Call for Papers
2027 Joint
Conference of EAAA, EAMAN, SEAA, and TSMA in Taiwan
Rethinking
Humanity from East Asia:
AI, Aging, and Changing Conditions of Life
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
June
12-13, 2027
Re-emphasizing humanity in
anthropological research has critical and timely intellectual merit in an era
defined by profound technological, demographic, political, and environmental
transformations. Among these unfolding changes, artificial intelligence is
reshaping human cognition and social structures; population aging is redefining
family networks, inter-generational equity, care economies, and institutional
sustainability; and other systemic shifts—ranging from environmental crises to
geopolitical tensions—are also transforming conditions of life. All of these
pose a fundamental challenge to established frameworks and conceptions of human
existence.
East Asia offers a valuable empirical and epistemological vantage point on these dramatic transformations. The region has rapidly emerged as a site of high-tech innovation and manufacturing, interrelated yet highly competitive governance regimes, and super-aging societies with unprecedented demographic and care challenges. Here, shared and diverse historical, cultural, and social trajectories continuously cross paths, underscoring heterogeneous trajectories and regional formations. As one of the world's most dynamic yet vulnerable regions, East Asia provides a crucial lens through which to interrogate the present and future of humanity. By foregrounding our shared interests, this unprecedented gathering of four anthropology associations aims to forge new perspectives for understanding global humanity in an increasingly unsettled age.
This joint conference brings together sociocultural and medical anthropologists alongside scholars from related disciplines across East Asia, North America, and beyond. While we share a foundation in anthropological theory and methodology, our participants bring diverse regional insights, analytical frameworks, and research agendas. Engaging with this historical moment, the joint gathering provides a platform for multivocal debate, critical dialogue, and cross-regional exchange.
We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners from anthropology and adjacent disciplines—including health, medicine, bioethics, sociology, history, social work, STS, digital humanities, and related fields—to submit individual paper or panel proposals. Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, the following broad themes:
Theme 1: AI, Technoscience, and
Post-Human Ontologies
•
Generative AI, digital technology, and the transformation of network societies
•
Philosophical and ethical implications of AI
•
Data surveillance, algorithmic governance, and digital citizenship
•
High-tech labor regimes, automated surveillance, cognitive exhaustion, and the
future of work
•
Human-robot interaction, affective care, transhumanism, and post-human boundaries
•
Intimacy, anxiety, hope, and human agency in sociotechnical imaginaries
•
Technology-driven capital concentration, market monopolies, and economic
disparities
Theme
2: Aging, Care Infrastructures, and Intergenerational Futures
•
Socio-economic, political, and cultural dynamics of rapidly aging societies
•
Rethinking relationality: kinship, solitude, eldercare, telecare, and community
(re)building
•
The political economy of aging, labor shortages, and global care migrations
•
Bioethics, end-of-life decision-making, and the redefinition of dignity across
life stages
•
Complementary and alternative medicine, healing practices, and spiritual
cosmologies in super-aged societies
•
Policies and constraints of active/successful aging, mobility, and age-friendly
urbanism
•
Built environments, environmental syndemics, and local mutual-aid networks
Theme
3: Changing Conditions of Life, Ecology, and Precarity
•
Anthropocene realities: climate crisis, environmental degradation, and
multispecies survival
•
Precarity among youth, labor conditions, social inequality, mental health, and
hyper-competitive social systems
•
Urbanization, spatial transformations, and living environments under
demographic shifts
•
Resilience, solidarity, and social movements focused on human flourishing
•
Life, identity, and displacement under geopolitical tensions and armed
conflicts
•
Social impacts of emergent infectious diseases, chronic illnesses, and changing
notions of well-being
•
Engaged anthropology and institutional ethics: re-envisioning anthropology’s
futures, inter-generational mentoring, and academic responsibility in times of
precarity and algorithmic transition
1.
Panel submission: organizers
must submit the panel proposal together with all panelists’ abstracts. Before
submitting, please ensure you have gathered the following from each panelist
Panel
Size: 3 to 5 papers (original research papers
or case studies). Maximum 5 papers (including discussant/optional).
o Panel Title & Abstract (English: 150–200
words)
o 3–5 Panel Keywords
o Organizer’s Name, Affiliation, and Position
Title
o All Panelists’ Paper Titles & Abstracts
for 3–5 Papers (Chinese: 250–300 words; English: 150–200 words each)
o 3–5 Keywords per paper
o All Panelists’ and discussant’s Names,
Affiliations, Position Titles (Students please specify institution and degree
program)
o Registration receipt
numbers of all panelists
2.
