. The Innovations to be discussed at the conference challenge our thinking. The topics are wide-ranging and varied, the approaches distinctly alive; some of the papers demonstrate a vivid combination of theoretical and practical research, some are insistently in a humanities’-oriented style, others more forthright and strictly social science, and still others experiment with the form and tone of the social sciences. Perhaps bringing new methods to Vietnam, the creativity of the social sciences and relevance of the humanities for contemporary understanding is brought out by the diversity of themes and perspectives. Of course the traditional scholarship of the social sciences is represented, but in writing that has an urgency and verve that will excite discussion.
The features include a keynote lecture by Professor Stephen Muecke, a hugely important voice in cultural studies and theorist of notions of cultural landscape and ways of reading cultural relations between settler and Aboriginal Australia. His walking method will inspire reflection.
A keynote lecture by Professor Joyce Liu on new methods of inter-Asian joint and multi-site research inaugurates a perspective on cultural research that promises new opportunities for collaboration and debate across borders, and with an engagement that should never be sacrificed in the social science and humanities. There are many urgent and relevant issues upon which scholars must comment as the leading presenters of, explorers of, and advocates for ideas
The conference as a whole addresses debates about why innovation and new methods in the social sciences and humanities in Vietnam are needed. This is to respond to clear demands within Vietnam for such methods and enthusiasms (perspectives of a number of Government and non-Government agencies have supported this with relevant statements, such as the government Global Challenges position papers in 2018, and the work of independent research units like Social Life).
Professor Ursula Rao will explore new thinking on the challenges of development in anthropology. Professor Elaine Carey on women and research, in the archive, on drugs. There are no short cuts and no easy solutions – we are challenged to think hard with the leading international scholars of our times.
The conference brings articles/panels on 43 topics by cutting edge thinkers and on themes that are urgent and pressing – for example, there is a session on the new area of sociobiology by Jon Solomon and Samiksha Bahn, or there is the panel on education provision and socialization with discussion of Vietnam and Australia on higher education successes and problems. There is an engaging panel on participatory methods as a research tool eminently suited for new ways of doing research in the social sciences and humanities. Experts and serious scholars are involved in every panel of the conference, though the discussions will spill out into conversations and publications that will continue to have an impact on scholarship in Vietnam and the region. The effect of the conference is to make TDTU one of the hubs in Vietnam for discussion of new research in these areas.
The conference is open-ended and will continue long afterwards, with consequences that will shape ongoing research. As such, the papers presented are not only about new results, so much about new ways of going about getting those results and discussing those results – fostering a culture of research in the Universities that are open to the experience of social change, the challenges of the times and globally, shifting the locus of advanced research towards the region again, so that perhaps we will begin to arrest the so-called brain-drain where so much budding talent leaves the country for several, sometimes many, years . The conference will be part of a much-needed boost to refresh the social sciences and humanities.
The key point to make is: that with a number of regional delegates – India, Indonesia, Taiwan, the Philippines – and a number of wider international guests – from the USA, Europe and Australia – this conference can be a crucial establishing part of the project of making Vietnam, and TDTU, a key hub in the region for discussions about innovative research in the social sciences and humanities – highly appropriate then that this conference will be held at TDTU – a young university, able to do things in a creative and exciting new way.
Trinketization 
