April 4, 2008

Dear Colleagues and Members of SEC/AAS:

    This letter is to inform you that the 48th Annual meeting of the Southeast Conference for Asian Studies will be held from January 16 to 18, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia at Emory University.  I invite you all, on behalf of the SEC/AAS, to accept our invitation to present your recent research in your area of specialization at that meeting.
   
    Proposals for individual papers or full panels may be submitted on the form located on our website at http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/.  You may also e-mail, fax, or post your proposals to Dr. David Blaylock of Eastern Kentucky, our 2009 Program Chair.  Regardless of the method you select, please submit your proposal no later than October 31, 2008 to ensure full consideration and a place on the conference schedule. 
            Dr. David Blaylock
            217 Eastway Drive
            Richmond, KY 40475
            David.blaylock@eku.edu   859 622-1287

    SEC/AAS dues are $20 ($10 for students); conference participants. An on-line membership form is at http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/member_application.html.

    In acknowledgement of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, our theme for this year is All Eyes on China.  As Asianists, we are naturally interested in the world’s focus on China this summer, but please understand that scholarship on other nations and topics related to Asia are also welcome and encouraged.  At the Emory meeting, all registered participants will receive copies of the 2008 issue of the Southeast Review of Asian Studies (SERAS). Please consider SERAS as a future outlet for your work by submitting your conference paper, scholarly notes, or reviews of recently published books in the field.  (We would be happy to review your recently published book on Asia, provided you can send us a copy.)  For further information, contact Editor Steve Gump at sgump@uiuc.edu.  Past issues of SERAS and further information are available at http://www.uky.edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/seras.html.

Finally, this year’s conference site is the Emory University Conference Center Hotel located at 1615 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30329.  The phone number for reservations is 404-712-6000. Local arrangements chair at Emory is Dr. Ho Wan-Li (who@emory.edu). There are three grants in the amount of $200 available for graduate students presenting papers. Those who wish to be considered for this assistance must indicate this when they submit their paper proposals.  Preference will be given to those who must travel more than two hundred miles to attend.   

Sincerely,

James T. Gillam, President
SEC/AAS