INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Values: East and West

International Conference on Values: East and West
Zhichenkhar in Thimphu, 20-24 April 2020,
Organized by the Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies,
Royal Government of Bhutan,
Thimphu, Bhutan

Values conflicts are an increasingly prominent feature of 21st century social, economic, political and cultural dynamics. At the same time, as is made evident by such global predicaments as climate change, the imperatives for values convergence are increasingly profound. Values concepts and vocabularies in both East and West vary widely both historically and in the contemporary context, and their differences merit analyses that in terms of both theory and practice, with particular attention to their departures and convergences. Values diversity may be as crucial to humanity’s future prospects as species diversity is for natural ecosystems.

The acquisitive drive for wealth and income are often portrayed as being in opposition to concerns about and commitments to values. Yet, this opposition is by no means a logical or practical necessity. Perspectives on how values and wealth are related should be examined critically, drawing on both Eastern and Western philosophies.

The International Conference on Values East and West is being hosted to foster open dialogue about the crucial role of values in shaping, not only the human experience, but also the relationships negotiated between humanity and nature. Core questions include whether there are such things as basic human values or if universal agreement on basic human values is a goal to be sought; how values are best transmitted and transformed; and on what grounds, and with what aims, the evaluation of value systems might best be undertaken.

Evidence today supports an initial hypothesis that there is no basic agreement about values at this stage, most strikingly perhaps in international affairs. Dissension on what values do or should matter most varies greatly, for example, among Chinese, Indian, European, American, indigenous, and nativist perspectives. Papers and panels are welcomed that examine and critically engage the values underlying different economic and political systems, as well as in different international relations theories such as liberal theory and structural realism, and in disparate economic frameworks such as free market and free trade, capitalism and socialism.

Panels and papers are also welcome that address how values are embodied in artistic, literary  and educational traditions, or that address such value-laden concepts as those of authority, honesty, commitment, justice, rights, patriotism, love, tha damtshig, karma, nation, and family reverence. Contributions are also sought that engage how the spirit of commerce, entrepreneurship and business is highly affected by the value orientation of entrepreneurs due to differences in social and environmental contexts.  

Finally, societal values are often described as tending in either the direction of individualism or collectivism. For example, tribes are held to be inclined toward the expression of collectivist values while big metropolis generally inculcate individualistic tendencies. Papers on the impact of individualism and collectivism are welcomed, as are papers that would challenge this binary and offer a relational “middle way.”

Papers and panels are welcomed from all perspectives. For those who wish to write and present papers on Buddhism and values, the following general guidelines are offered:

Vajrayāna Buddhism confronts unprecedented challenges as ideologies and doctrines interface with contemporary social norms and the evidence-based scientific orientation of twenty-first century life. The conference will therefore examine the informing values and principles of all forms of Buddhism, and their convergence and potential dissonance with contemporary secular ethics.

But how well have institutionalised forms of Buddhism, in particular Vajrayāna, adapted to twenty-first century challenges and opportunities? This conference will address this question in the context of the transcultural evolution of human values.

Themes of the conference in this respect may include the often contentious interface between Buddhist monasticism and the culture of the mahasiddhas, the non-monastic female and male adepts whose teachings constitute some of the principal lineages of Vajrayāna Buddhism. How should the antinomian, transgressive, and mythopoetic language of the Buddhist tantras be understood within the context of contemporary ethics and universal human rights?

Are there aspects of Vajrayāna that need to be reappraised in light of contemporary social values, including egalitarianism, gender neutrality, and historicity? Similarly, could Vajrayāna practices potentially gain from recent scientific advances in understanding of human physiology and consciousness?

These and other challenging questions will be addressed during this five-day conference. Panelists will also be invited to address how Vajrayāna may or may not accord with varyingly defined secular agendas such as nationalism as well as contested views regarding human rights, freedom, justice, ‘universal’ human values, etc.

Within the context outlined above, the conference seeks to establish how society and long-standing traditions might change for the benefit of humanity and the wider environment. This constitutes a creative re-imagining of Vajrayāna for the 21st-century, in its theory, practice, and application across diverse fields of human interests.

