The Global Antarctic

2021 SCAR Standing Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences (SC-HASS) Biennial Academic Conference

Call for Abstracts

Open June 1 until August 2, 2021

1. There will be no fee for submitting an

2. Date and expected format of the conference: November 18-19, 2021, Hybrid format

Despite the continuing uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, with the agreement of the Chief Officers, Kobe University Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC) has decided to hold the conference initially in hybrid format, but in any event, as a last resort, in entirely online format.

The hybrid conference will consist of a limited number of in-person live events at Kobe, Japan, and several online opportunities such as online poster/PowerPoint presentations, online live seminars broadcast through internet, and/or online panel discussions recorded for later on-demand viewing on the website, etc. The Convenor will finalize the conference format as well as a general scheme of the conference program in late September, taking into consideration the number of abstracts received and accepted and the participants’ preferences regarding their means of participation.

When you submit your abstracts, you are also requested to provide your preferred manner of presentation (in-person or online) as follows. Please note however the Convenor is still considering the technical and financial feasibilities of those presentation options and does not guarantee the availability of all or some of those options.

Preferred manner of presentation:

• Type A: In-person live oral presentation at the venue (COVID-19 travel restrictions permitting);
• Type B: Online live oral presentation (irrespective of the COVID-19 situation);
• Type C: Online uploading of poster/PowerPoint presentation, with on-demand viewing and commenting; or
• Type D: Online uploading of video presentation, with on-demand viewing and commenting.

3.  The Theme of the Conference

The conference theme is “The Global Antarctic,” chosen to reflect both the connections between Antarctica and individuals and institutions far further north, but also the global nature of a conference that will include a significant online component. In keeping with the ethos of SC-HASS, we warmly invite contributions from all disciplines within the humanities and the social sciences, including the performing and creative arts, that touch on an aspect of the relationship between humans and the Antarctic (including the Southern Ocean).

4.  The format, length, and number of abstracts:

Please use the model abstract format downloadable from the website [Model Abstract Format] .

Abstracts must be submitted in PDF format through the dedicated abstract submission portal.

Both proposals for individual presentations and proposals for panels on a specific topic or theme are welcomed. Proposals should be written in English and consist of no more than 500 words for a panel submission or 250 words for an individual submission. In addition, please include a brief biographical statement (no more than 150 words) for each presenter. You are welcome to submit multiple abstracts, up to two per person as the first author. All proposals will be reviewed by the conference’s Academic Planning Committee. Questions related to the submission of proposals and the academic content of the conference may be submitted to Peder Roberts (peder.roberts [@] abe.kth.se).

5.  Deadline for submitting abstracts: August 2 (Monday), 2021.

Successful applicants will be notified by mid-September. Registration is planned to open from the end of September 2021.

6.  Rokkodai Fellowship

The 2021 SCAR SC-HASS conference is financially supported by Kobe University Rokkodai Foundation, on the condition that the conference promotes Japan/Japanese-related Antarctic humanities and social sciences studies, and/or collaborative research with Japanese scholars, particularly with Japanese early-career scholars, or scholars in Japanese universities and research institutions. A small number of competitively selected Rokkodai Fellowship will be offered to participants satisfying these conditions. The fellowship covers full travel and accommodation expenses (most economical tickets and accommodation reserved and purchased by the designated travel agency) and/or research grants amounting up to JPY 150,000 per person for related research and drafting of reports based on the presentation (under contract with the Convenor and in accordance with the Kobe University financial rules). There is a section for this purpose in the abstract submission portal. Details of the fellowship will be provided after pre-selection of candidates in August based on the abstract and the explanation.

7.  Action Group on PoLSciNex-Mitsubishi Fellowship

The PoLSciNex Action Group (www.scar.org/science/polscinex/home/) is recruiting a small number of fellows who can:

• Plan, organize and execute a focused panel/seminar on the theme, in close consultation with Professor Akiho Shibata, one of the co-leads of the Action Group;
• Convene a live seminar, preferably in-person (with a possibility of some presenters participating online) during the SC-HASS Conference in Kobe, Japan; and
• Prepare, collect and edit papers and reports from the seminar for potential publication in The Polar Journal or another high-impact

The fellowship covers full travel and accommodation expenses (most economical tickets and accommodation reserved and purchased by the designated travel agency) and/or research grants amounting up to JPY 250,000 per person upon successful publication of related papers in a journal (under the contract with Prof. Shibata and in accordance with the Kobe University financial rules). There is a section for this purpose in the abstract submission portal. Details of the fellowship will be provided after pre-selection of candidates in August based on the abstract and the explanation.

We look forward to seeing you in November – either in person or virtually!

SC-HASS Conference
Academic Planning Committee
Local Organizing Committee

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