AOS medallion
ASPA
Western Branch

History and Purpose of the American Society for Premodern Asia

The American Society For Premodern Asia (formerly known as the American Oriental Society–AOS) 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 Asian civilizations, especially of philosophy, religion, folklore and art.

Website:  http://www.aos-site.org/


The Western Branch of the American Society for Premodern Asia


1. A Brief Description of the Western Branch

The Western Branch of ASPA was founded in 1951, and its annual meetings have become an important forum for scholars of premodern 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 
TIMOTHY WAI KEUNG CHAN (2025-2027)
The Education University of Hong Kong
Department of Chinese Language Studies
Room 35A, 1/F, Block B3
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, N.T.
Hong Kong

Vice-President
NICHOLAS MORROW WILLIAMS (2025-2027)
Arizona State University
School of International Letters and Cultures
851 S. Cady Mall
Tempe, AZ 85287

Immediate Past President
YUMING HE (2025-2027)
University of California Davis
East Asian Languages and Cultures
313 Sprout Hall
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616

Secretary-Treasurer
TIMOTHY DAVIS (2021-2026)
Asian Studies Librarian
Brigham Young University
4420 Harold B. Lee Library
Provo, UT 84602

Executive Committee
ex officio
TIMOTHY CHAN (2023-2029), Hong Kong Baptist University
YUMING HE (2021-2027), University of California Davis
NICHOLAS MORROW WILLIAMS (2025-2031), Arizona State University
TIMOTHY DAVIS (2021-2026), Brigham Young University

elected members
CHARLES SANFT (2024-2027), University of Tennessee, Knoxville
ZHUMING YAO (2024-2027), Boston University
LUKE WARING (2025-2028), University of Texas, Austin
HENG DU (2025-2028), Wellesley College


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 Society for Premodern Asia 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

**2025 Annual Meeting: October 16-18 at The University of Colorado, Boulder**

2025 Annual Meeting Announcement & Call-for-Papers

2025 Registration Form (Fillable)

Archive: Programs and Abstracts from Previous Meetings



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

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Most recently updated: 05/12/2025