XI’AN JIAOTONG-LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY (SUZHOU, CHINA)

22-26 June 2021

Creative industries and media cultures in Japan, South Korea, and China: Histories, processes, mutual crossings

OVERVIEW

The Department of Media and Communication at Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University (XJTLU), with the cooperation of Mutual Images Research Association (MIRA, France), invite students to enroll in this exciting International Summer School.

Since the 1980s, and more intensely from the 1990s onwards, a variety of mutual interactions and influences have been at play among the creative industries and popular cultures of Japan, South Korea, and China. Through various stages over the years, formidably successful cultural objects have exerted a continuous appeal among national and regional audiences in Asia: manga, anime, science fiction television series for children and toys from Japan; pop music boy bands, girl bands and television soap operas for women from Japan as well as the Republic of Korea (South Korea or ROK); and dynamic action movies from mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, and the ROK. Such audiences, besides Korean and Japanese viewers/consumers, include two generations of Chinese youths as well as China’s system of the creative industries itself, which has benefited from those cultural forms as sources of technical and aesthetic inspiration, adapting them into more local frameworks and solutions. Since the 2000s — in a growingly more balanced phase of this intraregional circulation of cultural outputs — media and formats of the Chinese creative industries have been receiving attentions in Japan and the ROK, including cinematic storytelling (co-produced films and animations), digital entertainment (a thriving video game industry), as well as new forms of social media (e.g. Douyin).

In the last thirty years, the intersections among these three national markets and their respective cultural and creative industries have become more intense. Such triangulations have entailed a constellation of aspects of political nature which often transcend the role of the creative outputs, but are nonetheless linked to their cultural and economic impacts. Among these dimensions, which form the main thematic paths of this international summer school, students will learn and reflect about the following aspects.

International relations: Relations between these countries in their possible combinations (JP-ROK, CN-JP, ROK-CN);

Role of “soft power”: The growing role of “soft power”, a notion that has become crucial for many national governments’ policy making and cultural diplomacy;

Creative/cultural outputs: The ideas within these three national contexts about the by-design or perceived role of national creative output as vehicles of political philosophies or nation-branding strategies;

Foreign pop-cultural forms and national discourses: The economic advantage from the domestic circulation of foreign pop-cultural forms vis-à-vis the competition with other, local forms of creative output (cinema, comics, video games, and so on);

Fandoms and youth subcultures: The growing relevance of fandoms and youth subcultures, a social subject that has now a transcultural composition that transcends national or gender boundaries.

WHY THIS INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL

Participants will:

engage in an intellectual dive into this rich set of topics
enjoy a multicultural setting an a variety of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives
engage with an international group of qualified scholars from XJTLU, MIRA, and various Chinese and foreign institutions will give lively lectures and engage students in seminar discussions
experience a friendly learning atmosphere that will boost the dialectic process and enhance the social dimension of study and learning
benefit from the assistance of the Mutual Images Research Association
learn more about Suzhou, one of the most culturally and economically vibrant places in China

START DATE	21 June 2021 (participants’ check-in)
SCHOOL	School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Department of Media and Communication)
ATTENDANCE	Full time – On-site (participants will be instructed about travelling to Suzhou and sanitary procedures in due time)
DURATION	One week
PROSPECTUS	Digital flyer to be made

STRUCTURE

Mon, 21 June	arrival and check-in of participants, reception
Tue, 22 June	presentation, 1^stkeynote lecture, 3 lectures (morning/afternoon)
Wed, 23 June	5 lectures (morning/afternoon)
Thu, 24 June	4 lectures (morning/afternoon), 1 workshop (afternoon)
Fri, 25 June	2^nd guest lecture (morning), exam (afternoon), reception
Sat, 26 June	one-day trip to Xishan Island, a beautiful venue on Lake of Tai, westward of Suzhou
Sun, 27 June	check-out of participants

Lecturers:

Alessandra Cappelleti – XJTLU (International Studies, HSS)
Karl Ian Cheng Chua – Ateneo de Manila University (Philippines)
Maxime Danesin – Mutual Images Research Association (France)
Manuel Hernández-Pérez – University of Salford (United Kingdom)
Michael High – XJTLU (Media & Communication, HSS)
Boris Lopatinsky – Zhejiang University (China)
Nissim Otmazgin – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)
Jimmyn Parc – Sciences PO (Paris, France)
Marco Pellitteri – XJTLU (Media & Communication, HSS)
Keith B. Wagner – University College London (United Kingdom)
Ningxin Wang – King’s College London (United Kingdom)
Shuaishuai Wang – University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Zihan Wang – Shanghai International Studies University (China)
Heung-Wah Wong – University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong SAR, China)

