International Conference: Pan-Movements, Regeneration and Modernity (29 October 2024)

Members of this group may be interested in the following conference, which may be followed online. Registration is needed to receive the meeting link: https://event.ugent.be/registration/event/89430443-ec0a-4dd1-8d2c-d3dfb82ad014

Pan-Movements, Regeneration, and Modernity (29 October 2024)

This conference investigates the global development of pan-movements from the late nineteenth century to the interwar period, including pan-Africanism, pan-Asianism, pan-Europeanism, pan-Islamism, pan-Latinism, and pan-Slavism. These movements aimed to shape communities beyond the borders of individual nation-states, comprising individuals of different nationalities who allegedly shared a common history, race, religion, and needed to engage in a common historical mission. Building on recent scholarship across various pan-ideologies, the conference will examine how localized pan-movements contributed to a global discourse on regeneration and identity in modernity. Scholars from diverse disciplines will discuss the intersections between (trans)nationalism, (anti-)imperialism, and globalization, investigating how pan-movements attempted to redefine identities in a rapidly changing world.

Provisional program. All times are in CET

9:00 – Welcome

9:15-9:30 – Introduction

9:30-11:00 – Session 1

  • Wim Coudenys (KU Leuven) – Religious Universalism + Linguistic Nationalism = Pan-***ism? The Case of the ‘Comité catholique de propaganda française’ During and After the First World War
  • Orsolya Sild (Eötvös Loránd University) – The Influence of Pan-Finno-Ugrism and Pan-Turanism on Contemporary Education: Teaching Practices and Beliefs of Hungarian Educators Regarding the Origin of the Hungarian Language
  • Francesca Zantedeschi (University of Amsterdam) – Latinity and Pan-Germanism: National Stereotypes in French Scholarly Discourse During WWI

11:00-11:30 – Coffee break

11:30-13:00 – Session 2

  • Paride Stortini (Ghent University) – Bridging Asianisms Through Hindu Mythology: Rash Behari Bose’s Ramayana in Wartime Japan
  • Francesco Campagnola (University of Lisbon) – Renaissance, fukkō and Pan-Asianism in Japan
  • Andreas Niehaus (Ghent University) – Pan-Asianism in Japanese Martial Arts

13:00-14:00 – Lunch break

14:00-15:30 – Session 3

  • Emanuele Cutinelli-Rendina (Université de Strasbourg) – Benedetto Croce: the Republic of Letters as the Soul of European Identity
  • Guylian Nemegeer (Ghent University) – Latinity, Modernity and Cultural Imperialism
  • Derek Robbins (University of East London) – On Otaka, Verdross and ‘World Association’

15:30-16:00 – Coffee break

16:00-17:30 – Session 4

  • Felicitas Maria Becker (Ghent University) – The Changing Scales of the ‘Umma’ for East African Muslims
  • Mattias Gori Olesen (Aarhus University) – Bohras in Fezzes: Dawoodi Bohras, the Indian Ocean and Egyptian Pan-Movements, 1880s-1980s
  • Cedric Van Dijck (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) – Black Internationalism in the Magazines, 1918-39

For more information, contact: Guylian Nemegeer (guylian.nemegeer@ugent.be) & Francesco Campagnola (francesco.campagnola@edu.ulisboa.pt)

Invite: Seminar on “Solving Grand Challenges with Transdisciplinary Research”

For scholars, founders, and executives — Grand challenges are wicked problems characterized by their global scope, high significance, and potential to be solvable. Potential to be solvable is important to emphasize. As Churchman remarked in 1968: “In principle, we have the technological capability of adequately feeding, sheltering [… and] providing adequate medical care [… as well as] sufficient education for every inhabitant of the world.” Why are we stuck here and how do we move forward?

This 10-week seminar offered by the Global Consortium for Systems Research (GCSR) is designed to help global leaders of today and tomorrow confidently combine transdisciplinary research methods with systems concepts to solve grand challenges. Through a range of readings, case discussions, presentations, reflections, and an optional 1:1 tutorial, the course will focus on (1) evaluating knowledge claims from a systems perspective, (2) identifying transdisciplinary methods to develop them, and (3) honing in on a solution space strategically.

The course uses an open-access book, deposited with the Knowledge Commons! 5 Ideas from Global Diplomacy: System-wide Transformation Methods to Close the Compliance Gap and Advance the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (Ground Zero Books LLC, 2024).

Find out more about the seminar here: https://unbuiltlabs.com/seminar-solving-grand-challenges-with-tdr

English as a global academic lingua franca

Although I promote bilingualism and function in Japanese in daily life, English-medium instruction has rapidly developed recently in universities worldwide. It was surprising to find that my work helping faculty members teach, present, and publish in English is on the cutting edge. It is reported in the recent paper “Meeting Global Faculty Development Needs in Japan” (I also helped translate it into Japanese ). Comments welcome.