Scholars attending the Forum in Beijing
The Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) of Tsinghua University held the Second Tsinghua Area Studies Forum: Areas of the World and World in the Areas, 5th–7th July 2021 in Beijing. The Forum was jointly organized by the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies of University of Exeter, Leiden Asia Center, Kyoto University Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Middle East Center of University of Oxford, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS), Faculty of Economic and Political Sciences of Shahid Beheshti University, Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, Yunnan University Institute of International Relations, and African Studies Center of East China Normal University. More than 100 scholars from over 30 Chinese and overseas colleges and universities attended the online and offline sessions of the Forum, addressing both region-specific and common issues in all aspects and from multiple perspectives.
Prof. Yang Guang, HRH Prince Turki Alfaisal and Prof. Qian Chengdan delivered speeches
Zhou Yan, Assistant Professor of IIAS chaired the opening ceremony held at Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing. The IIAS Director Professor Yang Guang, KFCRIS Chairman HRH Prince Turki AlFaisal, PKUIAS Director Professor Qian Chengdan and THU Executive Vice President Professor Wang Xiqin delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.
Prof. Wang Xiqin stressed that area studies should go beyond boundary of time, space and disciplines; that is, it must take interdisciplinary perspectives to understand histories of the regions and countries under research and put them in broader regional and peripheral situations. According to Wang, regional modeling needs to take into consideration economic, political, cultural, social and ecological issues, for better achieved results of area studies. In addition, Prof. Wang appreciated the IIAS’s achievements and called for continuous efforts from the teachers and students to seek common ground in differences and as high-caliber researchers, to contribute to building a community of shared future for mankind.
THU Executive Vice President Prof. Wang Xiqin delivered a speech
Keynote speeches were delivered at the opening ceremony by SEM-THU Dean Professor Bai Chong’en on “the area studies from the perspective of economics”; by Professor Timothy Power, Head of Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, on “the new paradigms of area studies”; by Tenured Professor Shen Zhihua of the Department of History of East China Normal University, on “the area studies from the perspective of history”; by Professor Bernard Haykel from the Department of Near Eastern Studies of Princeton University on “the challenges for cross-regional studies in the Middle East”; and by Professor Jing Yuejin from the Department of Political Science, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, on “the area studies from the perspective of political science”.
Prof. Bai Chong’en, Prof. Timothy Power, Prof. Shen Zhihua, Prof. Bernard Haykel and Prof. Jing Yuejin delivered keynote speeches
Sessions on Eurasia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean as well as on common issues were held from the afternoon of 5th July to the morning of 7th July. The invited scholars explored issues of such as identity politics and colonialism.
Sessions of the Forum
The closing ceremony was held on the afternoon of 7th July at the Reception Hall in the Central Main Building, Tsinghua University, and chaired by Shi Jing, Assistant Professor of IIAS. Professor Zhou Qing’an from Tsinghua School of Journalism and Communications chaired the talk session, in which Professor Bi Shihong from Yunnan University Institute of International Relations, Associate Professor Guo Jie from the School of International Studies of Peking University, Associate Professor Wang Xu from the Department of South Asian Studies of Peking University, Associate Professor Zhang Xin from the Center for Russian Studies of East China Normal University, Assistant Research Professor Wang Haowu from the CASS Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, and Associate Professor Wang Suolao from PKU Institute of Area Studies were invited to speak, summing up what had been achieved in discussions of the Forum.
Invited speakers at the closing ceremony
CAS Academician Gu Binglin, Chairman of IIAS Council delivered a speech at the closing ceremony. He appreciated the Forum’s taking interdisciplinary approaches to issues relating to individual yet interconnected areas. He was happy to see both renowned scholars and young researchers on the Forum, who have been dedicated to their academic career, cherishing integrity and scholarship and with an open-mind. Gu encouraged scholars of area studies to make friends with local people and become contributory participants in building a community of shared future for mankind. What’s more, Gu called the scholars of area studies to promote the development of area studies as a discipline.
CAS Academician Gu Binglin delivered a speech
Vice President Peng Gang of Tsinghua University appreciated IIAS’s achievements in talent fostering and academic research against the background of fast-developing area studies across China. Emphasizing the expertise in an individual country or region, Peng placed stress on understanding of history and broader world and on knowledge and judgment of issues outside the specialized field. He called for concerted efforts from scholars of area studies to promote the disciplinary development in which reliable results of research play the decisive role.
Vice President Peng Gang of Tsinghua University delivered a speech
In his closing speech, Tim Niblock, a member of the IIAS Academic Committee and the Emeritus Professor of University of Exeter suggested the Forum pay closer attention to players in developing countries, listen to developing countries and focus on the intellectual and thoughts in those countries.
Prof. Tim Niblock delivered a speech at the closing ceremony
The three-day 2021 Tsinghua Area Studies Forum explored “Areas of the World and World in the Areas” across regions and disciplines. The attendees held in-depth, open discussions on multiple topics online and offline and gained abundant academic insights.
The Tsinghua Area Studies Forum has been initiated by the Institute for International and Area Studies of Tsinghua University. Abiding by the principles of academic freedom, professional objectivity, equality and scholarly autonomy, the Forum aims to create an academic platform for exchanging ideas, research works and methodologies in the field of area studies, and to help scholars from around the world to gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of regional changes, development and the root causes of ongoing problems in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Forum aims to amplify the academic voice of scholars from Asia, Africa and Latin America and to facilitate mutual inspiration and coherent development in the countries of these regions.
The theme of the 1st Forum held in 2019 was “Innovating New Approaches to Common Challenges in Asia, Africa and Latin America”, and 123 scholars from around the world attended 24 sessions of the Forum. The papers were published as Tsinghua Area Studies Forum Proceedings titled “Area Studies: New Realities, New Conceptions” in both Chinese and English.
Text by: Dong Hui
Reviewed by: Liu Jing