FEES

Tuition fee for non-XJTLU students → 3500 RMB [covering: the school’s scientific programme, accommodation, four lunches, two official dinners, and trip]
Tuition fee for XJTLU students → 1500 RMB [covering same items as above, minus accommodation]

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & HOW TO APPLY

This international summer school is open to 3rd and 4th year BA students, all MA students, and 1st year Ph.D. students residing in China
Students should submit their CVs and a 1-page motivation letter via online application system.
The deadline for applications is 28 May 2021.
Mirror announcement on XJTLU Website.
Apply now

CONTACTS

General enquiries can be sent to XJTLU.MIRA@xjtlu.edu.cn. The subject of the email should be “Summer school 2021” or similar.

Further updates on the International Summer School will be provided here, on our International Summer School 2021 page, as well as on XJTLU’s page.

UNIVERSITY OF MESSINA (MESSINA, ITALY)

16-19th July 2019

Mediated and cultural representations in East Asia, Italy and Europe

Mutual Images Research Association, and DiCAM—Department of Ancient and Modern Civilisations, University of Messina invite applications for the 2019 Mediated and cultural representations between East Asia, Italy and Europe Summer School, to be held at the University of Messina (Italy) from Tuesday 16 July to Friday 19 July 2019.

The Summer School Mediated and cultural representations between East Asia, Italy and Europe offers an intensive learning experience where graduate and post-graduate students have the opportunity to consolidate their theoretical and methodological skills and engage in thought-provoking conversations on the mediated and cultural representations between East Asia, Italy and Europe.

This week-long program, in addition to offering lectures and seminars on specific topics, provides students with the opportunity to partake in discussions with fellow colleagues and international faculty.

The program will focus on the mediated and cultural representations between East Asia, Italy and Europe, with regard to Japan and China. The disciplinary fields upon which the school’s teaching sessions as well as the keynote lectures are based are literary studies, aesthetics, visual studies and cultural studies, and media sociology. The general range of themes is furthermore informed by the growing importance of the inter-regional dynamics involving the cultural diplomacy between/among the considered regions and countries, and the role of the circulation of the creative industries’ output involved in the mutual receptions/perceptions of the national/cultural contexts at the centre of the school’s inter-disciplinary discussions and analyses.

Lectures and seminars will delve, thus, into a variety of themes and media, including:

Mutual images between Italy, Europe, China and Japan in arts and popular culture (cinema, literature, anime, photography, philosophy, fashion, technology…);
Cultural influences between in the Asian and European contexts;
Travellers and art collectors.

A specific list of seminars will be given in advance after acceptance to the Summer School. The seminars and lectures will be held by members of MIRA, teachers of the University of Messina, and further guests specially invited. The teachers come from Japan, China, Italy, France, Spain, England, and The Netherlands, making it a truly international school.

OPEN TO:

Graduate and Post-Graduate Students with a background or strong interest in Cultural studies, Asian Studies, Japanese Studies, Chinese Studies, European Studies, Media Studies, Film Studies, Popular Culture, Arts, and similar degrees.

VALIDATION OF CREDITS

The participants can to obtain 2 CFU (Italian university credits, which can be converted into credits of the participant’s original university). All participants who wish to get credits for their participation to the summer school must pass a test after the lectures and seminars. There are no additional charges to take the test.

ACTIVITIES

The Summer School includes a cultural excursion on the last day: a tour to Taormina and Giardini Naxos, outstanding archaeological sites of Ellenistic origin. A detailed description of the activities will be provided at a later date on the website.

COSTS

The total cost of tuition and supplementary activities is 350 euros. The tuition includes five nights accommodation, three meals (two lunches and a dinner together), free access to Wi-Fi on the university campus, access to the libraries and university facilities, and the organised tour. The other meals as well as additional nights and transport to and from Messina University remain at the charge of each participant.

APPLICATIONS

The deadline for applications is 30 April 2019.

Interested applicants are required to send by email a full CV and a Motivation Letter to the Organising Committee at mutualimages@gmail.com with the following subject: Summer School 2019- Application

Specific inquiries can be addressed to mutualimages@gmail.com