Student Conference
UNIBO - Aoyama Gakuin - Toyo University Student Conference
Dates: 27-28 May, 2021
Time: 9-12 (GMT+1); 4-7 (JST)
Location: Zoom meeting (invitation links will be provided to enrolled students)
How to apply: Speakers Application Form (for speakers only)
How to register: Audience Registration Form (for the audience only. Students giving presentations shall use the Speakers Application Form).
Publications
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This volume aims to bring into focus the viewpoint and the knowledge of the students who attended the Conference and decided to publish their work. The published papers tackle the challenges posed by the pandemic in the field of EU-Asia relations, with a particular focus on China, and investigate potential ways to turn the Covid-19 crisis into an opportunity for mutual learning in the field of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
Overview
The “UNIBO – Aoyama Gakuin – Toyo University Student Conference” is the follow-up and concluding initiative of the “EU-Asia Politics and Markets Studies Platform”, jointly organized by the University of Bologna (UNIBO), Aoyama Gakuin University (AGU) and Toyo University (TU).
In February 2020, the three universities organized a Winter School, held at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Forlì Campus (Italy). Benefitting from the participation of leading scholars from the three universities, the Winter School served as a unique environment to gain a thorough understanding of the historical developments, current trends, and prospective scenarios of EU-Asia interchanges.
In line with the main goals and topics of the platform, as well as with the themes and spirit of the Winter School, the overarching idea of the Student Conference is to turn the Covid-19 pandemic into an opportunity to discuss EU-Asia relationships and their prospective developments, as well as its potential implications on the academia and cultural exchanges in and between the two regions. In particular, the Conference will focus on two topics, namely the future of EU-Asia relationships in the wake of the “pandemic transformations” and the impact of this world-changing event on universities and students’ lives.
The Student Conference will serve as a moment of reflection and debate about the impact of the pandemic on the broad spectrum of Asia-Europe relations, as well as an opportunity for students to share and discuss their different and personal experiences related to the changes that occurred in their engagement with the university. Whereas each panel will be coordinated by a Chair, the Conference relies first and foremost on student agency: speakers will be divided into presentation teams and will be able to give presentations to their fellow students.
Program
20 students are expected to partake in the Student Conference as speakers. Those who decide to apply as speakers will have the opportunity to get to know and work together with students from partner universities. Presentation teams will be formed combining students from the three different universities – UNIBO, AGU and TU – so as to exchange diverse views and strengthen ties before the Conference.
The Conference will consist of four sessions – two per day – where students will be giving presentations on the selected topic. At the fourth and final panel, participating students will be involved in a roundtable session aimed at setting a critical, collective discussion on selected topics on the future of the Euro-Asian political and economic relations after the pandemic, as well as on the event itself.
In order to participate, students will be asked to join forces with fellow students from partner universities and submit a (ppt) presentation before the Student Conference takes place. Each presentation will last a maximum of 20 minutes. After the Conference, students will be given the opportunity to jointly write a short paper on the topic of their presentation, which will then be published on the dedicated UNIBO websites.
By bringing together students from the three different institutions, the Student Conference will allow participants to deeply understand the motivation and rationale behind the different strategies to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic that have been developed by their different countries.
Finally, the Conference aims to act as a framework for students to deepen their academic skills, exchange views, and understand different perspectives on the subjects throughout the initiative. As such, at a time of remote meeting and social distancing, we envision this initiative as an opportunity for students to establish a network and create new transnational relations that can be further consolidated in the forthcoming years.
Application
Students who are interested in applying as speakers should complete the “Speakers application form”. When submitting the form, students should outline the topic they would like to present on the day of the Student Conference (100 words maximum) and upload their Curriculum Vitae in a PDF format (half a page maximum), which should highlight how their academic path and research interests are in line with the topics covered by the Student Conference. Students who wish to participate in the Student Conference as members of the audience should complete the "Audience Registration Form".
Partner universities will be responsible for the selection of participating students through an internal selection procedure.
The deadline for applications is April 26, 2021.
Logistic support
The “UNIBO-Toyo-Aoyama Gakuin Student Conference” is promoted by the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna, within the framework of the “Finanziamento per Attività Innovative dei Dipartimenti nell’Ambito di Accordi Quadro di Ateneo e degli Accordi di Settore con Paesi extra-EU.” [Financing for Innovative Activities of the Departments in the Context of the Sectoral Framework Agreements with non-EU countries].