East Asia in Global Liberal Studies: Interactions and Perspectives

Our presence in Shanghai for the 2024 Faculty Summer Symposium will provide Liberal Studies faculty with an opportunity to articulate the ways in which our curriculum and research intersect with East Asia, its societies and cultures. We invite examinations of how the idea of ‘East Asia’ emerges across cultural, historical, philosophical, political, artistic, scientific, literary, economic, religious, and environmental contexts. 

The symposium’s theme –  Interactions and Perspectives – encourages a critique of the historical dominance of the West and seeks to decenter Eurocentric narratives. In what ways can East Asian perspectives transform the LS/GLS curriculum and provide students and faculty with new pathways to knowledge production? What does it mean to teach about and learn from East Asia? Furthermore, what are the implications and responsibilities of having our students studying away in East Asia? What are the unique perspectives that have historically emerged and continue to emerge from the interactions between East Asia and the non-Western majority world?