These few years the field of American Studies is undergoing a radical transformation with respect to internationalization. However, despite the admirable reciprocal exchange history, for example, of annually held ASA-JAAS projects, internationalization of American Studies would seem to have remained one of the seminal issues confronting Americanists either implicitly or explicitly. Has reciprocity of international mutual respect in the strict sense of the phrase been achieved at a level deserving of praise? Does the lack, if any, of reciprocity have something to do with the way we define such terms as internationalization and globalism? In what way would we be able to construct a two-way interactive system?

Some Americanists come very close to saying that US scholars are intrinsically American-focused and quite often are responsible for tacitly and even disingenuously relegating the non-US-based counterparts to a marginalized situation. Others argue to the contrary, pointing out that the situation is international/ non-US based Americanists’ problem and not a primary problem of US-based scholars. What do you think?

On a positive note, what new concrete and particular paper contributions would you be able to make by presenting something innovative in the area related to the Pacific? What should be the basic issues to be explored even today in the new field Transpacific American Studies (that is, if possible, in connection with globalism)? How do you intend to evaluate our new Transpacific field by comparing it with another admirable “Transatlantic” American Studies?

Entitled as above, this session encompasses a wide range of topical areas (either unidisciplinary or multidisciplinary topical areas) related to the Pacific region, including but not limited to: (1) particular American studies from an international and/or Transpacific perspective; (2) conceptional issues in creating an innovative “Transpacific American Studies”; (3) pedagogical or curricular issues to be addressed from International and/or Transpacific perspectives.

Please email a one-page abstract and a short CV to Professor Tatsushi Narita by January 10, 2006. If you wish to serve as the chair or commentator, please email a one-paragraph explanation and a short CV by January 10, 2006.

Tatsushi Narita
Professor of British and American Studies
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Nagoya City University
1 Yamanohata, Mizuho-cho
Mizuho-ku, Nagoya City 467
Japan
Telephone: +81 (52) 836-6502
Email: tinarita@hum.nagoya-cu.ac.jp
Web:http://home.att.ne.jp/yellow/narita/ASAprearrangedSession.html