Department of Asian Studies
Ethics, Ecology, and Aesthetics in Transcultural Perspective: The Case of East Asia
International Symposium hosted by the Department of Asian Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, April 10-12, 2026.
The symposium “Ethics, Ecology, and Aesthetics in Transcultural Perspective: The Case of East Asia” is organized by Téa Sernelj in cooperation with the Sinological Research Center Ferdinand Augustin Hallerstein (SRC-CENTRI‑13), which operates in the framework of the Department of Asian Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. It has also been supported by the Slovene Research and Innovation Agency as part of the research core funding Asian Languages and Cultures (P6-0243), the project J6-50202 – The Confucian Revival and Its Impact on Contemporary East Asian Societies through the Prism of the Relationship between the Individual and Society, as well as the RSF_ARIS.ZRP.26-TS – Start-up program Ecology and Relational Ethics in the East Asian Past and Present.
The symposium explores the complex relations among ethics, aesthetics, and ecology as they emerge within and across diverse cultural contexts.
Within this framework, the speakers from all over Europe and East Asia will present various perspectives on the aesthetic experience of relationships with the environment and with others, the axiological elements involved in the perception and expression of reality, the political and economic dimensions of the relationship between ecology and ethics, and different visions of the integration of human beings, their experience, and nature.
The symposium brings together leading domestic and international scholars working in the fields of transcultural and East Asian aesthetics, ethics, and environmental studies. We are particularly pleased to host Professor Dr. Gloria Luque Moya and Professor Dr. Rose Fernández from the University of Málaga (Spain), Professor Dr. Dawid Rogacz from Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland), Professor Dr. Selusi Ambrogio from the University of Macerata (Italy), Professor Dr. Yang Xiaobo from the Zhejiang Yuexiu University (China), and Professor Hashi Hisaki from Vienna University. The symposium also features contributions by the following professors and researchers from our department: Professor Dr. Nataša Vampelj Suhadolnik, Professor Dr. Jana S. Rošker, Associate Professor Dr. Téa Sernelj, Associate Professor Byoung Yoong Kang, Assistant Professor Luka Culiberg, Assistant Maja Kosec, and Research Assistant Tara Peternell.
The aim of the symposium is to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and ideas related to East Asian and transcultural factors that can constructively contribute to the development of strategies for addressing global crises and improving the quality of human life from a planetary perspective.
The symposium “Ethics, Ecology, and Aesthetics in Transcultural Perspective: The Case of East Asia” explores the complex relations among ethics, aesthetics, and ecology as they emerge within and across diverse cultural contexts. Beyond addressing the opportunities and difficulties inherent in transcultural exchanges in these fields, it places particular emphasis on differing conceptions of the human being, the ways in which humans are situated within social and natural environments, and the axiological frameworks through which these forms of embeddedness are interpreted and evaluated. Special attention is given to perspectives that have taken shape in East Asian regions, where relational, process-oriented, and integrative approaches to human existence and the natural world have played a significant role in shaping ethical, aesthetic, and ecological thought.
A central concern of the symposium is the importance of sustained, reflective and egalitarian transcultural dialogue. Such dialogue is indispensable for addressing global challenges that exceed the explanatory and normative capacities of any single intellectual tradition. At the same time, transcultural exchange is confronted with substantial methodological and discursive difficulties, including asymmetries of power, problems of translation and conceptual equivalence, divergent epistemic assumptions, and the risk of superficial comparison or cultural essentialism. The symposium therefore seeks not only to foster dialogue but also to critically examine the methodological conditions under which meaningful and intellectually responsible transcultural communication can take place.
Within this broader framework, contributors will present a range of approaches
- to aesthetic experiences of relationality between humans, their environments, and other living beings;
- to axiological dimensions of perception, interpretation, and mediation of reality;
- to the political and economic implications of linking ecological concerns with axiological reflection;
- and to diverse models of integrating human experience, social life, and nature.
These perspectives illuminate how (economic and ethical) values are generated, negotiated, and transformed in concrete cultural settings, as well as how they inform responses to contemporary ecological and social crises.
