JETAA UK Academic Special Interest Group (SIG) University of East Anglia, Norwich, Friday 8 December 2017.

For information on attending, submissions of current research, and about potential funding available for accommodation and travel expenses, please contact this year’s convener Simon Kaner, Director of the Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and Head of the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute via S.Kaner@uea.ac.uk. There is now a Facebook group called ‘JETAA UK Academic Special Interest Group’; to join, search for it by name via facebook and request permission.

The very first meeting of the Academic Special Interest Group(SIG) of the JETAA UK took place in December 2016 at the School for East Asian Studies(SEAS) at Sheffield University organised by JET alumni Dr Peter Matanle (Senior Lecturer and Director of Research & Innovation at SEAS) and Sharleen Estampador (PhD student at SEAS). 20 JET alumni academics attended representing universities from all over the UK, Ireland, Germany & Holland.

Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR) London, and the Japanese Embassy (tentative) will again also attend, having spoken last year about how they value JETAA in the UK warmly and welcome the development of the SIG and offered their support for the future of the group.  This year, staff from CLAIR HQ in Tokyo also plan to attend.

We are also planning an informal networking dinner the previous evening (Thursday 7th) for anyone who would like to stay in Norwich the night before.

Tentative Agenda

Friday December 8th

10.00-10:30 Registration

10:30-11.30 Introductory Remarks and Round up from last meeting

11.30-12.30 Discussion on support for emerging academics through JETAA Academic SIG

12:30-13:30 PM Break for Lunch

13:30-14:30 Presentations (1)

14:30-14:45 Coffee Break

14:45-15.45 Presentations (2)

15.45-16:30 Moving forwards with JETAA SIG and Concluding Remarks

For the afternoon session, offers of presentations on the theme of 'Global Communities' are especially welcome, highlighting how our research impacts on our subject communities in Japan and the UK. JETs and BETs have had an extraordinary range of experiences in a wide range of communities in Japan, and many have been involved in researching and linking these communities from an academic perspective. The convenor of the upcoming JETAA SIG, Simon Kaner, is involved in a series of such initiatives from the perspective of his own academic discipline, archaeology, including: from the world's first twinned archaeological sites (Neolithic flint mines in U.K. and Jomon obsidian mines in Nagano;, helping promote the Olympic dreams of ancient Flame pots from Niigata with the help of the British Museum and the Bunkacho's Japan Heritage initiative; and is currently looking at the international significance of British archaeological sites, partly through a Japanese lens (see Global Perspectives on British Archaeology).