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The Society for East Asian Anthropology (American Anthropological Association) and Seoul National University Department of Anthropology are pleased to announce a joint conference, “Shaping Futures: East Asia as Practice,” to be held in-person at Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea, on July 14-16, 2025.

 

This inter-regional collaboration takes the task of shaping futures as a crucial responsibility for anthropologists. In placing that responsibility under the rubric of “East Asia as Practice,” we assume the ongoing intergenerational dynamism that actively creates futures. We place mentoring–both vertical and lateral–as central to the processes and structure of this future-focused conference. We not only have a pre-conference specifically designed by and for graduate students, but also structure the whole conference in a way that encourages intergenerational, interregional conversations. In short, we take “shaping futures” as an assertion, a responsibility, a platform for community, and a call to action.