On 17 September, Isa Blumi, Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, delivered a keynote speech at the International Conference ‘Circulation of Knowledge in the Ottoman World, c. 1500–1900’ at the National Archives in Madrid.
The Speculative Fiction & Environmental Humanities Reading Assemblage (SFEHRA) will have its second meeting on October 1st, led by professor Andrew Jones, Department of Archaeology and Classical studies and Elisa Viteri Márquez, PhD student at the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
The European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS) held its 18th triennial conference in Poznań, 27–30 August 2026.
On 1 August, Gunnar Jinmei Linder took up the post of Head of Department at the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
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Seren Selvin Korkmaz defended her dissertation on 28 May, entitled The Role of the Opposition in Autocratisation: The Case of Turkey’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) .
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“Can Art Be National? Japonisme, Transculturation, and the Making of National Art” proposed to section Visual Arts has been accepted by the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS) Conference organisers.
What can a few lines of poetry say about an entire society? For Monika Gänssbauer , professor of Chinese language and culture at Stockholm University, the answer is: a great deal.
Professor Jaqueline Berndt from Stockholm University is co-organizing an international workshop titled Translating Comics: Between Bubbles, Cultures, and Constraints in East Asia , taking place on April 10–11, 2026, in Paris and online.
Associate Professor Gunnar Jinmei Linder, researcher at the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Stockholm University, has been awarded the Japanese decoration Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. He is recognised for his contributions to promoting academic exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and Sweden. Birgitta Henriques Normark, former President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, also receives a Japanese order. On 3 November, the Government of Japan announced the foreign recipients of this autumn’s decorations. Gunnar Jinmei Linder is honoured for his long-standing efforts to promote knowledge of Japanese culture and music, as well as for strengthening the ties between Japan and Sweden in research and education. As a shakuhachi performer and scholar, Linder has for many years introduced traditional Japanese music to Swedish audiences through concerts, teaching, and lectures. At Stockholm University, he combines research on Japanese music with teaching in the Japanese language and culture, inspiring many students to deepen their studies on Japan. Birgitta Henriques Normark, Professor at Karolinska Institutet and former President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, receives the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star for her efforts to enhance research collaboration between Japan and Sweden. Read more: Embassy of Japan in Sweden
A new interdisciplinary research project at Stockholm University, "Beyond Trauma: Futures of Memory and the Memory of Futures," investigates the relationship between memory and the future by integrating perspectives from multiple academic disciplines. The project focuses on analyzing how literary texts and cultural narratives envision the future by engaging with the past. By broadening memory studies beyond its traditionally trauma-oriented and retrospective focus, the project introduces a theoretical framework that emphasizes the possibilities of future memories and memories of the future. The researchers will examine literary works and narratives from various cultural contexts, such as Taiwanese, Ukrainian, African, Caribbean, Slavic, Irish, and Nordic, to analyze how these texts articulate alternative and speculative futures that can impact cultural identities, collective agency, and historical consciousness. The aim is to contribute to a paradigm shift in memory studies that emphasizes futurity and narrative experimentation, while also challenging linear conceptions of time. The research project is led by Professor Irmy Schweiger at the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Other project members from Stockholm University include: Professor Victoria Fareld , Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Associate Professor Olena Jansson , Department of Slavic and Baltic Languages, Associate Professor Anna Jörngården Galili , Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Postdoctoral Researcher Alice Sundman , Department of English, Professor Joakim Wrethed , Department of English, and Postdoctoral Researcher Maria Ioana Zirra , Department of English. The project also involves several international researchers, such as: Dr. Richard Crownshaw , Goldsmiths, University of London, Professor Elisabeth Herrmann , University of Warwick, Professor Justyna Tabaszewska , Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor Emerita Andrea Riemenschnitter , University of Zurich, Professor Pieter Vermeulen , KU Leuven, and Professor Jenny Wüstenberg , Nottingham Trent University.
