Recognition of Professor Wessie Ling's work highlights London Met's collaboration with global institutions.
Date: 26 July 2024
Professor Wessie Ling, Director of CREATURE (Centre for Creative Arts, Cultures and Engagement) at London Metropolitan University's School of Art, Architecture and Design, delivered a keynote address at the 3rd International Conference on Innovations in the Social Sciences and Humanities (ISSH 2024), hosted by Ton Duc Thang University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The conference, prominently featured on HTV (Ho Chi Minh City Television), highlighted the university's collaboration with global institutions and showcased cutting-edge research in the social sciences and humanities.
ISSH 2024, organised in collaboration with London Metropolitan University and six other esteemed institutions worldwide - University of Melbourne (Australia), Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania), Higher School of Economics (Russia), Jadavpur University (India), Gampaha Wickramarachchi University of Indigenous Medicine (Sri Lanka), and Walailak University (Thailand) - featured scholars from over 20 countries. The two-day event adopted interdisciplinary approaches, presenting research across fields such as sociology, communication, anthropology, tourism, social work, and cultural and creative industries.
The conference facilitated dialogue on pressing global issues, bringing together over 40 international scholars and 20 leading Vietnamese researchers. Discussions focused on topics like cultural diversity and human ecology, promoting innovative research methodologies and perspectives.
Professor Ling’s keynote, Cross-cultural exchanges and innovation: The making of fashion in Southeast Asia, is part of her research project “Fashion-making in, of, for, and with China and Southeast Asia.” Her presentation explored the complex interactions between fashion creatives in Southeast Asia and China, revealing how designers navigate identity and brand innovation in connection with China’s dominant influences.
Her talk highlighted cross-cultural dynamics in fashion and connected to London Met’s Education for Social Justice framework. Ling challenged Eurocentric perspectives, offering diverse views of the fashion system and reshaping power structures in creative research.
Professor Ling commented, “London Met’s Education for Social Justice Framework and Race Equity Agenda provide the ideal environment to critically examine the forces of geopolitics, globalisation, and capitalism in the global fashion industry.”
Conference chair, Professor John Hutnyk, expressed gratitude for the collaboration, saying, “Ton Duc Thang University is honoured to work with London Met and proud to connect international scholars in the social sciences and humanities.”
Professor Ling with Professor Hutnyk.
Photo credit: Ton Duc Thang University, 2024.