20Jun 2020 by Roman Pașca No Comments

Seminar of Japanese Philosophy in Mexico

Conferences
In November last year, I took part in the second Seminar of Japanese Philosophy organized by the Program of Asian and African Studies (PUEAA) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) - and it was great! Five days, packed to the brim with thought-provoking presentations and stimulating discussions. It was a well-balanced mix of established and early- and mid-career scholars, covering topics ranging from Nishida and Tanabe to feminism and environmental ethics. We glossed over self, nature, body, mind and so many other topics; we talked in the auditorium, over dinner, over coffee, over drinks, and during long walks across the gigantic UNAM campus; we discussed books and workshops and new research projects. For five days, we were immersed in a primordial philosophical bouillon, out of which - hopefully…
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27Mar 2020 by Roman Pașca No Comments

ENOJP Conference 2020 – Message on COVID-19

Conferences
The 6th Annual Conference of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy (ENOJP) is scheduled to take place this year in Budapest, at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), between September 1-4. In light of the recent events, the ENOJP Board has decided to send the following message to all potential participants. ***** Dear Colleagues, As you have probably seen, the recent outbreak of COVID-19 (Corona virus) has evolved into a rather chaotic situation, with many countries declaring a state of emergency and closing borders in the attempt to limit the number of cases, and a general climate of disruption and uncertainty. As there is still no end in sight to the whole situation, we have to take into account the possibility that this might also affect the ENOJP conference scheduled to take…
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07Dec 2017 by Roman Pașca No Comments

Presentation at ENOJP 2 (Brussels)

Conferences
Exactly one year ago, in December 2016, I was in Brussels for the 2nd Conference of the European Network of Japanese Philosophy, talking about Andō Shōeki and his vision of the human being in the shihōsei, the "world of the private law". The presentation was a sequel to the one I did in Barcelona in 2015, about the creative use of language and the coinage of new philosophical concepts. The ENOJP members behind the scenes did a great job and edited the video of the presentation, including the slides I used at the time. I really have a strange feeling when I see myself on video, and one year later (and wiser) I would change many things in the slides and in the way I present, but I think sharing…
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09Nov 2017 by Roman Pașca No Comments

ENOJP 3 in Paris

Conferences
The 3rd ENOJP conference in Paris just ended a few days ago, but I didn't get around to write about it until now. I am still a bit jet lagged after a week in Europe, and concentrating on teaching and on the interaction with the students when your body is telling you to go to sleep is no easy task... Plus, I wanted to let everything sink in, so I can ruminate on things quietly and thoroughly - the three days of the conference were full to the brim with intellectual stimuli and my brain needed a rest to absorb and process all the information. Not to mention that we were at the INALCO and at the Sorbonne! I listened to several insightful presentations, and I attended the best keynote…
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09Oct 2017 by Roman Pașca No Comments

3rd Conference of the European Network for Japanese Philosophy

Conferences
Only a couple of weeks left until the 3rd Annual Conference of the ENOJP, this time in Paris! I'm really excited about this, because the first two conferences (Barcelona 2015 and Brussels 2016) were excellent. And I am saying this for two reasons: first of all, for the quality of the presentations and keynote speeches and for the intensity of the debates; second of all, for the atmosphere of the conferences, with so much vibrant energy floating around and so many young people engaging with philosophical ideas. The ENOJP might be a nascent association, but I feel it has a lot of potential as it provides researchers in Japanese philosophy with a platform where they can share ideas, discuss projects and publications, form networks or simply become friends. I gained…
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08Sep 2017 by Roman Pașca No Comments

5th Conference “Japan: Premodern, Modern, and Contemporary”

Conferences
In 2010, four friends and colleagues got together and came up with the idea to organize a Japanese Studies conference at the "Dimitrie Cantemir" Christian University in Bucharest, Romania. Two of them live and work in Japan (Kyoto University and Kobe University), and the other two are the heart and soul of the Japanese language department at said university. The idea had been floating around for a while, but they decided that the time was right and... just did it. They talked about it, came up with a concept, applied for funding and organized the first conference in 2011. From the get-go, the idea was to create a wide network of knowledge about Japan and Japanese Studies (literature, culture, history, linguistics, etc), which would bring together young, as well as…
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