The SEAMEO Regional Centre for History and Traditions (SEAMEO CHAT) is inviting participants to the International Conference on Traditions of Water in Asia: Beliefs, Practices, and Transformations to be held in Yangon, Myanmar on December 11-12, 2018.
The conference is open to all the M.A/ Ph.D. students, scholars and specialists in the social sciences, humanities and the arts. The idea of the conference is to discuss a new approach to analyze Asian culture, focusing on water’s symbolic roles in beliefs, values, and rituals. The theme has focused on symbolic meanings of the natural entities like water in social ceremonies and events. For instance, one can find a ritual to offer water for obtaining merit in Theravada Buddhism, and water festival is a common national event in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. People pray to water spirit (in Myanmar, it is “Nat”) for safety when they travel on rivers or oceans. Each country has its own value, belief, and meanings of water which suggest water as a symbol representing surprisingly diverse values in connection with mysterious stories and legends.
Keynote Speakers:
Dr. Elizabeth H Moore, Professor Emeritus, School of the Arts, SOAS, Univesity of London:
Joining sacred and secular – water in the wider landscape of BaganDr. Takatani Michio, Professor, Hiroshima University, Japan:
Prayer for Water, by the Water and for the Water in JapanDr. Mo Mo Thant, Professor/Head, History Department, University of Yangon:
Myanmar Perception of the Sacred LotusDr. Mya Mya Khin, Professor/Head, Anthropology Department, University of Yangon:
Religious Ritual and Ideational Superstructure
Abstract Submission Details
Abstracts should be submitted in English and should not exceed 300 words. A brief biography (CV) about 150-250 words for the author should also be included.
Abstracts and a brief biography (CV) can be submitted to the following emails:
winmyataung@seameochat.org.mm
nawsiblut@seameochat.org.mm
Deadline for submission of abstracts is on 30 September 2018.
SEAMEO CHAT will announce the selected papers on 15 October 2018. The selected papers should be 3,000 – 4,000 words and should be sent to SEAMEO CHAT by the end of November 2018.
SEAMEO Regional Centre for History and Traditions (SEAMEO CHAT)
Address: Pyay Road, Institute of Medicine (1) Compound, Kamaryut Township, Yangon, Myanmar
Tel: 95 1 539708, 95 1 539707, Ext: 122, 95 1 539706
