American Oriental Society, Western Branch Conference

The American Oriental Society is the oldest learned society in the United States devoted to a particular field of scholarship. The Society was founded in 1842, preceded only by such distinguished organizations of general scope as the American Philosophical Society (1743), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1780), and the American Antiquarian Society (1812). From the beginning its aims have been humanistic. The encouragement of basic research in the languages and literatures of Asia has always been central in its tradition. This tradition has come to include such subjects as philology, literary criticism, textual criticism, paleography, epigraphy, linguistics, biography, archaeology, and the history of the intellectual and imaginative aspects of Oriental civilizations, especially of philosophy, religion, folklore and art. The scope of the Society's purpose is not limited by temporal boundaries: All sincere students of man and his works in Asia, at whatever period of history are welcomed to membership.

The Western Branch of the AOS was founded in 1951, and its annual meetings have become an important forum for scholars of pre-modern Asia. While in recent years papers presented at the annual meetings have largely centered on China, they have not been exclusively so. The Western Branch actively encourages scholars with a wide range of regional specialties as well as comparative interests to participate.

The AOS Western Branch meeting will be held on October 19-20, 2018 at Stanford University. (Call for Papers and Registration)

Conference Program