The 3rd Tsinghua Area Studies Forum, hosted by the Institute for International and Area Studies (hereinafter referred to as “IIAS”) of Tsinghua University, was held from July 3 to 5, 2023, at Tsinghua University. With the theme of “Developing Countries in the Age of Uncertainties: Risks, Resilience and Interdependency”, the Forum was attended by more than 160 scholars from 35 countries, who had in-depth exchanges and discussions on regional and cross-regional topics.
Prof. Wang Xiqin, President of Tsinghua University delivered an opening speech at the Forum, and Vice President Peng Gang addressed the closing ceremony of the Forum. Prof. Jiang Jingkui, Executive Deputy Director of the IIAS delivered a welcome speech at the opening ceremony.
Speech by President Wang Xiqin
President Wang Xiqin noted in his speech that the past two editions of Tsinghua Area Studies Forum have facilitated the exchange and sharing of academic ideas and research outcomes, and the forum has become an important platform that connects scholars in the field of area studies from across the world, especially those from developing countries. The interweaving of profound changes unseen in a century and the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, and the accelerated evolution of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation have brought numerous uncertainties to the world. Countries, especially developing countries, hope that there will be more and stronger forces of certainty to maintain peace and stability of the world, promote a balanced recovery of the world economy and achieve more resilient global development. This year’s Forum, with the theme of “Developing Countries in the Age of Uncertainties: Risks, Resilience and Interdependency”, is of great practical significance to the world and China.
President Wang Xiqin expressed three expectations for this year’s forum: first, make good use the “catalyst” of multi-disciplinary integration to strengthen academic exchange and capture the dynamics of frontier academic research; second, actualize the philosophy of community with a shared future for mankind and promote exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations; third, actively advance the integration and unity of the academic community of area studies, and build a new paradigm of area studies with more vitality and inclusiveness. He hoped that scholars from across the world would take this forum as an opportunity to air their views and display their strengths, and provide constructive solutions for developing countries to tackle uncertainties; and the strength of various disciplines would be pooled in future research to step up global academic collaboration, facilitate faster and better development of area studies, and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Speech by Jiang Jingkui
On behalf of the IIAS, Executive Deputy Director Jiang Jingkui welcomed the experts and scholars and introduced the progress made by the Institute in academic research, journal publication and international exchanges. By sharing his understanding of area studies as a first-level discipline, Professor Jiang proposed that the development of area studies discipline covers two aspects, namely training of talents and studies of regions and countries. He highlighted that moving into a new era, the discipline of area studies should be committed to training high-level inter-disciplinary talents with global vision, Chinese perspective and in-depth knowledge of the target country/region, while studies of regions and countries should give prominence to basic research with long timeframe, stability and potential. He looked forward to all participants speaking freely at the forum and offering valuable suggestions to the study of developing countries and human development.
Keynote speeches by Tim Niblock, Sujata Patel, Dominic Sachsenmaier, and Wang Tingyi (from left to right, top to bottom)
Tim Niblock, Chair Professor at the IIAS and Emeritus Professor at the University of Exeter in the UK; Sujata Patel, Professor at the University of Hyderabad in India; Dominic Sachsenmaier, Professor at the University of Göttingen in Germany; and Wang Tingyi, Assistant Professor at the IIAS, delivered keynote speeches on “Creating a New Foundation for Area Studies”, “Indian Urbanity and Its Risks”, “Area Studies in an Age of Conflicted Globality” and “China’s Area Studies from a Global Perspective: Issues, Challenges and Development”, respectively.
This year’s forum consists of 31 panels in 7 segments, including Southeast Asian studies, Latin American and the Caribbean studies, South Asian studies, Eurasian studies, Sub-Saharan African studies, West Asian and North African studies, and cross-regional studies. The participating scholars pursued in-depth discussions on such topics as local development and transition in Southeast Asia, reforms and challenges of social policy in Latin American countries, social governance and state-building in South Asia, sub-regional multidimensional conflicts in Eurasia, African political development in an age of change, the crisis and governance of state-building in West Asia and North Africa, and changing global economic order.
Roundtable discussion
After the conclusion of the panels, some scholars attended the roundtable discussion on “Methodology and Future Paradigms in Area Studies” in the afternoon of July 5. Chan Young Bang, President of KIMEP University in Kazakhstan; Anthony Black, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town in South Africa; Gao Bai, Professor at Duke University in the US; Yasuyuki Kono, Professor at Kyoto University in Japan; Lucio R. Renno, Associate Professor at the University of Brasilia in Brazil; and Michael J. Willlis, Professor at the University of Oxford in the UK, participated in the roundtable discussion and share their reflections on the future development of area studies.
Speech by Peng Gang
Fully affirming the significance of the forum, Vice President Peng Gang pointed out in his closing remarks that as area studies has been designated as a first-level discipline, it has demonstrated a vigorous momentum of development. Tsinghua University has been delivering promising results in its area studies, including training of talents and academic research. In this context, this year’s forum is set to become a new milestone in the development of Tsinghua’s area studies. Vice President Peng Gang shared his experience and views on the Forum characterized by “harmonious coexistence, harmony in diversity, and broadening knowledge while being selective in actions”. He noted that in the era full of uncertainties, it is more necessary to probe into the commonalities and differences among developing countries, promote common development through mutual learning, and deliver area studies outcomes with Chinese characteristics through open and inclusive dialogues, so as to push forward the progress of the academic community. He highlighted that efforts should be made to train area studies talents who are not only proficient in the local language of the target country and familiar with the cutting-edge academic theories and methodologies, but also committed to improving the knowledge of the developing country or region under study from the dimension of time, space and discipline and combining multi-disciplinary integration with in-depth field research, so as to apply theories to field research practices and broaden the boundaries of existing disciplines and knowledge. He also emphasized that one should be humble enough to recognize the boundaries of his/her own knowledge, but also be ambitious enough to push the boundaries of human knowledge.
Inauguration of the Youth Forum for Area Studies (YFAS)
The inauguration ceremony of the Youth Forum for Area Studies (YFAS) was held at the closing ceremony of the Forum. Prof. Zhou Qingan, Secretary-General of YFAS Secretariat and Professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, delivered a speech on behalf of the Secretariat.
Tsinghua Area Studies Forum, initiated by the Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) of Tsinghua University, is committed to building an international academic platform for area studies where scholars from all countries share their academic ideas, scientific research outcomes and research methods, and thus gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the root causes of the changes, development and problems in developing areas. The forum seeks to amplify the voice of scholars from developing countries, facilitate mutual inspiration among these scholars, and advance common development in all countries and regions. The first and second editions of the forum were successfully held in 2019 and 2021 under the theme of “Innovating New Approaches to Common Challenges in Asia, Africa and Latin America” and “Areas of the World and the World in Areas”, respectively, and attracted a total of 257 outstanding scholars from different regions, with 47 panels held and a collection of forum proceedings in Chinese and English published.
