From 27 to 29 September 2024, the Kyoto University Asian Studies Unit (KUASU) held the 17th Next-Generation Global Workshop (NGGW) under the theme "Transculturality and Sustainability: Navigating New Horizons". The event was co-organized with the Heidelberg University Office Kyoto (HUOK) and DWIH Tokyo.
The 17th NGGW received numerous applications from around the world and accepted 18 early-career researchers from Indonesia, Taiwan, the United States, Germany, Japan, and other regions for participation. The researchers delivered presentations over the course of three days on topics such as mobility and transculturality, socio-economy and welfare, and sustainable futures.
The workshop also presented two keynote speeches, one delivered by Professor Monica Juneja from Heidelberg University on the first day and the other by Professor Theodoor Richard from National Chung Hsing University on the second day.
The second evening featured a showing of a documentary film by Kazuhiro Soda, entitled The Cats of Gokogu Shrine, followed by a brief Q&A session with the filmmaker himself.
On the final day, a roundtable and plenary session saw lively discussions on methodologies in transcultural studies, which provided profound interdisciplinary insights. Many of the participants later shared comments such as "engaging in dialogue with researchers from different fields helped me gain new perspectives", underscoring the significance of NGGW.
With its annual workshop and other initiatives, KUASU will continue to promote international academic exchanges among the next generation of researchers while providing them with a foundation needed to thrive on a global scale.
