ASIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE 5th GRADUATE WORKSHOP - Call for papers

ASIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE 5^th GRADUATE WORKSHOP

CALL FOR PAPERS

QUESTIONS OF METHODOLOGY; RESEARCHING TOURISM IN ASIA

5-6 September 2006

Hosted by
Asia Research Institute
National University of Singapore

Co-organised by

Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
Dept of Tourism, University of Otago, New Zealand

This event precedes the workshop;
‘OF ASIAN ORIGIN’: RETHINKING TOURISM IN CONTEMPORARY ASIA, (Hosted by Asia Research Institute, 7- 9 September 2006)

In collaboration with the University of Otago, the Asia Research Institute is hosting a graduate workshop on Research Methods in Tourism in Asia. This two day workshop will provide students enrolled on either Masters or PhD programmes with the opportunity to discuss, and reflect upon, a range of methodological issues and the problems of conducting tourism fieldwork in Asia. Abstracts should be submitted for 10 minute presentations on the difficulties, dilemmas, struggles, successes or failures of doing tourism research in Asia. In addition to these presentations, the workshop will feature a series of roundtables and group discussions focusing on specific issues concerning tourism methodology in Asia.

What challenges does the nature of tourism pose for integrating or independently using qualitative or quantitative approaches? What role should academic research play in shaping tourism policy? What ethical dilemmas does researching sex tourism pose? How well can localised case study based fieldwork interpret processes of globalisation? Can the researcher transcend his or her own tourist gaze to interpret ‘situated knowledge'? With tourism studies dispersed across a number of disciplines how does the researcher define theoretical and methodological rigor? What challenges does regional/domestic tourism in Asia pose to existing theories and approaches in tourism studies?

Sessions exploring these questions, and many more, will be led by a team of academics from Asia and beyond, all of whom have researched and published extensively on tourism in the region. This workshop will directly connect with the workshop ‘Of Asian Origin’; Rethinking Tourism in Contemporary Asia, which is taking place immediately afterwards (7-9^th September). Students accepted for the Questions of Methodology workshop will also be entitled to observe, and potentially present, in this path-breaking event examining tourism in Asia by Asian tourists. For further details of ‘Of Asian Origin’; Rethinking Tourism in Contemporary Asia, along with a downloadable registration form, please visit:

http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/conf2006/tourism.htm

PROPOSED THEMES INCLUDE:

• When to tick, when to listen; quantitative versus qualitative approaches
• Gossip or narrative; what exactly does data look like?
• Research ethics and tourism
• Playing the field; negotiating relationships and the politics of identity
• Researcher, exile or tourist?; Undertaking cross cultural research
• Journeys of Rigour; epistemological departures and methodological arrivals

SUBMISSION DEADLINES

Graduate students should submit a 200-word abstract of their proposed paper using the attached PROPOSAL FORM no later than 1 December 2005. Successful applicants will be advised by 1 February 2006. The abstract should clarify the substantive issues which your paper will address and be firmly grounded in your own research project. Applicants are also encouraged to submit abstracts for the ‘Of Asian Origin’; Rethinking Tourism in Contemporary Asia workshop. See link above for details.

Please include your name, institutional affiliation, e-mail address and other contact information. One confidential letter of recommendation from a supervisor should also be forwarded to this address by the same date.

Papers will be selected and assigned to panels. Each verbal presentation (max. 10 mins) will receive comments and suggestions from a discussant and will be followed by a broader panel discussion.

Graduates selected have to submit full length papers, of around 5,000 words in length, by 1 August 2006. These are not expected to be final drafts but will be circulated to participants by e-mail beforehand to enable fruitful roundtable discussions. For this reason, the argument of the paper needs to be clear enough for comments and discussion by others.

Please send abstracts to Dr Tim Winter at: ariwtc@nus.edu.sg

Further enquiries should be directed to Dr Tim Winter, email: ariwtc@nus.edu.sg or Dr Nir Avieli email: arian@nus.edu.sg

FUNDING

On campus shared accommodation will be provided for students presenting travelling from overseas. Applicants accepted for Questions of Methodology (5 - 6 September 2006) will also have accommodation provided for the duration of the subsequent ‘Of Asian Origin’: Rethinking tourism in Contemporary Asia workshop (7 - 9 September 2006). A limited number of travel subsidies will be available for non-Singaporean residents travelling from within Asia. Priority for financial assistance will be given to students from less-advantaged institutions in Asia where such funding is not available. Lunches, refreshments and a workshop dinner will be provided over the course of the workshop.

Applicants seeking financial assistance should first seek funding from their universities or from other sources, and should also indicate when submitting their abstracts that they may be applying for a travel subsidy.

PUBLICATIONS

High quality papers will be selected for the ARI working paper series, with possible inclusion in publications arising from the ‘Of Asian Origin’ workshop.