The 2024 ASIANetwork Conference theme focuses on boundaries and boundary crossing in scholarship, art, teaching, service, and activism related to Asia. Looking to the past, this theme calls attention to the historical production and reproduction of boundaries of all sorts, challenging their assumed naturalness. It seeks to identify and share examples of intersection, marginality, and transcendence. Looking at the present, our theme ponders the possibility of moving beyond the classroom, beyond disciplines, beyond area studies, and beyond the academy altogether. It asks us to consider how our work on Asia can contribute to the promotion of social justice in a world fraught with tensions and divisions at nearly all levels, even as we all struggle to address global challenges like pandemics, climate change, and inequality. Looking toward the future, “Asia Beyond Boundaries” invites everyone to imagine something different, something new for ASIANetwork, Asian Studies, and beyond.

We encourage panels and individual papers exploring any aspect of the conference theme. Possible ideas or topics might include—but are not limited to—the following: 

• Accessibility in Asian Studies
• Asian Responses to Global Climate Change, Environmental Crises, or Health Crises
• Border Policing Among and Within Nations
• Decolonizing Asian Studies
• Experiential Education
• Identity and Intersectionality
• Interdisciplinary Approaches for Research and/or Teaching about Asia
• Inter/Trans-national Movements of Goods, People, and Ideas
• Marginalized Peoples, Concepts, or Issues
• Social Justice