Past Conferences

The 72nd Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from September 29 - October 1, 2023.

The Keynote lecture was given by:

• Dr. Jean Oi (William Haas Professor of Chinese Politics, Stanford University)

The Presidential panels were given by:

• Dr. Taylor Easum (President, MCAA, Assistant Professor, History, Indiana State University)
• Gardner Bovingdon (Associate Professor, Central Eurasian Studies and International Studies, Indiana University Bloomington)
• Pär Cassel (Associate Professor, History, University of Michigan)
• Tarry Chun (Assistant Professor, Film, Television & Theatre and East Asian Languages & Cultures, University of Notre Dame)
• Roderick Ike Wilson (Associate Professor, History and East Asian Languages & Cultures, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)

The 71st MCAA was hosted by the University of Kansas on September 16-19, 2022.

The Keynote lecture was given by:

• Prof. Kamran Asdar Ali (AAS President, University of Texas, Austin)

The Presidential Panel "Global Asia and Science, Technology, Medicine, and Environment"; was given by:

• Ian G. Baird (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
• Susan Burns (University of Chicago)
• Megan Greene (University of Kansas)

The Progam Chair for the 2022 Conference:

• Akiko Takeyama (University of Kansas)

The 70th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) annual meeting had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prioritizing the health and safety of participants and attendees.

The 69th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by a consortium of MCAA affiliated universities from October 16-18th, 2020.

The Keynote lectures were given by:

• Prof. Siddharth Chandra (Director of the Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University)
• Prof. Christine Yano (AAS President, University of Hawaii)

The Presidential Panel were given by:

• Jamie Monson (Director of African Studies, Michigan State University)
• I Made Andi Arsana (Head of the Office of International Affairs, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia)
• Prof. Siddharth Chandra (Director of the Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University)
• Blandina Lugendo (Department of Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania)
• Mark Axelrod (Professor at James Madison College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University)
• Awet Weldemichael (Professor and Queen's National Scholar African and World History, Queen's University, Canada)

Planning Committee:

• Program Chair: Dr. Taylor Easum, Indiana State University
• Conference Submission Coordinator: Dr. Michael Brose, Indiana University

The 68th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by Michigan State from October 4-6, 2019.

Keynote lectures were given by:

• Prof. Wendy Larson (Professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Film, University of Oregon)
• Prof. Anne Feldhaus (Past AAS President, Arizona State University)

Presidential Panel were given by:

The 67th Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA) Annual Meeting was hosted by Metropolitan State University from October 19 – 20, 2018.

Keynote lectures were given by:

• Prof. Prasenjit Duara (Vice President for the Association for Asian Studies)
• Dr. Irene Khin Khin Jensen (Professor Emeriti, Augsburg University)
• Prof. Robert Hegel (Washington University in St. Louis; President, Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs)

The Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies hosted the 66th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, September 15–16, 2017.

Keynote lectures were given by:

• Prof. Katherine Bowie (Southeast Asian Studies & Anthropology, University of Wisconsin)
• Prof. Rochona Majumdar (South Asian Studies & Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago)
• Prof. Guobin Yang (East Asian Studies & Sociology and Communication, University of Pennsylvania)