Global Asia in the Digital Age Symposium

April 4-5, 2025

Hybrid: Watson Library (West 3 Wing) & Online

Free. Registration required.

Open to the Public.

REGISTRATION 

• In person

• Online

OVERVIEW

This two-day symposium examines the transformative role of digital technologies across various domains, from education to creative expression and activism, through the analytical lens of Global Asia. By framing the digital age within the interconnected and transnational contexts of Asia, this perspective highlights how regional and global dynamics intersect to shape technological adoption and innovation. 

The panels delve into the use of digital tools such as AI, network analysis, and 3D printing in higher education, creative fields, and activism in China, South Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.  

By using Global Asia as a conceptual framework, this interdisciplinary exploration reveals the dual potential of digital tools to inspire innovation and provoke critical questions about their societal impacts. It offers a nuanced understanding of how technology shapes learning, creativity, and activism in a rapidly changing world, while also foregrounding the role of Asia in rapidly changing world due to the advancement of digital technologies. 

[Link to Day 2 schedule]

FRIDAY, April 4, 2025  |  9:00 A.M. - 5:30 P.M

9:00 A.M.  Registration & morning refreshments  

9:30 A.M.  Welcome  

Dr. Akiko Takeyama, Director, Center for East Asian Studies and Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Kansas   

9:45 -11 A.M.  Keynote Speech, “AI Use in Cultural Production: Shifting Asian Digital Culture” by Dr. Dal Yong Jin, Distinguished Professor, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University (Virtual) 

In the early 21st century, Asian cultural creators and cultural industries firms have advanced AI use to produce cultural content across various cultural forms, including film, music, gaming, and animation. This talk discusses the development and significance of AI from a historical development in Asia. It addresses the growth of AI related to the key characteristics of the different stages of cultural production in the Asian cultural sphere. 

11:15-12:45 A.M. Panel 1, Digital Technologies in the Classroom: A Global Perspective  (W3W and Online)

This panel explores the transformative impact of digital technologies on college teaching. Presenters from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, including Chinese literature, Korean history, and Japanese history, will discuss innovative pedagogical approaches that leverage digital tools to enhance student learning. Topics will range from the development of digital humanities curricula to the practical application of advanced technologies like network analysis, 3D printing, and AI. By sharing their experiences and insights, panelists will shed light on the potential of digital tools to revolutionize higher education and foster a more engaging and effective learning environment.  

Chair: Dr. Maya Stiller, Associate Professor, Kress Foundation Department of Art History, University of Kansas 

Panelists 

• Dr. Paul Vierthaler, Assistant Professor, East Asian Studies, Princeton University, “Teaching East Asian Digital Humanities in the age of Large Language Models: Reflections on a rapidly developing field” 

• Dr. Hyeok Hwon Kang, Assistant Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, Washington University in St. Louis, “Digital Chosŏn: 3D Modeling and Virtual Exhibitions”(virtual) 

• Dr. Paula Curtis, Operations Leader, Japan Past & Present, Asian Languages & Cultures, UCLA, “The Classroom, the Curriculum, and the Consultant: Reflections on Supply and Demand in East Asian Studies DH" 

12:45 – 1:45 P.M.  Lunch  Break  

2:00 -3:30 P.M.  Panel 2, Digital technologies and activism in East Asia (W3W and Online)

This panel discusses the use of digital technologies for communication in social movements in East and Southeast Asia. The speakers with research focus on different aspects of activist communication will share insights on how digital technologies are transforming the way activists communicate with a goal to foster change in China, South Korea, and Vietnam. The panel will delve into three main topics of discussion including (1) the dynamics of feminism and the #MeToo movement in China, focusing on how online platforms have become vital for raising awareness and fostering solidarity among activists; (2) networked activism in South Korea, where digital tools have empowered citizens to rapidly mobilize and challenge social injustices; and (3) the influence of social media on environmental movements in Vietnam, highlighting how digital communication amplifies voices advocating for sustainability and environmental protection. 

Chair: Dr. Akiko Takeyama, Director, Center for East Asian Studies and Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Kansas 

Panelists 

• Dr. Siyuan Yin, Assistant Professor, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University, “Digital Feminism in China: Social media as sites of contestation over feminisms” (virtual) 

• Dr. Hyunjin Seo, Associate Professor, School of Journalism & Mass Communications, University of Kansas, “Networked Collective Actions in South Korea”  

• Dr. Hong Vu, Associate Professor, School of Journalism & Mass Communications, University of Kansas, “Social media and environmental activism in Vietnam”  

3:45 -5:15 P.M.  Panel 3, On the Blurry Cutting Edge: Literary Creativity at the Intersection of Technology and Art (W3W and Online)

This panel explores how emerging digital technologies are reshaping creative expression, blurring conventional boundaries between creator, tool, and medium. Advancements in artificial intelligence offer unprecedented tools for creativity, while also facilitating complex multimedia collaborations and generating new aesthetic forms. At the same time, these tools raise questions about various critical matters, such as reconceptualizations of originality and authorship, algorithmic bias, and the potential homogenization of creative output. How is creative expression impacted by recent developments in digital technology? What possibilities and limitations do particular technologies bring to creative expression in the realms of literature and performance? Drawing upon their expertise in Japanese studies and comparative literature, three panelists will explore these and other questions through nuanced case studies in narrative-making, translation, and performance.   

Chair: Dr. Linda Galvane, Assistant Professor, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Kansas 

Panelists: 

• Dr. Jon Abel, Professor of Comparative Literature and Japanese, Asian Studies Department, Pennsylvania State University, “Posting the Future in the Present: How Imagination is Manifest” 

• Dr. Thomas McDonald, Lecturer, East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Kansas, “Babel Again? AI, Architecture, and the Containment of the Japanese Language in Tokyo Sympathy Tower” 

• Dr. Aragorn Quinn, Associate Professor, Foreign Languages and Literature, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, “When Gods and Avatars Dance: Holograms, Kabuki, and the New Performative Frontier” 

5:15 P.M. Closing Remarks