AAS Dissertation Workshop
Medicine, Science, and Technology in the Study of Asian Pasts and Presents
March 19-22, 2018
Washington, D.C.
Interests in the interdisciplinary studies of science, technology, and medicine have expanded in the last twenty years, raising new questions in response to contemporary developments. Some studies have looked at ways in which foreign technology was adopted and adapted in Asia. Others have looked at how technical, scientific, mathematical, botanical, and medical knowledge from Asia has traveled across the globe. Some have traced the impact of Asian foods, traditional medicines, indigenous plant and animal species on global trade. Others have problematized interpretations of meta-categories like science, nature, health, and development. This workshop invites applications from PhD candidates working on the history, politics, ethics, and sociology of medicine, science, and technology. It will provide a venue for the interdisciplinary and comparative examination of these relationships, both today and historically.
The workshop will be limited to 12 students, ideally from a broad array of disciplines and working on a wide variety of materials and in various regions of Asia. It also will include a small multidisciplinary and multi-area faculty with similar interests.
The workshop is scheduled for the days immediately preceding the 2018 AAS annual conference in Washington, D.C. It will begin with dinner on the evening of Monday, March 19, continue for the next two and one-half days of intense discussion, and close with lunch on Thursday, March 22.
The AAS will be able to provide limited financial support for participants including three night’s accommodations, meals, and partial “need-based” travel funds. Students are encouraged to approach their home institutions for additional support. It is hoped that participants also will attend the AAS annual conference immediately following the workshop.
Applicants need not have advanced to candidacy but must have at least drafted a dissertation research proposal. Applications are also welcome from doctoral students in the early phases of writing their dissertations. Applicants do not have to be current AAS members to apply for the workshop, but if selected, must join or renew their membership to participate. Applications consist of two items only:
1) a current Curriculum Vitae, and
2) the dissertation proposal, or if the research and writing is well under way, a statement of the specific issues being addressed, the intellectual approach, and the materials being studied. Neither the proposal nor statement should exceed 10 double-spaced pages in length using standard-sized fonts. Application materials should be sent as email attachments to Michael Paschal ( mpaschal@asian-studies.org) no later than January 8, 2018. Please include “Dissertation Workshop Application” in the email subject box.
Workshop participants will be selected on the basis of the submitted projects, the potential for useful exchanges among them, and a concern to include a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, intellectual traditions, and regions of Asia. Applicants will be informed whether or not they have been selected for the workshop later in January.
For further information about the workshop, or eligibility, please contact Michael Paschalmpaschal@asian-studies.org, or Justin McDaniel jmcdan@sas.upenn.edu. Faculty having related research interests who would be interested in serving as mentors for the workshop also should contact the organizers for details. Modest supplemental funding will be available to mentors to help offset related costs.
