2025 Texas Association for Asian American Diaspora Studies (TAAADS) Annual Symposium

"Rethinking Asian American Diaspora Studies: Relationality, Interconnected Struggles, Shared Histories"

Feb 28-March 1, 2025 at College Station, Texas A&M University

Submission: Please visit our website at tinyurl.com/taaads for the submission form

Abstract Deadline: Dec 31st, 2024

The relational turn in scholarship has signified, for many scholars, a shift in the way we
understand the formation of identity in the wake and afterlife of colonialism. Other scholars
take up relationality to destabilize the many dichotomies that proliferate Western thought, such
as subject/object, nature/culture, and human/non-human. This theoretical orientation has
brought into focus areas of research such as Afro-Asian studies, cross-racial intimacies, and
decolonialism, where understanding ourselves in relation to others and our environments have
provoked interesting questions. What does it look like to practice and theorize Asian American
Diaspora Studies (AADS) through a relational approach? What kinds of histories, kinships, and
socialities gain visibility through this orientation?

Given the ongoing genocide of Palestinians by the Israel-apartheid state and the Gaza
solidarity encampments led by students protesting the genocide globally, questions
surrounding frameworks of domination and our interconnectedness across struggles are more
urgent than ever. The material devastation of settler-colonialism and imperialism is glaringly
visible, which asks us to reconsider how everyday, institutional modes of knowledge production
constitute a world in which this violence is possible and exercised. It also prompts us to be
attentive to the multitude of ways we already resist this violence and radically inhabit the world.
How is AADS intertwined with complex histories of liberation and interrelated struggles?

Rethinking AADS not only implies an innovative approach to the future but also a critical
assessment of the present, even at times, reengaging with the past. Looking back to the 1960s
Asian American radical movement characterized by its coalitional politics, or the 1980s
groundbreaking anthologyfeaturing women of color, including Asian
American writers, we have long practiced and theorized “relationality.” Have we overcome the
question of “when and where we enter” and are ready to ask “who have we entered with”?

We invite scholars, including faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, activists, and
community members to engage broadly with the theme and critique of relationality from
various fields, disciplines, and areas of expertise including, but not limited to:

• Cross-racial solidarities/intimacies
• Kinship and community-making
• Comparative racialization
• Muslim and Arab studies
• BDS movement
• Militarism and police repression
• Student activism and coalition building
• Women, gender, and sexuality
• Transnational histories
• Traversing and mapping borders
• Current state of AADS and Ethnic Studies
• Texas policy and SB17
• Racial capitalism
• Decolonization and indigeneity
• Postcolonial and anticolonial theories
• Critical phenomenology
• Aesthetics and cultural production
• Affectivity, memory, and trauma studies
• Resistance in (in)visible movements

The 2025 symposium will be held entirely in person. 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Individual Paper:

• Abstracts should be no more than 250-300 words and uploaded in an anonymized single
  file
• Accepted authors will have 20 minutes to present during their session and will have a 10-
  minute comment and question period at the end

 Panel Discussion:

• Panel proposals should include a 300-400 word overview of the panel as a whole that
  describes the issues addressed, explains its relevance to Asian American Diaspora Studies
  and the symposium theme, and how each panelist will address this issue of the panel theme
• Must include a 250-300 word abstract for each paper (3-4 participants)
• Please be prepared to upload the entire document of your submission as ONE anonymized
  file
• Accepted panels will have 20 minutes to present each paper, followed by a comment and
  question session

 Roundtable:

• We ask that participants reflect on the symposium theme of "Relationality, Interconnected
  Struggles, Shared Histories" and/or Asian American Diaspora Studies
• You do not need to prepare a formal paper, but are invited to share your thoughts and
  experiences in a broad sense
• You can apply for a presentation (individual/panel) AND the roundtable

Please visit our website at tinyurl.com/taaads to submit your abstract

 Decisions and Scheduling

Acceptance: Accepted abstracts will be notified via email by January 18, 2025.

Scheduling: Program information will be emailed by February 1, 2025.

For any inquiries, please contact the symposium organizers:

Sohee Kim (soheekim0122@tamu.edu), Nora Tsou (noratsou@tamu.edu)

For questions about abstract submissions, please contact the organizing committee:

Zainab Abdali (za10@rice.edu), Karen Siu (kls12@rice.edu), V Lundquist
(vatesandverism@rice.edu).