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Intermountain Asia
The CAS theme for the 2021-22 academic year is “Intermountain Asia”. With this theme we seek to recognize the many Asianists who work in the Rocky Mountain Front Range and neighboring areas, along with the importance of building a community of Asianists within this region. We also draw attention to the myriad connections between our corner of the world and Asia. Through this theme, we hope to better connect with our fellow Asianists nearby, and to cultivate a vision of Asian Studies that does not limit “Asia” to a distant place or an object of inquiry far removed from our everyday lives here in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region more broadly. During the 2021-22 academic year, we will feature events that speak to these themes, drawing on the wealth of Asian Studies expertise throughout our intermountain region.

CAS 2022 Symposium

CAS’s theme this academic year has been Intermountain Asia. With this symposium, we seek to draw attention to the myriad connections between our corner of the world and Asia. We aim to better connect with our fellow Asianists nearby, and to cultivate a vision of Asian Studies that does not limit “Asia” to a distant place, or an object of inquiry far removed from our everyday lives here in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region more broadly. Teaching and researching Asia in Colorado means asking our students to engage with non-western societies, cultures, and languages; grappling with histories of colonialism and imperialism in which the US is implicated; and providing understandings of local, regional, and transnational connections within and across Asia. Indeed, many Asia scholars are tied to both Asia and the US, through family, work, and other connections. 

Former Association for Asian Studies President Christine Yano has called for Asian Studies to take a more global perspective, emphasizing transnational circuits and dynamic encounters, focusing on mobilities and interactions across oceans and borders. Asia cannot be artificially separated from the rest of the world, including the United States. In this spirit, we believe that discussions of linkages between the US and Asian societies and examinations of how Asian societies and Asian diaspora communities are grappling with issues of religious, racial/ethnic, and gender/sex diversities and inequalities can also help us to think about how scholars of Asia can contribute to ongoing efforts to build justice, equality, diversity, and inclusion in our communities.

Intermountain Asia: Teaching and Studying Asia in Colorado

British and Irish Studies Room, Norlin Library 5^th Floor
Friday, April 29
Noon to 4:30 pm

This public-facing symposium during the afternoon of April 29, 2022 will bring together faculty from several Front Range higher educational institutions to discuss connections across Asian societies and between Asia and the US, diversity and marginalization in and among Asian countries, and how scholars of Asia can participate in diversity and equity initiatives in Colorado and elsewhere. The symposium will highlight CAS’s unique ability to coordinate and organize academic discussions on Asia in the Front Range region. Cumulatively, the symposium will bring Asia, Asian America, and transnational Asia into dialogue.