Institute for Advanced Study in Asian Cultures and Theologies (IASACT)

APPLY NOW FOR IASACT 2025

BACKGROUND

Institute for Advanced Study in Asian Cultures and Theologies (IASACT) is a four-week residential program that provides space and time for scholars to deepen their understanding of theologies and traditions. Participants undertake research and writing in the broad area of Asian cultures and theologies and complete a working paper while in residence. Starting from 2015, IASACT is organized by the Divinity School of Chung Chi College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and funded by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. Since 2004, 285 scholars from 145 institutions in 19 countries have benefited from the time IASACT affords for reflection, interaction and network-building.

More information about the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.

IASACT 2025

• IASACT has been a forum for research, writing and exchange of ideas on cultures and religions in Asia. More than 250 scholars participated in the Institute for the previous years as individual researchers. IASACT has been conducted online via Zoom between 2020, 2021 and 2022 because of the pandemic but resumed to a residential program in the summer of 2023.

• IASACT 2025 recognizes the value of interdisciplinary engagement as a basis for exploring the full range of questions about the theme.

RATIONALE

• As ubiquitous as food may seem to be in everyday life, it is essential for human survival. The astounding diversity of food includes meat and animal byproducts, seafood, insects, grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, and processed foods. Aside from providing the necessary nutrition that promotes and maintains physical energy, growth and health, food has a positive influence on mental and emotional wellbeing. Moreover, food preparation, distribution, and consumption hold great significance for many societies and belief systems. Food can determine the insiders and outsiders of a society, and bring people together or drive them apart. It can elevate or diminish the social status of consumers. Religious rituals frequently deploy food as channels between the human and the divine, and strive to create and preserve a sense of communal intimacy. Nevertheless, countries and global communities have become increasingly attentive to issues of food safety, security, and sovereignty. The United Nations is arguably the world’s foremost leader in this regard. Among its Sustainable Development Goals – a global blueprint for peace and prosperity among the peoples of the world – is Goal 2: Zero Hunger, which aims to end hunger by 2030. The United Nations’s predictions that 600 million people worldwide will be hunger-stricken by 2030, and that the world population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 suggest an imminent global food crisis. The World Food Programme’s efforts to fight hunger, for which it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2020, underscores the reality that despite myriad global advancements, hunger still remains a crucial concern in many parts of the planet. The phenomena of new diseases, prolonged warfare, and diverse environmental changes continue to adversely impact food productivity and accessibility on numerous levels. Contemporary cooking and eating practices and habits are often reduced to profit-driven acts of commercial entrepreneurship and fleeting moments of sustenance for survival. Food thus occupies a central but complex location in human existence.

• IASACT 2025 invites scholars to critically explore the topic of foodscapes in Asia – meaning the spaces, linkages, and activities, with their attendant patterns, problems and prospects – from the production to the consumption of food in Asian contexts. While we offer a menu of the following themes that traverse the areas of food safety, security, sovereignty, and social and spiritual sensibilities for your consideration, we are also open to other creative ideas that are flavoured with interdisciplinary and intersectional possibilities:

• Health, Hunger, and Healing

• Aging, food for the elderly, and life expectancy
• Biological, chemical, and physical contamination
• Efforts to localise Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger
• Infection, illness, and disease
• (Mal)Nutrition, nutrition imbalance, and impaired nutrient utilisation
• Medicine, and patient care
• Student diet and food security in higher education institutions

• Production, Perplexities, and Possibilities

• Abiotic stress, greenhouse gases, and climate change
• Agriculture 4.0
• Animal welfare, wild fisheries, and other wild food sources
• Deforestation, erosion, and soil depletion
• Farmers, and community co-ops
• Genetic modification
• Global food market, trade restriction, and legislative change
• Safety standards, and certification
• Supply chain, and labour shortages
• Wastage and loss

• Consumption

• Consumer behaviours, fashions, choices, and preferences

• Vegetarianism and veganism

• Civilisations, Cultures, and Customs

• Commensality, hospitality, and food-sharing customs
• Culinary arts, haute cuisine, and celebrity chefs
• Cultural, ethnic, class and national identities
• Dining practices, social cohesion, and community development
• Ethics, spirituality, and theology
• Evolution of food practices in multicultural societies
• Globalisation, and transnational juxtapositions and flows
• Practices, habits, and desires of eating
• Religious bonding and building
• Religious dietary restrictions, and regulations

• Click HERE for the pamphlet of IASACT 2025 for more information.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

20 June - 19 July 2025

CONTENT

Selected scholars must be available for all activities taken taking place in Hong Kong:
•    Opening & Orientation
•    Brief Presentations of proposals
•    Full presentation of research
•    Regular individual meetings with the assigned mentor
•    Submission of a final paper before departure
•    Mini-conference or special lectures

DELIVERABLES

• A mid-term presentation on the research progress (framework, methodology, plans, difficulties, and findings or tentative conclusion)
• Written commentaries on at least two other research projects upon their presentation
• A research paper offering empirical data (interviews, media analysis, contextual analysis) or theoretical analysis

THEME

SCHOLARSHIP AND ALLOWANCES

• Sponsor airfare, while giving special consideration to those with financial difficulties or special needs. Participants are expected to shoulder his/her own airfares and related travel costs, including but not limited to insurance and local transportation. Travel subsidies might be provided to those with demonstrated financial needs
• Cover room and meal expenses of all scholars
• Provide a stipend of US$1000-1500 to cover basic costs related to research and writing

ACADEMIC SUPPORT

• A mentor will be assigned to provide ongoing academic advice for research and publishing throughout the program
• Additional advice by relevant resource persons may be arranged where available
• Physical access to the University Library System of the Chinese University of Hong Kong will be available
   

ELIGIBILITY

IASACT LEADERSHIP

Prof. Lap Yan KUNG

IASACT Dean 

Adjunct Associate Professor
Divinity School of Chung Chi College
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Mentors

Prof. Jeane Peracullo

Professor and Assistant Dean of External Affairs and Lasallian Mission, College of Liberal Arts
De La Salle University in Manila

Dr. Joseph N. Goh

Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies, 
School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia

APPLICATION

Applications must be submitted online and should include the following attachments:

• an updated CV (not exceeding two pages)
• a project abstract with objectives and description of no more than 1,500 words, not including footnotes and bibliography
• a brief outline of the expected output (not exceeding two pages)
• a recommendation letter from the affiliated institution

Please register via HERE. Deadline of registration is 28 February 2025 (Friday). 

Flyer of IASACT 2025 can be accessed via HERE.

PUBLICATION

QUEST: Studies on Religion & Culture in Asia is a publication from the Divinity School of Chung Chi College, the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the IASACT program. Scholars of IASACT submit a paper to QUEST which is a peer-reviewed journal, and aims to be a “Gold” open access journal. It publishes research and book review articles that may span the full spectrum of religious studies, cultural studies, theological studies, and interdisciplinary studies on the cultures and religions in Asia.

Visit QUEST