New Scholarship On Champa
Call For Papers
on
New Scholarship On Champa
5-6 August 2004
organised by
Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore
Modern studies of Champa commenced with and reached an apogee under
French scholars (particularly those of l'École franacaise de
l'Extreme-Orient) in the late 19th century and early part of the 20th
century. The names of these scholars Aymonier, Cabaton, Finot, Parmentier,
Maspero, Coeda's, Mus, Claeys, Stein, Stern, and Boisselier -- still
resound today. But after them came a period of stagnation lasting almost
half a century. As a result, there is still a great lack of understanding
of Champa in the global academy and the position of Champa in the historiography
of Southeast Asia remains ambiguous.
There has, however, been a recent resurgence in research. Following
some tentative steps following the end of the Vietnam War, Champa studies
revived dramatically in the mid-1980s. Since then, not only in France
and Vietnam (where scholars of Cham origin reside), but also in Japan,
Malaysia, Australia and the UK, new studies related to Champa have been
conducted with new frameworks and sources. The early scholars of Champa
studies in the early 20th century would not recognize the issues being
addressed by the most recent research -- continuity and discontinuity
between Sa Huynh culture and Lin-yi, export ceramics, early modern Champa,
and cultural interactions and overlaps with surrounding polities and
peoples including those of Dai Viet. The views of those earlier scholars
on political structures, maritime trade, foreign relations, architecture
and sculpture, religions etc, are also ripe for reassessment.
Where stands the field of Champa studies today? What new research is
being conducted? What are the major issues engaging scholars of the
Champa past? Where is this research heading? And how are Champa studies
to be positioned in the developing field of Southeast Asian studies?
These are just some of the questions which this symposium aims to address.
The study of Champa opens up wide avenues for research, in terms of
the geographical/ ecological settings and the economy, the origin and
the nature of the polity (polities?) over time, language and ethnicity,
the character of artistic traditions and architecture, interactions
with other polities and societies to the north, south and west, its
maritime links with island Southeast Asia, sources materials (inscriptions,
manuscripts, Chinese sources etc.), historiography, the traditional
cultures of Cham people, as well as many broader issues relating to
the historical evolution of Southeast Asia. To address these issues,
the Asia Research Institute in Singapore is convening this symposium
in August 2004. Expressions of interest are invited from potential paper-givers
who are engaged in new research on Champa in any field and discipline
and who wish to contribute a paper on any of the issues. The two-day
symposium will be followed by an optional, self-funded seven-day trip
to Vietnam to visit the major Champa sites.
An abstract of approximately 500 words should be submitted together
with a short CV and contact details by 15 January 2004 using the attached
form <http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/docs/forms/fm_champa.doc>
. We are intending a small gathering, and some financial support may
be available for accepted participants. Authors whose papers are selected
for presentation will be notified by 1 February 2004. Full papers from
accepted participants will be required by 7 July 2004, so that they
can be circulated to other participants before the symposium. Selected
papers will be considered for publication in a symposium volume.
Publication of Conference Proceedings
It is the organizerser's intentions to facilitate the publication of
papers presented at the conference through an edited volume. The organizersers
therefore request first rights of refusal to include papers accepted
for presentation at the conference in this publication.
Queries on the symposium should be directed to:
Ms Shalini Chauhan (arisc@nus.edu.sg)
Asia Research Institute
Level 4, AS7 Shaw Foundation Building
5 Arts Link
National University of Singapore
Singapore 117570
Phone: (65) 6874 7270
Fax: (65) 6779 1428
Or to members of the Organising Committee:
Tran Ky Phuong (kychi@dng.vnn.vn)
Momoki Shiro (momoki@let.osaka-u.ac.jp)
John Miksic (seajnm@nus.edu.sg)
Geoff Wade (arigpw@nus.edu.sg)
Please visit http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/conf2004/champa.htm again for future updates.
Warm regards
___________________________
Shalini Chauhan
Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore
Level 4, Shaw Foundation Building AS7
5 Arts Link,
Singapore 117570
Tel: +65 6874 7270
Fax: +65 6779 1428