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AOS
Western Branch

History and Purpose of the American Oriental Society

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.

Website:  http://www.aos-site.org/


The Western Branch of the American Oriental Society


1. A Brief Description of the Western Branch

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.

Western Branch Procedures of Operation


2. Officers of the Western Branch

President 
YUMING HE (2023-2025)
East Asian Languages and Cultures
University of California Davis
313 Sprout Hall
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

Vice-President
TIMOTHY WAI KEUNG CHAN (2023-2025)
Department of Chinese Language and Literature
Hong Kong Baptist University
224 Waterloo Road, Kowloon Tong
Hong Kong

Immediate Past President
RICHARD VANNESS SIMMONS (2023-2025)
Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
Rutgers University
Scott Hall, Room 330
43 College Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901

Secretary-Treasurer
TIMOTHY DAVIS (2021-2026)
Asian Studies Librarian
4523 Harold B. Lee Library
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602

Executive Committee
ex officio
YUMING HE (2021-2027), University of California Davis
TIMOTHY CHAN (2023-2029), Hong Kong Baptist University
RICHARD VANNESS SIMMONS (2019-2025), Rutgers University
TIMOTHY DAVIS (2021-2026), Brigham Young University

elected members
SCOTT W. GREGORY (2020-2023), University of Arizona
ARMIN SELBITSCHKA (2020-2023), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen
KAY DUFFY (2023-2026), University of British Columbia
YUNSHUANG ZHANG (2023-2026), Wayne State University


3. Daniel Bryant Memorial Fellowship Fund

In 2014, Daniel Bryant, former president of the Western Branch (2013-2014) passed away.  Please see the announcement by Richard King and Lin Tsung-Cheng.  To honor Daniel's enthusiastic, life-long commitment to the mission and activities of the Western Branch, the American Oriental Society has created the Daniel Bryant Memorial Fellowship Fund to help support participation in the annual meetings of the Western Branch.  To make a tax-deductible donation to this fund, please contact the Secretary-Treasurer, Timothy Davis.

4.  Meetings of the Western Branch

**2024 Annual Meeting: October 31-November 2 at Arizona State University**

2024 Annual Meeting Announcement & Call-for-Papers

2024 Registration Form (Fillable)

Archive: Programs and Abstracts from Previous Meetings



Please Pay Your WBAOS Annual Meeting Registration Fees (Banquet Included)

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Most recently updated: 10/10/2023