Sociology and Social Transformations: 11th Conference of APSA
February 15, 2013
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Institute of Philippine Culture, both of Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, successfully organized and hosted the 11th Conference of the Asia Pacific Sociological Association (APSA) last October 22-24 (2012). This year’s theme, “Sociology and Social Transformations in the Asia Pacific Region,” attracted 260 participants from 23 countries in Asia, Africa, the US, Europe and the Pacific region.
Distinguished lectures on public sociology, southern theory, gender, leadership, and knowledge mobilization were delivered by renowned sociologists from the Asia Pacific region, namely, Michael Burawoy (President, International Sociological Association), Raewyn Connell (University of Sydney), Dang Nguyen Anh (Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences), Vineeta Sinha (National University of Singapore), Michael Hsiao (Academia Sinica), Surichai Wungaeo (Chulalongkorn University), Emma Porio (Ateneo de Manila University), Filomeno Aguilar, Jr. (President, Philippine Sociological Society and Ateneo de Manila University), and Maria Cynthia Rose Bautista (Commission on Higher Education, Philippines).
During the three-day conference, 60 panels and 180 paper presenters tackled wide-ranging issues confronting the region such as gender, religion, globalization, education, climate change, and technology. The conference ended with a plenary session on “engaging the social science community in the Asia Pacific region” moderated by Michael Burawoy and Emma Porio with representatives from various national associations: Yazawa Shujiro (Japan Sociological Society), Dang Nguyen Anh (Institute of Sociology, Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences), Ruchira Ganguly-Scrase (APSA), Michelle Shieh (Taiwan Sociological Society and Academia Sinica), Mohamed Tavakol (Iran Social Science Association), Vineeta Sinha (National University of Singapore), and Surichai Wungaeo (Thai Sociological Congress).
Leslie Lopez, Ateneo de Manila University, Secretary of the Philippine Sociological Society
