Nearly 100 international and Canadian participants convened in a total of 20 panels (three concurrent panels plus two keynotes) over two days (June 7-8, 2024) for the first conference of the North American Chapter on the History of Emotion (NACHE) Biennial Conference to be held in Canada. The conference hosted sessions by those at the forefront of emotions studies while fostering a wealth of opportunities for early career scholars and those new to the field. Keynote speakers were Professor Peter N. Stearns, Distinguished University Professor, George Mason University, (hybrid public lecture via Zoom) and Professor Dorothy (Dory) Nason (Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, University of British Columbia.) Her keynote was held in-person.
The UBC conference marks new trends in international academic research on emotions and their histories through the inclusion of four panels on, and participants from, East and South Asia, three focusing on Latin America, and panels and individual papers from scholars from less well-represented countries and regions such as Turkey, Portugal, the Middle East, Australia, Canada and Scandinavia. The UBC conference showcased the inspiring potential of new developments and new directions in this field. This event reflects the expansion in research on the emotions across disciplines and geographical and temporal arenas, as well as the outstanding contributions being made by new generations of international scholars. It represented an unprecedented opportunity for musicologists to talk to scholars of politics and media studies; for those studying the material turn in emotion studies to connect with those in the growing field of exploring the role of the senses in the emotions. The shift towards non-Western scholarly focus was an important goal of the conference planning and we believe that the UBC conference not only reflects the global interest in emotion studies but also sets the stage for new opportunities for catalyzing synergies among global scholars and disciplines. The conference provided momentum for building new research clusters and networks and for UBC and Canada to be at the centre of that process.
Conference Co-Organizers Professor Peter N. Stearns (Distinguished University Professor, George Masson University; Professor Susan J. Matt, (Presidential Distinguished Professor of History at Weber State University) both co-chairs of NACHE; and co-organizer and local host Assistant Professor C. D. Alison Bailey (Asian Studies).
Conference organizers would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their help and support: NACHE; Professor Dorothy (Dory) Nason; Professor Benjamin Bryce (UBC Latin American Studies); Anna Pravdica; UBC Public Humanities Hub; UBC Department of History; UBC Department of Asian Studies; UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs; Professor Jessica Main and The Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation, UBC; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Exchange Workshop Grant; Professor Bruce Rusk, Asian Studies; Hollim Lei, ArtsIT; Winnie Lai (Asian Studies Events); Adam Barnett, Asian Studies; Maija Norman, Asian Studies; UBC Conferences and Accommodation at UBC; and especially the invaluable graduate and undergraduate conference assistants: Chien-Cho Chan; Amber Chow; Chloe Lam; Haoyue Li; Jiahe Miao; Lavanya Verma; Jerry Yang; Jiaxin Yang; and Alisa Zeng
