Postgraduate Lightning Talk Symposium
Theme: Emerging Voices – Testing Ideas in Research on Hong Kong
5-6 June 2026 | Virtual
Call for Papers
HKCAL is committed to creating training opportunities for budding researchers in Hong Kong studies. This friendly informal symposium aims to provide a supportive space for current and prospective postgraduate or doctoral research students to share work-in-progress, test research ideas, and receive constructive feedback from peers and seasoned researchers.
We welcome projects related to Hong Kong cultures, arts, and languages, broadly defined, from any disciplinary or methodological perspective, including (but not limited to) literature, linguistics, cultural studies, history, film, media and popular culture, music, visual arts, and digital humanities.
Each participant will deliver a 10-minute lightning talk presenting a research idea, concept, or preliminary finding, followed by 15 minutes of discussant response and Q&A. This format is not intended for literature review; we warmly encourage participants to focus on testing the originality and viability of their research ideas.
Each participant will be paired with an experienced researcher who will act as a discussant. This offers participants maximum practice to answering questions from both scholars in a similar field and from the wider research community.
Participants are encouraged to use this lightning talk opportunity as testing ground for an upcoming fieldwork, a conference paper, an upgrade/colloquium presentation, or an extended elevator speech.
Suggested topics include (but are not limited to):
- Cultural and linguistic identities in Hong Kong and global Hong Kong communities
- Migration, belonging, and memory
- Creative and performing arts, media, and popular culture
- Language, discourse, and translation
- Digital or interdisciplinary approaches to Hong Kong studies
- New perspectives and emerging concepts in Hong Kong studies
Submission Guidelines
Please submit:
- A 200-word abstract
- A 50-word bio (including name and institutional affiliation)
Deadline: Friday, 27 February 2026
Notification of acceptance: Friday, 20 March 2026
All deadlines are 11.59 pm UTC -12h (‘anywhere on Earth’)