September 08, 2022
Kritika Kultura co-sponsored the inaugural Asian Journals Network (AJN) Conference on August 29-30, 2022 with UNITAS. Twenty-one journals in literature and related disciplines based and published in Asia participated in the two-day event, which was held on Zoom and live streamed on Facebook.
During the first day of the conference, the participants were welcomed by Fr. Jannel N. Abogado, OP, DTPS, Vice Rector for Research and Innovation at University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the AJN co-convenors Professor Maria Luisa Torres Reyes, editor-in-chief of UNITAS (PH), the oldest extant peer-reviewed international multidisciplinary journal in the country published by UST, and Dr. Vincenz Serrano, editor-in-chief of Kritika Kultura (PH), the leading internationally indexed and peer-reviewed journal of literary, language, and cultural studies of the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU). The keynote lecture of esteemed literary and cultural studies scholar Professor Melani Budianta of Universitas Indonesia (UI) followed, where she rallied the participants to collaborate on reclaiming the Asian region in terms of knowledge production and scholarly publishing.
Two panel sessions followed the keynote lecture. The first set of presenters included Professor Paolo A. Bolaños of Kritike (PH), Dr. Narumi Shitara of Southeast Asian Studies (JP), Dr. Hsu Li-hsin of The Wenshan Review of Literature and Culture (TW), Dr. Patrick F. Campos of Pelikula (PH), Dr. Arlene Yandug of Kinaadman (PH), Dr. Arina Isti’anah of Journal of Language and Literature (ID), and Dr. Alexander J. Klemm of Southeast Asian Media Studies Journal (TH). The second batch featured Professor Rahayu Surtiati Hidayat of Paradigma (ID), Professor Iping Liang and Professor Justin Prystash of Concentric: Literary and Cultural Studies (TW), Professor Ruth Jordana L. Pison of Humanities Diliman (PH), Dr. Lilie M. Roosman and Ms. Regina Edinojo of Wacana (ID), Fr. Jesus M. Miranda, Jr., OP, PhD of Philippiniana Sacra (PH), Professor Carlos M. Piocos, III of Akda (PH), and Professor Fernando dlC Paragas of Plaridel (PH).
The second day of the conference began with a panel session with Professor Gexin Yang of Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Forum for World Literature Studies (CN), Professor Biwu Shang of Frontiers of Narrative Studies (CN), and Professor Su Hui and Professor Aiping Zhang of Foreign Literature Studies (CN). It was followed by an organizational meeting, where Professor Bolaños, editor-in-chief of Kritike, led fellow journal editors and representatives to a brainstorming session about the organizational identity of AJN and ethics; afterwards, the co-convenors presided over the remainder of the meeting. Professor Reyes, who initiated the creation of AJN and editor emerita of Kritika Kultura, presented the key points from the survey accomplished by the participants prior to the conference, while Dr. Serrano led the drafting of the memorandum of understanding with regard to AJN’s general principles, primary activities, and membership.
The first-ever AJN Conference would not have been completed without the performances from celebrated concert pianist Dr. Peter Porticos of UST Conservatory of Music, namely, "Bituing Marikit," "Fireworks," "Soirée De Vienne," and "Mephisto Waltz." Aside from the journals mentioned above, the founding members of AJN include Mobility Humanities (KR), Poetika (ID), and Dialektika (ID).
With their UNITAS counterparts, Kritika Kultura's Raymon D. Ritumban, Regina Carmeli Regala, and Anne Camille Ortiz ran the AJN Secretariat and moderated some of the sessions.
Report from KK Communications and Events
