The 19th International Conference of the International Society for Chinese Philosophy (ISCP), on the theme “Chinese Philosophy in the Contemporary World (中國哲學與當代世界),” will be held July 21–24, 2015, at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Information on the conference and the Call for Papers can be found below, and also at http://phil.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/iscp.
Conference Theme
The theme of the conference is the development of Chinese philosophy in the contemporary context. It includes subthemes in contemporary developments in the academic study of Chinese philosophy, such as:
- modern interpretations of topics in Chinese traditions of thought, such as notions of the self and views of human nature;
- new directions of inquiry related to Chinese philosophy, such as the current state of the study of excavated texts; or
- ways in which Chinese philosophy is studied and taught in different regions of the world.
It also includes subthemes in the relevance of Chinese traditions of thought to contemporary society, such as:
- their influences on contemporary society and politics;
- Confucian learning and education in China; or
- Confucian filial piety and modern family.
Since one important dimension of the contemporary development of Chinese philosophy is the dialogue across different academic or cultural communities, subthemes in comparative studies are also included, such as:
- the study of Chinese philosophy in relation to phenomenology, post-modernism, or Anglo American philosophy;
- ways in which a specific topic, such as gender roles or life and death, is viewed in Chinese and other non-Chinese traditions; or
- methodological issues in comparative studies.
The conference seeks to promote lively dialogue among presenters and audiences so as to facilitate free exchange of ideas and stimulation of new directions of inquiry. It will include a number of organized panel sessions in addition to sessions with individual papers.
Languages
The official languages at the conference will be Chinese and English.
Organizers
International Society for Chinese Philosophy
Department of Philosophy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Timeline
Registration: November 30, 2014 to May 31, 2015
Submission of panel or paper proposals: by November 30, 2014
Communication of acceptance: by January 31, 2015
Submission of full papers: by May 15, 2015
Registration: by May 31, 2015
Call for Papers
Organized Panels
Each organized panel is proposed by an individual scholar who acts as the organizer for the panel. The organizer will determine a common topic on which two or more presenters will speak, and will identify a chair (who may also be a presenter or a commentator) as well as one or more commentators for the panel. The organizer will ensure cohesion of the panel by, for example, encouraging the presenters to share their papers at early stages of their preparation, and ensuring that the commentator(s) receives the full papers at least two months before the conference. A proposed panel maybe of 1.5-hour or 2-hour duration, and may take the following form.
1.5- hour panel: Two presenters each speaking for 20–25 minutes, with one commentator speaking for up to 10 minutes, allowing at least 30 minutes for discussion.
2-hour panel: Three presenters each speaking for 20–25 minutes, with one commentator speaking for up to 15 minutes, allowing at least 30 minutes for discussion.
Organizers are encouraged to explore other formats that will encourage lively dialogue and audience participation within one of these two time frames. Some examples are:
- one presenter with a number of discussants commenting on the presented paper;
- a roundtable discussion with a larger number of presenters speaking for 10–15 minutes each on a common topic, such as methodological issues in comparative studies or issues related to the teaching of Chinese philosophy in an English speaking context;
- an author-meets-critics session starting with two critics commenting on a recently published book followed by response from the author; one variant is to have two presenters commenting, from the perspective of Chinese philosophical traditions, on a Western philosophical monograph, followed by response from the author;
- a number of presenters commenting on a recently published paper, followed by response from the author of the paper.
Proposals for organized panels will be submitted by the organizer, and will include:
- the title of the panel,
- the name, affiliation, and contact information of each participant,
- a description of the panel of about 250–300 words, and
- an abstract of each of the papers of about 250–300 words.
For panels with alternate formats, please also describe the format and indicate the time duration of each presentation, ensuring that each paper presentation will not take more than 20–25 minutes and that at least 30 minutes are set aside for discussion involving the audience.
Individual Papers
Individual papers may be submitted by any scholar, though scholars who know of others who share their interest in a topic are encouraged to organize a panel around the topic. Presentation of individual papers is limited to 20–25 minutes, and papers on related topics will be grouped into 1.5- or 2-hour sessions. Where appropriate, after receiving all the full papers by May 15, 2015, the program committee may group two or three papers into a panel as described above and include a commentator in the session. This assumes that the papers are sufficiently related in content and that a commentator can be identified among other scholars attending the conference.
For proposals of individual papers, please send an abstract of about 250–300 words along with name, affiliation, and contact information.
Inquiries and Other Information
The official languages at the conference will be Chinese and English. Unless indicated otherwise in the proposal, it will be assumed that the language in which a panel/paper proposal is submitted will also be the language in which the full papers will be prepared and presented at the conference.
Please send general inquiries, panel/paper proposals and full papers to:
iscphk2015@gmail.com
Other inquiries related to submissions, especially in relation to organized panels with an alternate format, may be directed to Prof. Shun Kwong-loi, chair of the Program Committee:
klshun@berkeley.edu
