18th EAJS Ph.D. Workshop Report
Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
23–26 August 2022

Report of the Academic Organizer
The 18th EAJS Workshop for Doctoral Students took place at the Department of AsianStudies at Palacký University Olomouc in the Czech Republic 23-26 August 2022. Fortunately,
despite the worsening Covid-19 situation in some countries, the workshop did not have to bechanged into an online event as in the previous two years. 48 Ph.D. candidates pursuing theirstudies at various European universities, but also in Japan and the U.S., applied this year. It was arather challenging task to choose the final 20 workshop participants as the projects werethematically diverse and multidisciplinary, and all of them were of very good quality. Dependingon the nature of their research theme, the participants were divided into five thematic groups –linguistics, literature, contemporary society, international relations & foreign policy, and politics,
gender & media representation. Each group was supervised by one senior advisor invited by theworkshop director, Dr. Ivona Barešová (Palacký University Olomouc). The senior advisors were:Prof. Reiko Abe Auestad (University of Oslo)
Dr. Marcos Pablo Centeno (Birkbeck, University of London; University of Valencia)
Dr. Nathan Edwin Hopson (University of Bergen)
Dr. Ra Mason (University of East Anglia)
All student participants presented their projects in front of the whole group, that is,
the other doctoral students and senior advisors. Several academics and students from theorganizing institution also joined for some sessions. The presentations were structured as asmall conference, grouped into six sessions over two days. As all the students were expectedto submit a 5,000-word project report prior to the event which was shared among allparticipants, the presentations were limited to only 10–15 minutes, so that more time was left
for Q & A and open discussion. This arrangement seems to have worked very well. Each
presentation was followed by a lively and constructive discussion which, I believe, wasbeneficial for the presenters. In addition, there were also two sessions in the small thematicgroups, one each day of the workshop. The discussions within these groups were led by thesenior advisors who provided each student with more thorough feedback. The participants
were, therefore, able to discuss their research project with people who work across different
disciplines as well as receive more detailed feedback from the senior advisor and fellow
students within their group.
One of the issues that came up repeatedly in the presentations and discussions was
how to conduct primary research during the Covid-19 pandemic. The various ways of coping1

18th EAJS Ph.D. Workshop Report
Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic
23–26 August 2022with the situation presented were appreciated by the other participants who have been facing
similar problems.
The event was not only about presenting and discussing research topics, but also about
exchanging ideas, networking, and sharing academic experience. This was possible not only
during the coffee breaks, lunches, and dinners we spent together, but also during enjoyablesightseeing walks organized by local Ph.D. students each day after the workshop. Walking
through the park and the city center, climbing a church tower, discovering some hidden
corners of the city, and enjoying ice cream together was a pleasant addition to the whole event.
I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Abe Auestad, Dr. Centeno, Dr. Hopson andDr. Mason for taking on the role of a senior advisor and coming to Olomouc, despite their busy
schedules. I greatly appreciate their support throughout the whole event. My sincere thanks go also
to the organizing team, especially to Dr. Halina Zawiszová, who was my main collaborator whenplanning and running the workshop. Finally, I also thank all the student participants for their
extraordinary level of engagement and I sincerely hope everyone left Olomouc with some fresh
inspiration, new motivation, and extra energy to successfully finish their work.
With fond memories of the event,Ivona Barešová, Palacký University Olomouc

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this event from:2