AAS Call for Proposals

The Global Asias Initiative (GAI) and Institute for Korean Studies (IKS) at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU), in partnership with UC-Irvine's Center for Critical Korean Studies (CCKS), are conducting a mentoring project designed to foster a network of scholars working on Korean and Korean diasporic topics under the conceptual rubric of Global Asias. The goal of this project is to build a community of early-career scholars who are working at the intersections of Korean studies and Global Asias approaches; and to encourage intellectual exchange, collaboration, and the development of new critical approaches to Korean studies, Korean American studies, and Korean diaspora studies.

Global Asias approaches are especially generative when the assumptions of area studies or national frameworks become constrictive. Global Asias projects might focalize questions concerning migration, identity, Indigeneity, and displacement. They may question governing disciplinary practices or scholarly conventions. Perhaps they challenge existing orthodoxies of how we study Asia in relation to its multiple diasporas. This mentoring program supports scholars undertaking diversely conceptualized projects that explore the possibilities and limits of using Global Asias as a method to cross-pollinate knowledge across field and disciplinary borders.

This early career mentoring program will be co-directed by Tina Chen, Joseph Jeon, and Jooyeon Rhee. We will meet virtually and in person between November 2026 and April 2027. Program participation will involve 1) regular attendance at three 3-hour virtual mentoring sessions (Nov/Dec 2026 and January 2027); and 2) attending a 1-day in-person post-conference workshop at either the UCI Global Asias 27 conference (Feb 2027) or the PSU Global Asias 8 conference (April 2027). We may consider working with program participants on a collaborative Convergence feature for Verge: Studies in Global Asias if there is interest in such a project.

Participants selected for this program can be based in the U.S. or abroad; should be within 5 years of receiving their PhD or ABD graduate students; and be available/committed to all of the participation requirements listed below. Participants will receive a subscription to Verge: Studies in Global Asias; sustained editorial and professional mentorship from the co-directors; and a modest honorarium to help support travel to either the UCI GA27 conference or the PSU GA8 conference.

Interested participants should prepare the following materials and submit their application materials (as a single pdf document in the indicated order) by Friday, September 4, 2026, via this google form.

ABD applicants should have their advisors send a letter of recommendation separately to gai@psu.edu.