Division of Global History (9th Branch of the Institute for Academic Initiatives) International Workshop held

From Tuesday, March 15 to Thursday, March 17, 2016, the International Workshop entitled “Globalization from East Asian Perspectives” was held by the Division of Global History at Osaka University Nakanoshima Center.

This was the 2nd workshop for collaborative research in the international consortium “Global History,” a 3-year project started last June that consists of 6 major universities: University of Oxford (UK), Princeton University (USA), University of Konstanz (Germany), Leiden University (the Netherlands), University of Calcutta (India) and Osaka University. This workshop was also held with financial support from the University of Oxford Centre for Global History and The Leverhulme Trust (UK). A total of 33 research reports were given, including those by 13 international researchers from 7 different countries.

Following the keynote speech by University of Oxford Professor James Belich, 7 panels were organized in 3 different fields, (a) ancient and medieval history in Central Eurasia, (b) early modern history of coastal Asia, and (c) modern global economic history, 3 fields in which Osaka University has remarkable research accomplishments, and researchers had an empirical discussion on globalization as historical research.

This workshop was the second of 6 to be held over a 3-year period. It's worth noting that participants were able to have multilayered discussion thanks to the collaboration between the “Global History” consortium centered around the University of Oxford and Osaka University’s international network in the Asia-Pacific region, The Asian Association of World Historians (AAWH).

The Division of Global History will strive to play the role of a hub in the Asia-Pacific region for research on a new form of world history, global history.