The workshop "Daily Life and Urban Spaces in Northeast Asian Border Towns 1900 to 1950" will be held at Heidelberg University (Germany), from November 25 to 27, 2010.

This workshop will compare and analyze the social history of urban spaces in the so-called "border towns" and "border regions" of Northeast Asia (Russian and Soviet Far East, Siberia, Northeast China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan) during the first half of the 20th century. This area and period present a complex history of competing powers and diverging colonial interests. Japan, the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, China, the United States, and other Western powers pursued their own economic and geostrategic objectives in the region. One of the outcomes from this power struggle was the prevalence of encounters between different social, political, ethnic, and cultural groups in addition to the emergence of boundaries beyond traditional borders as defined by nation-states and empires.

Those who wish to participate must submit an abstract (300 words max.) and a short CV by April 15, 2010. Successful applicants are to submit the paper (6,000 words max.) until September 30, 2010.

For more information, visit the website at http://www.asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de/en/research/b-public-spheres/b10.html