The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Japanese Political Science Association (JPSA) are pleased to announce a Call for Applications for early-career scholars from the US and Japan who are interested in conducting civically engaged research related to the social and political impacts of demographic change.
The second annual JPSA-APSA Working Group on “Civically Engaged Research for Critical Issues in Society” will be held alongside this year’s JPSA Annual Meeting, October 9-12, in Tokyo, Japan.
The deadline for applications is Sunday, June 1. Apply here!
With generous support from the Japan Foundation, APSA and JPSA are collaborating on a multi-year program of scholarly exchange, professional development, and community engagement. Each year, invited scholars from American and Japanese universities will attend a conference Working Group to share and improve research towards publication, develop new scholarly networks, and explore the use of civically engaged research in investigating some of the critical issues facing our societies. The program will include closed sessions for a core group of scholars, interactive meetings with members of local civil society organizations, and public sessions open to community, scholarly, and professional audiences. Organizers will cover participation costs (including airfare and accommodation) for up to 20 qualified applicants. The working language of the program is English.
2025 Working Group Theme: Political Transitions in Aging Societies
The program aims to support research on conditions that make us vulnerable to divisions in our societies, as well as research that explores interventions to overcome these divisions. Rigorous scholarship that is conducted from a community-centered approach and strives to learn from all stakeholders, including civil society groups and institutions outside of academia, can yield innovative findings that address social challenges at both the national and local levels. Attendees at this year’s Working Group will discuss best practices and models of excellence for conducting civically engaged research as applied to Political Transitions in Aging Societies, including topics such as elder care, family planning, depopulation in rural areas, youth participation in society, and labor diversification, among others. The program is open to all political science subfields, and we especially encourage applications from scholars who are undertaking research in collaboration with civil society or local government partners.
Eligibility and Application Instructions
We invite applications from early-career political scientists (graduate students, post-docs, and pre-tenure faculty) based at universities in Japan or the United States. Scholars from other social science disciplines undertaking research related to the workshop theme are also welcome to apply. The program is open to those with a proposal already accepted for JPSA or APSA 2025, but preference will be given to new papers. Japan-based scholars should be current JPSA members or have pending applications; US-based scholars should be APSA members.
Applications must be in English and include:
- The completed online Application Form
- A detailed, recent Curriculum Vitae/resume.
- A research statement (approximately 2,000 words) describing the work-in-progress you plan to discuss at the workshop. This statement should outline your research question(s), a brief literature review, the methods used and/or your plans for data-collection/fieldwork, the project’s anticipated contribution(s) to the field, and how it relates to the workshop themes. Prior to the workshop, scholars selected for participation will then share an article-length research paper (6,000-10,000 words) that is at a stage of development which would benefit from intense discussion and critique.
Applications are due Sunday, 1 June 2025. Access a PDF of the call for applications, here.
Visit the APSA Asia Program website. For more information, contact asiaworkshops@apsanet.org.