International Conference on Asian Studies
The international conference Generation Asia 2022 was held in Veröld – House of Vigdís 22–26 August 2022. The event was organized by the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute for Foreign Languages at the University of Iceland, Reykjavík, in collaboration with the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. His Excellency Gudni Th. Johannesson, President of Iceland, delivered the opening remarks at the conference.
At the Conference, researchers from over 30 countries came together to discuss the following questions:
- How is generational change transforming society, culture and politics across Asia?
- Does a creative, iconoclastic Generation Z pose a major challenge to traditional hierarchies and values?
- What is the impact of demographic change in countries with a rapidly aging population?
- Is there something we can learn from Asian traditions of intergenerational exchange?
Keynote speakers were Carol Gluck, Professor at Columbia University New York, Chelsea Szendi Schieder, Professor at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo and Jasnea Sarma, Senior Researcher and Lecturer at University of Zurich Zurich. Special invited lecturer was Jóhann Páll Árnason, Professor Emeritus at La Trobe Univeristy in Melbourne.
The main organizers of the conference were Kristín Ingvarsdóttir, Lecturer in Contemporary Japanese Studies, University of Iceland (lead organizer), Duncan McCargo, Director, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), Geir Sigurðsson, Professor of Chinese Studies, University of Iceland and Philip Wenzel Kyhl, Assistant Director, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. The conference was supported by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Iceland, Northern Lights Confucius Institute, Scandinavia-Japan Sasakawa Foundation, The University of Iceland and it’s School of Humanities.
The Faculty of Languages and Cultures at the University of Iceland offers a wide range of courses on Asian languages and cultures. BA programs in Japanese and Chinese studies have been offered for a long time, and recently shorter programs in Korean studies and Hindi have been added.
