ACSS 2015 - The Sixth Asian Conference on the Social Sciences

ACSS 2015 - The Sixth Asian Conference on the Social Sciences June 13-16, 2015 Osaka, Japan IAFOR and its global partners invite you to participate in this exciting annual event. Join us in Osaka, Japan to network, build relationships, and discuss this year's conference theme, "Power" Enquiries: acss@iafor.org Web address: http://iafor.org/iafor/conferences/acss2015/ Sponsored by: IAFOR - The International Academic Forum ACSS/ACSEE 2015 Keynote Speakers Professor Yozo Yokota Director of the Center for Human Rights Affairs, Japan Professor Yozo Yokota is an internationally renowned jurist and teacher of international law, international economic law and international human rights law. He is currently President of the Japanese Center for Human Rights Education and Training, Special Advisor of the Japanese Ministry of Justice, and a Member of the Committee of Experts of the International Labour Organization, and Commissioner, International Commission of Jurists. Professor Yokota started his career as Legal Counsel to the World Bank in Washington, D.C., before holding professorships in international law at International Christian University (Tokyo), the University of Tokyo, and Chuo Law School. He has also held visiting professorships at the University of Adelaide (Australia), and the law schools of the University of Michigan and Columbia University. As an internationally respected proponent of human rights, he has extensively advised the United Nations, serving as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar between 1992 and 96 and a Member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights between 2000 and 2007. Mr. Lowell Sheppard Asia Pacific Director, HOPE International Development Agency Lowell Sheppard is Asia Pacific Director of the HOPE International Development Agency, an organization focused on working with the world's extreme poor in their quest to climb out of poverty. Aside from his 25-year involvement with Hope, Lowell has dedicated much of his life to social and environmental improvement projects throughout the world. He was the chairman of the Whose Earth initiative in the United Kingdom, and was the founding chairman of Novimost, a non-government organization responding to the needs caused by war in the Balkans. He was also CEO of one of the United Kingdom's largest youth charities and an executive member of Spring Harvest, an annual Christian festival which attracts more than 60,000 people each Easter, and raises more than one million dollars for charities every year. A fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, Mr Sheppard is the author of six books, which reflect his diverse intellectual interests, and life experience. His latest book, Boys Becoming Men, examines the importance of rites of passage, including adventures, for children becoming adults. Lowell is a noted public speaker, and has given lectures at both undergraduate and postgraduate level on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability, and he is a former vice-chairman of the CSR Committee for the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. Conference Theme and Streams Conference Theme: "Power" Power as a commodity has challenged the minds of social scientists and philosophers while its exercise has always fascinated historians. From classical thinkers' works such as Aristotle's Politka or Machiavelli's Il Principe through modern figures who manipulate power in the media, like Silvio Berlusconi or Rupert Murdoch, to the vast networks that support major heads of state, power has been a necessity to some or like an aphrodisiac to others. The dynamics of power and its associations with wealth and status now shape the contemporary world more visibly than ever. It is a research challenge to all fields of the social sciences to offer some explanation of its magnetism and its mechanisms. We expect this theme to excite a number of stimulating research paths, and look forward to their outcomes as we gather in Osaka in 2015. The organizers encourage submissions that approach this theme from a variety of perspectives. However, the submission of other topics for consideration is welcome and we also encourage sessions within and across a variety of inter/disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. Submissions are organized into the following thematic streams: Streams: Anthropology, Archaeology, Cultural Studies and Humanities Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences Computational Social Science Cultural and Media Studies Economics and Management Education and Social Welfare Demography, Human Geography and Population Studies Ethnicity, Difference, Identity Globalization and Internationalization Immigration, Refugees, Race, Nation Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Gender International Relations and Human Rights Journalism and Communications Linguistics Natural, Environmental and Health Sciences Politics, Philosophy, Ethics, Consciousness Politics, Public Policy, Law and Criminology Psychology and Social Psychology Research Methodologies, Quantitative and Qualitative Social History Social Work Sociology Sustainability Teaching and Learning Technology and Applied Sciences Urban Studies Other ACSS2015 Conference Chair Professor Stuart Picken Chairman of the IAFOR IAB Stuart D.B. Picken is the founding chairman of the IAFOR International Advisory Board. The author of a dozen books and over 130 articles and papers, he is considered one of the foremost scholars on Japan, China, and Globalization in East Asia. As an academic, Professor Picken has devoted more than 30 years to scholarship in Japan, notably as a professor at the International Christian University in Tokyo, where he specialized in ethics and Japanese thought, and as International Adviser to the High Priest of Tsubaki Grand Shrine (Mie prefecture). He has also served as a consultant to various businesses, including Jun Ashida Ltd., Mitsui Mining and Smelting Corp., Kobe Steel, and Japan Air Lines. In November 2008, the Government of Japan awarded Professor Picken the Order of the Sacred Treasure for his pioneering research, and outstanding contribution to the promotion of friendship and mutual understanding between Japan and the UK. The honour is normally reserved for Japanese citizens and is a mark of the utmost respect in which Professor Picken is held by the Japanese Government. Although now resident in Scotland, Professor Picken maintains his interests in Japan, as Chair of the Japan Society of Scotland, and through his work with IAFOR. A fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, he lives near Glasgow with his wife and two children.