EALCS to Host American Oriental Society’s Western Branch Meeting

We are delighted to announce that EALCS will host the Western Branch Meeting of the American Oriental Society on October 21–23, 2021. The meeting will take place online via Zoom. Please see the Call for Papers below for more information.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 2021 ANNUAL MEETING

The 2021 meeting of the American Oriental Society, Western Branch will be hosted virtually via Zoom on October 21–23, 2021 by the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. All members of the AOS are cordially invited and encouraged to attend and to present papers.* Please send by July 31st a title and 250-word abstract of a proposed paper. Abstracts will be evaluated for the command they show of the chosen topic, methodological rigor and originality, clarity and persuasiveness of expression, and the potential contribution of the research to the field. Proposals for exceptional formats such as roundtable discussions or workshops may also be considered. Successful applicants to the conference will be notified by the end of August. Please note that in light of the special constraints of the meeting this year, the number of papers accepted may be lower than usual.

Abstracts should be submitted through the virtual registration portal at https://tinyurl.com/AOSWB2021. Abstracts are due by July 31, 2021. Notifications of decisions on abstracts will be sent out in August 2021.

Accepted papers will have up to 15 minutes for presentation. Final programs will be e-mailed to participants at the end of September. Sessions will be held on three successive days on October 21–23, each session at 1:00 PM5:00 PM PDT. The business meeting will be conducted at 3:00 PM PDT on October 22.

For assistance in planning, all attendees, whether or not presenting a paper, should also register before September 30, 2021 through the virtual registration portal at https://tinyurl.com/AOSWB2021. This year, there is no registration fee for attendees, though presenters should be members of the AOS in good standing. Members who wish to contribute to the Daniel Bryant Memorial Fellowship Fund may send their donations to:

Alexei Ditter, Secretary-Treasurer WBAOS
Eliot 114
3203 Woodstock Boulevard
Portland, OR  97202

Other questions about the meeting may be directed to Thomas Mazanec (mazanec@ucsb.edu).

MEETING ARRANGEMENTS: Given the uncertainty of in-person meetings and international travel in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference will be conducted virtually via Zoom.

GRADUATE STUDENT AWARD: In order to encourage graduate students to engage in the activities of the Western Branch, the society in 2015 created the “Graduate Student Travel Award of the American Oriental Society, Western Branch.” This year, at least two awards will again be offered. Awardees will also be honored by special recognition during the conference and on the society’s website. The number of awards in future years will depend on the amount of donations made for this purpose. All applications to the Graduate Student Award will be anonymously reviewed by members of the Executive Committee of the Western Branch.

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: We are glad to announce that the speaker for this year’s guest lecture will be Western Branch president Antje Richter, Associate Professor of Chinese at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

*YOU MUST BE A MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN ORIENTAL SOCIETY TO PRESENT A PAPER AT THE CONFERENCE. Membership information is available in all issues of the Journal of the American Oriental Society and at the American Oriental Society website: https://www.americanorientalsociety.org/.