Individual
Paper Submission: For
multi-authored individual papers, the first (primary) author must submit the
abstract on behalf of all co-authors. Before submitting,
please ensure you have gathered the following from all co-authors:
Paper Types: Original
research papers or clinical/practical case studies.
Required
Information / 需提供資料：
o Paper Title & Abstract (Chinese: 250–300
words; English: 150–200 words)
o 3–5 Keywords
o Author’s Name, Affiliation, Position Title
(Students please specify institution and degree program)
o Registration receipt
number(s) of the first author and attending co-author(s)
3. Language:
o The primary language of the joint conference is English.
o While participants are strongly encouraged to present in English to foster cross-regional exchange, a limited number of presentations in Chinese may be accommodated for TSMA members.
o Please note that there will be no interpretation services at the conference.
4. Submission Limits:
o Each participant may be listed as the first (primary) author on only one paper abstract.
o Each applicant may submit only one panel proposal as the organizer.
o Submitting more than one abstract under the same category is strictly prohibited and may result in the automatic rejection of all submissions involved.
5. Registration: Registration fee payment is required prior to proposal
submission. Submissions without a completed fee payment will be deemed
incomplete and will not proceed to the review stage.
If there are co-authors of a paper, only those who will attend the conference
are required to register.
(1) Registration Receipt Number: Once
you have successfully completed the registration/payment, you will
automatically receive an email with a receipt as an attachment. Within that
attachment, you will find your "Receipt Number " (a serial number
starting with the two letters "TW"). Make sure you have that number
ready before you begin to submit.
(2) Refund Policy: Registration
fees are non-refundable for personal reasons.
However, if a submission is not accepted and the author chooses not to attend
the conference, a full refund may be requested within 30 days of receiving the rejection notice. Refund requests submitted
after this deadline cannot be accommodated, as operational and administrative
expenses will have already been incurred.
(3) Rates & Inclusions: The registration fee is NT$3,000 (approx. 90–100, subject to exchange rate fluctuations) for non-students and NT$1,500 for students. The registration fee includes the welcome reception on June 12 and lunches on June 12–13. Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation expenses.
6.
Registration and Submission Portals:
l Deadline:
January 31, 2027
l
Two
steps:
Step 1: Registration and Payment
https://twmedanthro.oen.tw/project/page/3K5fHiAIZiRaJk341RSuc3l5mOz
Step 2: Paper or Panel Submission
https://forms.gle/CLZBt61Vh4H75cQYA
7. Accommodation: A limited number of rooms (60 single and 40 double)
have been reserved at the Academia Sinica Guesthouse, with
current rates at NT$ 1,700 and NT$ 1,900 per night, respectively. Booking
details will be announced next year (approx. 2 months after the abstract
submission deadline). Attendees interested in staying on campus are advised to watch
for this update, as rooms will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Due to limited capacity, most participants will need to arrange their own
off-campus accommodations.
8. Cultural
Field Visits: Further details regarding the optional
post-conference cultural field visits will be announced within 2–3 months
following the abstract submission deadline.
We
look forward to your submission for joining the 2027 Joint Conference of EAAA,
EAMAN, SEAA, and TSMA in Taipei!
2027
Joint Conference of EAAA, EAMAN, SEAA, and TSMA in Taiwan
Rethinking Humanity from East Asia: AI, Aging, and Changing
Conditions of Life
Time: June 12-13, 2027 (Sat. &
Sun.)
Venue: Institute of Ethnology, Academia
Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
Organizers:
Taiwan
Society for Medical Anthropology, TSMA
Institute
of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, IOE
Co-organizers:
East
Asian Anthropological Association, EAAA
East
Asian Medical Anthropology Network, EAMAN
Society
for East Asian Anthropology of American Anthropological Association, SEAA
Contact:
Organizing
Committee Chair: Dr. Shao-hua Liu
Taiwan
Society for Medical Anthropology, TSMA (臺灣醫療人類學學會)
TSMA
Website: https://www.medanthro.org.tw/
TSMA
Email: twmedanthro@gmail.com