CfP: The 22nd EATS Annual Conference at the Palacky University Olomouc on 20–22 June 2025

Conference Theme: Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific

Deadline: 31 October 2024 (for both regular and MA panels).
Results: will be published around 15 March 2025.
Young Scholar Award: the deadline for submission is 31 October 2024.
Please note there will also be a poster presentation, the deadline being 31 October 2024.

Organising institution

The conference will be organised by the EUVIP team. EUVIP – The EU in the Volatile Indo-Pacific Region – is a project (2023–2025) funded under the Horizon Europe programme coordinated by Palacky University Olomouc. The project brings together four European universities and several external partners to raise awareness of the strategic, political and economic significance of the Indo-Pacific region for Europe.

At the Palacky University Olomouc, EUVIP is affiliated with the Department of Asian Studies, an institution engaged in teaching and research activities focused primarily on contemporary languages and cultures of the Asian region with an emphasis on China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Vietnam. It was founded in 1991 and is the largest department of Asian studies in Czechia in terms of academic and student numbers. The department has a long history of cooperation with various Taiwanese universities, including National Taiwan Normal University, National Chengchi University, National Taiwan University, Providence University, Tunghai University and National Tsing Hua University. It regularly hosts Taiwanese lecturers who conduct their internships there, and students benefit from various scholarship programmes in Taiwan. Since 2022, the department has established a Taiwan Corner on its premises, constantly hosting Taiwanese academics to give lectures, access to a library and various information sources.

Local Organiser

Kristina Kironska, who proposed bringing the conference to Olomouc in 2025, is an Assistant Professor at the Palacky University, and since 2023 she has served as a Board Member of the European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS). She works on Taiwan-related International Relations and human rights topics. She heads the EU–TW Tracker project and is the author of Asian Champion: All you need to know about contemporary Taiwan (2022) (in Slovak, soon to be published also in English by Routledge). She is currently working on an edited volume on Tsai Ing-wen’s two terms in office.

Conference theme

In the past decade, the Indo-Pacific has become a geopolitical and geo-economic focal point. At the heart of this vast region, at East Asia’s crossroads, lies Taiwan, whose significance reaches beyond its geographical boundaries. Against a backdrop of Sino–US rivalry and rising security challenges, the quest for a rules-based order in the region resonates with a need to uphold the principles of multilateralism and cooperation between various players. The West and the democratic Indo-Pacific nations thereby acknowledge Taiwan as a like-minded partner, even if their degree of political, economic and security collaboration with Taipei varies. Moreover, Taiwan plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of the Indo-Pacific region and is a thriving innovation hub. Delving into the complexities of Taiwan’s engagement with the Indo-Pacific provides an excellent opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the contemporary dynamics of this region. On the other hand, the intense interest in exploring the geopolitical and geo-economic (re)configuration of the Indo-Pacific region cannot be pursued in full without attending to its historical construction. The
contemporary naming and framing of the region is a critical reminder of the historical entanglement between European colonialism and indigenous agency, including that of the Indigenous Peoples in the settler societies. In this light, Taiwan, sitting on a busy trading route linking the ‘East’ and ‘West’, with its colonial legacy and multi-ethnic composition, is an under-studied case that has rich potential to demonstrate the complexities of the region.

Suggested topics (but not restricted to):

• Taiwan as a like-minded partner in the Indo-Pacific for Europe and beyond
• Taiwan as a point of contention between the US and China
• Cross-strait relations (politics, economics and culture)
• Taiwan and its allies in the Indo-Pacific
• The New Southbound Policy and its relations with Southeast Asia and beyond
• The study of island and archipelago as an epistemological method
• Labour, marriage and refuge migration
• Taiwan’s assistance with Green Revolution in Southeast Asia and Africa
• Literary and audiovisual representations of neighbouring countries in Taiwanese media and art
• Film co-productions between Taiwan and East Asian countries
• Aesthetics and environment of the region presented in art, music, theatre, literature and films
• Experiences of Taiwanese travellers/workers/migrants/expats in Southeast Asia and beyond in the form of literary works, films, reportage, comics or blogs
• Indigenous Peoples and their cultural-linguistic connection with peoples in the region
• Maritime exploration of the waters surrounding Taiwan and overlapping territorial claims

To provide a diverse range of perspectives, the conference invites researchers from various backgrounds
and disciplines to share their studies in the aforementioned fields and beyond. We welcome research
papers across all periods, aiming to understand both the current situations and the progress made over
time.

More information at https://eats-taiwan.eu/conference/eats-conference-2025/.