Asia and the Pacific in German Culture: Conference 14, 15 Feb 2014 at UH

What an unbelievable stellar success it was today- the first day of our conference!! Brilliant papers, solid turnout, funny historians, and accordion music !! Thank you to everyone who made it happen.
Looking forward to tomorrow, well...at this point of the night...looking forward to today.

Sincerely,
Sai Bhatawadekar

Dear all,
I am very happy to see so many visitors to this page. With your good wishes, we hope to have a productive conference this weekend and some exciting new directions in cross-cultural scholarship for years to come.

Sincerely,
Sai Bhatawadekar
Assistant Professor of Hindi and Urdu
Research in Hegel's and Schopenhauer's reception of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

Asia and the Pacific have long figured in German culture, specifically as a result of German literary, linguistic, and philosophical interest in Asia as the birthplace of ancient wisdom, as well as Germany's colonization of the Pacific in the 19th-century. German Orientalism is currently an incredibly fast growing field, highlighting, on the Asian side, South and East Asia. University of Hawaii is in a unique position to enhance this scholarship and contribute the South East Asia and Pacific angle to the complexity of East-West connections. Offering new perspectives, our two-day conference will bring together international and interdisciplinary scholars, who will explore Germany's engagement with Asia and the Pacific in matters of travel and trade, colonies and missions, race and politics, as well as philosophy, literature, and art.