ATJ's annual Thursday Seminar provides a chance for all ATJ members to gather, meet and talk with colleagues, participate in the business of the Association, and hear the latest research on language, linguistics, pedagogy, and literature. This year's Seminar will be held April 4, in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the annual conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The Seminar schedule is available here.
The Seminar is open to all ATJ members and their guests: advance registration is not required. However, a fee of $35 will be payable on-site by non-members of ATJ or NCJLT. (Non-members will of course have the option of joining ATJ at the Seminar.)
If you wish to also attend sessions of the AAS conference, which will be held at the same venue April 4-7, it is necessary to register either in advance or on-site. On-line early registration can be conducted at the AAS web site: www.aasianst.org.
We cordially invite all ATJ members to attend the annual General Membership meeting, which will be held Saturday, April 6, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. The membership meeting is your chance to meet ATJ's officers and Board members and to participate in making decisions that affect the Association. As usual, there will be door prizes donated by publishers who specialize in books on Japanese language pedagogy and Japanese studies.
The larger AAS conference is an opportunity to attend panel sessions on a variety of subjects, find out what is happening in the fields of Japan and Asia Studies, see the latest books and instructional materials in the exhibit hall, and meet colleages and friends. Of particular interest to ATJ members at this year's conference will be two sessions sponsored or supported by ATJ. One is a Roundtable: "Interdisciplinary Issues in Teaching Premodern Japanese: Languages, Texts, Metalanguages," to be presented from 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. on Sunday; the second is a panel session, "Toward a Cognitive and Interactional Understanding of Person References in Japanese: A Usage-Based Approach," from 8:30-10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Other sessions at the AAS conference will focus on a variety of aspects of Japanese literature, history, and culture. Sessions of potential interest to ATJ members include "Power and Respect: Language and Representation in Japan"; "Nation and Language: Kokugo and the Boundaries of 'Proper' Japanese"; "Japanese Women Authors and Contemporary Detective Fiction"; and others. As always, the exhibit hall will feature the latest publications in Asian studies from a large number of university presses and other publishers.
The full conference schedule as well as information on registering and attending the AAS conference is available from the AAS office (1021 East Huron St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104); by email: mailto:annmtg@aasianst.org; or at www. aasianst.org. The ATJ office can also supply information on conference registration.
All of the conference events will take place at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Road, NW, Washington, DC 20008. If you wish to stay at the Marriott Wardmanin order to attend either the ATJ Seminar or the AAS conference, please phone the hotel at 202/328-2900 or fax 202/387-5397; when registering, mention the AAS conference to receive a special discounted room rate.