Emerging in the post-pandemic world is a “new normal”—the abnormal is normalized, and the changes settle their feet on the earth and stabilize. But this is never an original creation in our time. This year’s theme attempts to explore the changes and the norms in East Asia, how they are discursively constructed and tinted with a regional characteristic. We welcome and encourage submissions from graduate students around the world engaged in research that relates to the examination of changes and exceptions throughout any time period and discipline concerning East Asia—including but not limited to History, Politics, Literature, Media, Linguistics, Religion, Philosophy, Art History, Sociology, and more.