The symposium further highlights the constructive potential of East Asian intellectual traditions in this context. Philosophical, religious, and cultural frameworks from East Asia offer rich resources for rethinking notions of agency, responsibility, balance, and coexistence, often emphasizing relationality, coherence, and contextuality over rigid dichotomies. Engaging these traditions in a transcultural perspective does not imply their uncritical adoption, but rather a reflective encounter that can open new conceptual horizons and challenge entrenched assumptions within dominant global discourses.
The overarching aim of the symposium is to promote a deeper exchange of knowledge and ideas grounded in East Asian and general transcultural perspectives that can contribute productively to the development of theoretical frameworks and practical strategies for addressing global crises. By fostering methodologically self-aware dialogue and drawing on a plurality of intellectual resources, the symposium seeks to support more nuanced, inclusive, and sustainable visions of human life and its place within an interconnected planetary world.
Speakers:
Gloria Luque Moya, University of Malaga, Spain
Rosa Fernández, University of Malaga, Spain
Dawid Rogacz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland
Selusi Ambrogio, University of Macerata, Italy
Yang Xiaobo Zhejiang Yuexiu University, China
Hashi Hisaki, Vienna University
Blaž Križnik, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jana S. Rošker, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Téa Sernelj, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Luka Culiberg, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Tara Peternell, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Byoung Yoong Kang, University of Ljubljana
Friday, April 10
16:00 – 18:00 Opening
16:00 – 16:30 Registration
16:30 – 16:45 Cultural program
16:45–17:00 Maja Kosec: Introductory and Organizational Information
17:00-17:30 Téa Sernelj: Opening speech
17:30-18:00 Discussion
18:00-20:00 Welcome reception
Saturday, April 11
08:30-10:30 Panel 1
Ecology Between Ethics and Aesthetics: Ontology, Society, and Practice
Culiberg Luka: Sociological Reflections on the Limits of Ontological Solutions to Climate Change
Rošker Jana: The Chinese Paradigm of Eco-Embeddedness and the Notion of Childlike Heart-Mind (童心): The Aesthetics of Free Subjectivity in Nature and Society
Križnik Blaž: Ecology of compressed modernity: A comparison of urban gardening in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan
10:30-12:30 Panel 2
Eco-Aesthetics and Relational Ontologies: Interdependence, Holism, and Ecological Consciousness
Sernelj Téa: Ecological Holism and Human Autonomy in Late Neo-Confucianism: Wang Yangming’s (1472–1529) Concepts of Tongti and Liangzhi
Luque Moya Gloria: "Engagement, Harmony, and Interdependence: A Transcultural Aesthetic Approach to Ecological Consciousness"
Kang Byoung Yoong: A Reinterpretation of Korean Science Fiction through a Confucian Understanding of the Anthropocene: Focusing on Cheon Seonran’s Nine
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-16:00 Panel 3
Transcultural and Comparative Perspectives
Fernandéz Rosa: Frugality as an Ecological Aesthetic Value. A Transcultural Approach
Peternell Tara: Process and Intuition: The Dynamics of Aesthetic Experience in Nishida and Whitehead.
Hashi Hisaki: Ethics, Ecology, and Aesthetics in Transcultural Perspective: The Way of Zen Buddhism in Thinking and Acting in Our Time of Globalization
16:00-18:00 Panel 4
Nature, Culture, and Moral Sensibility in Chinese Philosophy
Yang Xiaobo: From “Humble Things” (微物) to the Supreme Dao (大道): A Philosophical Reading of Ancient Chinese “Cricket Books” (蟋蟀譜)
Ambroggio Selusi: Parenting Nature: Filial Piety in Human and More-Than-Human Relation
Rogazc Dawid: Aesthetic Elevation of Our Repulsive Instincts in Xunzi
18:30 Dinner
Sunday, April 12
Whole day activity: Visit and discussion with members of the Scientific Research Centre in Koper
Chief organizer: Téa Sernelj (email: tea.sernelj@ff.uni-lj.si)
Organizational team members:
Jana S. Rošker (email: jana.rosker@ff.uni-lj.si)
Marko Ogrizek (email: Marko.Ogrizek@ff.uni-lj.si)
Maja Kosec (email: MajaMaria.Kosec@ff.uni-lj.si)
Tara Peternell (email: Tara.Peternell@ff.uni-lj.si)