Transit
Asia
Research
Network
Vision & Objectives
Events
Research
News & Article
TRANSIT ASIA RESEARCH NETWORK
Our Vision
TARN is a research network dedicated to examining the profound changes and critical challenges in the complex geopolitical landscape of Asia and the wider world, including conflict, inequity, and the enduring impacts of colonial power relations. Our focus is on understanding these dynamics in the global context and investigating their contemporary significance.
TARN Development Timeline
Milestones
From an international humanities initiative to a growing trans-Asian research network and publishing platform.
Predecessor
Migration, Logistics and Unequal Citizens in Contemporary Global Context
- CHCI–Mellon Global Humanities Institute involving six partner institutes
Launch
- TARN launched at the ACS Institute , with ten founding institutes
- CHCI Membership Activity Fund awarded for 2023–2026
Networking
- 2024 TARN Meeting in Bangkok
- Network expanded to fourteen participating institutions
Deepening
- Critical Concepts Workshop in Singapore
- Chip Era Workshop at ICCS–NYCU in Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Network expanded to nineteen participating institutions
- Decolonization in the 21st Century published
Consolidation
- Critical Concepts volume published
- Transit Asia Dossiers in the Current Conjuncture launched as an online journal
- 2026 TARN Meeting at Kyung Hee University, South Korea
Developing
- Two-volume Chip Era publication
- Completion of the Smart Cities & Submarine Communication Cables online curation
- TARN Meeting with ICS–WSU in Surabaya, Indonesia
Global Capitalism and Technologies of Governance
Migratory Labor, Unequal Citizens, and Critical Legal Studies
Environmental Crises and Multi-species Equality
Social Engagement and Art Intervention
News and Article
Field notes of the port trip in Taiwan
Reported by Aubrey Fanani, Chang Wen-Chi, Jonathan Parhusip, and Qi Li Following the 2023 ACS Institute “De-colonization in the 21st Century”, the International Center for Cultural Studies (ICCS) organized a four-day excursion to southern Taiwan to investigate the...
PRESENTING XR: REENACTING REALITY, RECONNECTING SOCIETY
Reported by Aubrey Kandelila Fanani, MA Student, IACS-NYCUIntroductionXR (extended reality), a term to refer to Virtual reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR), has attracted artists to engage with it, not only game developers but also filmmakers,...
DOCUMENTA 15: A DISAGREEMENT
Reported by Aubrey Kandelila Fanani, MA Student, IACS-NYCUIntroductionBeginning in 1955, Documenta, which took place in Kassel, Germany, became one of the most prestigious contemporary art exhibitions. The last Documenta 15 started on June 18 and ended on September...
Rethink Hygiene and Environmental Problems (Via Our Shit)
Speaker: Dr. Daren Shi-chi Leung (Research Assistant Professor at Department of Cultural Studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.) Date: August 12, 2023 Location: ACS Institute, International Center for Cultural Studies, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University,...
Roundtable: Decolonizing Multi-species Entanglements in Taiwan
Author: GUO,QING-ROU，Institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies, NYCUIntroductionThe roundtable talking about multi-species studies and the multi-species relationships in indigenous communities in Taiwan. All of speakers have worked with multi-species...
Policy Ghosts and Decolonisation in the 21st Century (keynote)
Author: GUO,QING-ROU，Institute of Social Research and Cultural Studies, NYCUIntroductionTess Lea is an anthropologist who specializes in the analysis of indigenous navigation, settler colonial policies and military position extraction. Her most recent book is called...
OUR EVENTS
2026 TARN Meeting (Kyung Hee University, Korea)
2026 TARN Meeting Chip Era: Governance, Infrastructure, Labour, Mobility Global Campus, Kyung Hee University, Korea Dates: 4–6 September 2026 The 2026 TARN Meeting will be held from 4th to 6th […]
ISSH2026 Conference: The Social in the Digital
The Social in the Digital 11-12 June, 2026 Ton Duc Thang University 19 Nguyen Huu Tho Street, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam The 4th International […]
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Synopsis: Digital Deception Surveillance Technologies and Information Manipulation
Digital Deception Surveillance Technologies and Information Manipulation 11-12 June, 2026 The Chip Era and Digital Governance Forum 11 📌Date and Time: January 30, 2026, from 14:00 to 16:30, Taipei Time […]
The Chip Era and Digital Governance Joint-Project Workshop
The Chip Era and Digital Governance Joint-Project Workshop 13–15 November 2025 National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan On 13–15 November 2025, the International Center for Culture Studies (ICCS) […]
Hsinchu, Taiwan
Critical Concepts Writing Workshop
Critical Concepts Writing Workshop 24–26 April 2025Nanyang Technological University Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore (NTU CCA Singapore) The Critical Concepts Writing Workshop is a key event within the project Critical Reorientation in the […]
Singapore, 108934 Singapore
The Production and Reproduction of Social Inequalities
The Production and Reproduction of Social Inequalities Date：September 20-21, 2024 (GMT+8, Taipei Time) Venue：HC201, HA Building 3, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) & Hybrid event. Language： English Organizer： […]
Book Discussion at TARN Workshop 2024
The Center on Gender and Forced Displacement is excited to invite you to an insightful book discussion in collaboration with the Transit Asia Research Network (TARN), the International Center for […]
TARN 2024 MEETING Industry-led Operations of Capital in the 21st Century
The “Chip War” (Chris Miller, 2023), a battle for the world’s most critical technology and the new Nomos of the earth, has emerged as the contemporary form of the Cold War. Chips, […]
Bangkok, Thailand
The 3rd International Conference on Innovations in the Social Sciences and Humanities (ISSH 2024)
Date: July 26th – 27th, 2024Conference Venue: Ton Duc Thang UniversityAddress: 19 Nguyen Huu Tho Street, Tan Phong Ward, District 7, Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamEmail: issh2024@tdtu.edu.vn The 3rd International Conference on Innovations in […]
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Critical Curatorial Practices in the 21st Century: Public Space, New Media and Geopolitics
Speakers：Wen-Shu Lai | Professor/Director, Institute of Applied Arts, NYCU, TaiwanKarin G. Oen-Lee | Senior Lecturer, Head of Art History, School of Humanities, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Shwetal Ashvin Patel | […]
LATEST EVENTS
GALLERIES
Explore workshops, meetings, and field activities across the years.
No galleries have been published for this year yet.
CEDG Workshop 2025
Critical Concepts Writing Workshop 2025
2024 Past events
2024 TARN Meeting
