Link to the seminar website and the program: https://international-seminar-ocean.my.canva.site/
SEMINAR OVERVIEW
Day 1 – Humanities, Art, Performance, and Education
The first day establishes the seminar’s interdisciplinary engagement with the ocean across the humanities, arts, and education. The programme begins with discussions of global and local ocean narratives before turning to artistic practice, performance, and oceanic imaginaries. Subsequent sessions address deep-sea environments, undersea infrastructures, and the material conditions through which oceanic spaces are known, represented, and contested. The day concludes with workshops and presentations on ocean education, ecological awareness, language, literacy, and experimental pedagogical practice.
Day 2 – Sea Stories, Literature, and Culture
The second day foregrounds storytelling, literary representation, and cultural connections. Panels explore sea narratives, folklore, environmental concerns, and ocean-centred literary imaginaries. The programme then expands to cultural and social perspectives, including fishing communities, regional histories, climate vulnerability, and the ocean as a connector across places, identities, and forms of collective memory.
Day 3 – Archive, History, and Oceanic Knowledge
The final day examines the ocean as an archive, a historical force, and a source of knowledge. Presentations address material, financial, cultural, and ecological flows, as well as oceanic ephemerality, maritime history, and early modern oceanic archives. The seminar concludes with a poster session, a business meeting, and closing reflections on the role of ocean studies within the humanities and interdisciplinary research.
Organizing Committee
Prof. Shin Yamashiro – University of the Ryukyus
Prof. Naomi Kinjo – University of the Ryukyus
Prof. James Davis Reimer – University of the Ryukyus
Prof. Anna Bączkowska – University of Gdańsk
Prof. Monika Szuba – University of Gdańsk
Prof. Christopher Davis – University of the Ryukyus
Dr Megen de Bruin-Molé – University of Southampton
Jun Toyama – University of the Ryukyus
Prof. Madoka Nagado – University of the Ryukyus
Dr Szymon Gredżuk – Bunkyo University
Dr Sylwia Dobkowska – University of the Ryukyus
Students
Dagmara Solska – University of Gdańsk
Aleksandra Chmarzyńska – University of Gdańsk
Dominika Kolenda – University of Gdańsk
RaeAnn Uyeda – University of the Ryukyus
