Introduction:

The East Asian Cultural Studies Center (EACSC) was formally established in 2015. EACSC uses a comprehensive research method that integrates traditional humanities such as literature, history, philosophy and social sciences such as politics and economics. EACSC focuses on the three key words -- “region”, “circulation” and “ecology” -- in order to deepen cultural research connotation, establish cross-cutting research fields, build a new cultural research form as the goal, lead the trend of cultural research, and provide basic research support and guarantee for social development.

Structure of EACSC:

Director of the Centre: Liu Yuzhen

Secretary of the Centre: Yu Jun

Structure of the Centre:

The centre consists of three research groups: East Asian culture and politics and economy, East Asian culture and social environment, and East Asian culture and historical philosophy.

Featured topics:

East Asian Cultural Studies from the Perspective of Literary Studies

Literary research has entered an era in which the research transcends one country, one nation, one field and one discipline, emphasizing the transcendence and mash-up of research dimensions and frameworks. It is our attitude that we pay attention to the generations, developments, exchanges, conflicts, and changes of literature in East Asia and examine and interpret it from multiple angles. With current internationalization, we will aim to deepen our understandings of East Asian culture and transform into a producer of new knowledge, take the first step in interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary literary research, and make a strong Nankai voice!

East Asian Cultural Studies from the Perspective of International Communication

In ancient East Asia, with Chinese characters, Buddhism, Confucianism, and the legal system as links, an East Asian cultural circle centered on China was formed. In modern times, Japan took the lead in realizing modernization through the Meiji Restoration and became a bridgehead for East Asia to absorb Western culture. Through international exchanges and interdisciplinary research, we can not only better grasp the commonalities of East Asian culture as the Chinese character cultural circle, but also help us explore the different cultural characteristics of each other. With the deepening of internationalization in the world today, East Asian cultural studies need to further strengthen international exchanges and interdisciplinary research.

The Study of East Asian Culture from the Perspective of History and Philosophy

This subject studies how Japanese culture and even East Asian culture forms and develops in the process of mutual influence. It transcends national restrictions and introduces “comparative” and “relevant” perspectives in order to expand (Chinese) cultural and academic international perspectives and promote the cultural and academic development of human society.

Academic events:

EACSC regularly holds member academic exchange meetings

EACSC regularly invites well-known scholars at home and abroad to give academic lectures

Lecture by Professor Hiroyuki Eto from the School of International Culture Studies, Northeastern University

Lecture by Professor Toshio Takamatsu from Academy of Literature, Waseda University

EACSC members actively participate in domestic and foreign academic seminars and carry out academic exchange activities.

Keynote report of the 2017 Chinese Japanese Philosophy Association Annual Conference by Professor Han Lihong

Public Lecture of the 311th “Japanese Language Research Forum” by Professor Liu Yuzhen

Keynote report of the 4th International Conference on East Asian Cultural Studies by Professor Wang Xinxin

International exchange:

Since its establishment, EACSC has attached great importance to international academic exchanges and cooperation, and has carried out academic exchanges with many universities and research institutions in Japan to realize mutual visits and joint research of scholars.

In 2014, EACSC and Kokugakuin University jointly organized the first “International Conference on East Asian Cultural Studies”, which will be held annually thereafter. The fifth conference was planned to be held in Tokyo in 2018.

In 2015, EACSC signed an academic exchange agreement with the School of Literary Studies and the School of International Culture of Northeastern University to conduct regular academic exchanges.

In 2017, EACSC signed an academic exchange agreement with Kanazawa University to promote scientific research cooperation between the two sides through the dual-degree program for graduate students.

Publications:

EACSC co-founded “East Asian Cultural Studies” (ISSN2423-8422) with the Graduate School of Literary Studies of Kokugakuin University in Japan. It was first published in Japan in 2015. It will be published once a year, and the third issue is about to be published. The magazine is composed of six experts from China and Japan serving as editorial board members, with Tatsumi Masaaki, honorary professor of Kokugakuin University, and Wang Xiaoping, professor of the College of Literature at Tianjin Normal University serving as consultants. Each issue of the journal contains more than ten academic papers from China and Japan, covering many research fields such as literature, history, culture, folklore, and society, and has a certain academic influence at home and abroad.