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To give enough time to benefit from each speaker/writer, no more than 15 speakers will present in a day. Hence the conference will stretch for five days. Written papers will be necessary though full paper can be submitted no later than two months after the conference. All discussions will be live streamed as well as recorded for later viewing and listening electronically.

The conference format will be 30 minutes speech followed by15 minutes discussion. But time allocated will vary according to substance of the presentation.

More than 500 audience consisting of teachers, writers specially curriculum writers, students, community leaders, politicians, and bureaucrats will attend the proceedings of the conference on values.

Official visa will be granted for foreign participants for up to two weeks. Accepted speakers will also receive local hospitality that will include accommodation in three-star hotels and meals. Transport to and from Paro International Airport will be provided by Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies, who is the conference organizer. The conference organizer is unable to support flight tickets.

Registration

  1. Registration must be done online.
  2. The last date for registration of foreign participants will be 15 February 2020.
  3. For Bhutanese and expats living in Bhutan, the registration will be open till 15 March 2020.

Abstract

  1. The content of the paper must be within the theme elucidated in the concept note.
  2. It must be an original work, not presented or published elsewhere.
  3. Abstract may include title, author names with professional affiliation, background, objective, method, key result, and conclusion (in APA style).
  4. The abstract should be written in English, and be no longer than 300 words.
  5. The last date for abstract submission is 31 January 2020.
  6. A review team consisting of not less than three members will review the abstracts.
  7. Notification of either acceptance or rejection of abstracts will be made via email by 29 February 2020.
  8. Not more than one co-author can present at the conference.
  9. Abstracts of all accepted contributions will be included within the abstract book which will be distributed to all registered conference participants.

Paper

  1. Presenting authors should submit the full paper in APA style.
  2. The deadline for a draft paper submission is 5 April 2020.
  3. Failure to submit the draft paper before 5 April may result in cancellation of your presentation.
  4. The final paper of your presentation must be submitted within two months after the conference for publication of the conference proceedings.

Visa

  1. Participants will be invited as official guests of the Centre, and the Centre will facilitate free Bhutanese visa to attend the conference.
  2. Nationals of India, Bangladesh, and Maldives do not require visa. You will be issued entry permit at the port of entry. Entry permit application, which will be facilitated by the Centre, must be submitted along with a copy of your passport.
  3. The maximum visa duration granted for this purpose is 14 days including the five days of conference.
  4. No route permit will be issued. Route permit is required to travel beyond Paro and Thimphu.
  5. The following are the list of documents to be submitted for processing your visa:
    1. Valid passport copy
    2. Filled up visa application form
  6. The visa application form is found here  Bhutan Visa Application Form
  7. The deadline for submission of the visa application is 15 February 2020.
  8. A one-time visa fee of USD 40 is compulsory for all participants applying for official Bhutanese visa.
  9. The Department of Immigration will start processing the visa only after receiving the visa fee. Therefore, the organiser shall make this payment in advance on your behalf. USD 40 must be refunded to the Centre once you enter the country.
  10. Soft copy of your visa clearance shall be sent to you via email.
  11. At your point of entry, you will be required to show your visa clearance letter. You must carry a hard copy of the visa clearance at your point of entry.

Logistics for speakers

  1. Speakers shall be provided with accommodation, meals, and local transportation during the conference.
  2. If you arrive early or extend your stay (within the approved visa duration), you must make your own local arrangements.

Non-speaker participants

  1. You have to submit a copy of your Curriculum Vitae to us. Visa processing will start only after we receive your CV.
  2. Registration will be done during the entire conference duration.
  3. The organiser will refuse to process or cancel your visa if the organising committee is convinced that your primary purpose of coming to Bhutan is not to attend the conference.
  4. Non-speaker participants will have to make arrangements for accommodation, food, and local transport on your own.

Meals during conference

  1. All participants will be provided with lunch during the conference, including tea and coffee at regular breaks.
  2. There will be a welcome dinner hosted by the Prime Minister of Bhutan (tentative) in the evening of 19 April 2020 to foreign participants and local invitees.

If you have any further queries, kindly contact Jigme Phuntsho, Research Officer, at Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies at vaj.conference@gmail.com

Please submit your abstract to this email: vaj.conference@gmail.com

REGISTER HERE