As Taiwan studies has gained prominence in North America in recent years, diverse scholarly voices and perspectives facilitate intellectually rigorous and innovative discussions within the field. The 2026 North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) conference theme, “Resonance/Dissonance: Taiwan Studies, Knowledge Production, and Power Asymmetry,” employs resonance and dissonance as two key metaphors, inviting an in-depth exploration of their dialogical relationship.
Resonance/dissonance characterizes all kinds of relations among voices emerging from different human/nonhuman agents. Some of these voices are consistent, while some are contradictory; some are dominant, while others are repressed. We welcome projects that explore the relationships between various voices and the ways they sound, and how they resonate/dissonate with existing intellectual frameworks. In this regard, we also seek to make space where marginalized voices can be recognized and heard on their own terms.
Resonance/dissonance can be created through interdisciplinary conversations and collaborations, which help build a more inclusive and connected scholarly community in North America and beyond. These dialogues encompass discrepancies, frictions, and even contradictions, illuminating the complexity and richness of Taiwan studies. With this year’s conference theme, we focus on collaborative and contested dialogues across disciplines. We invite submissions that explore the possibilities that Taiwan studies can contribute to methodological and theoretical innovation.
NATSA 2026 pays critical attention to the uneven distribution of resources, power, and opportunity. This unevenness shapes our social worlds and how we understand them. Attention to this power dynamic foregrounds the infrastructures of knowledge production in Taiwan studies, such as language usage, resources allocation, and perpetuation of disciplinary boundaries. These infrastructures then shape the theories and methodologies through which Taiwan is imagined and studied. NATSA welcomes research that examines the infrastructures of Taiwan studies, as well as proposals envisioning new ways of studying Taiwan.
NATSA invites submissions that engage broadly with, but are not limited to, the following issues and keywords:
- Science and technology
- Care and disability
- Empire, nation, and settler/colonialism
- Frontier and border
- Environment, climate, and resilience
- Gender and sexuality
- Geopolitics and security
- Global Asias
- Indigenous resurgence and indigeneity
- Law, human rights, and justice
- Migration and transnationalism
- Race and ethnicity
- Translation and mediation